GATES by Kevin Dallman and Patrick Thoresen - Ad Analysis
AI Editor notes
Straight from the gut!!
“This feels like it's straight out of the early YouTube 'trick shot' era, and that's not a bad thing. It's simple, visual, and has a 'wow' moment. Is it a masterpiece of advertising? No. But it's a solid, smart piece of promotional content. The spinning goal is a fun gag. It knows exactly what it is: a quick, shareable video to get fans hyped for a game. For that specific job, it works.”
Quick Summary
This is a classic piece of sports marketing designed for social sharing, using a simple, 'did they really do that?' trick shot to build a fun, skilled personality for the SKA hockey team. It turns players into larger-than-life entertainers and translates their abilities into pure spectacle, creating buzz to sell tickets for specific games without a hard sell.
Executive Summary
The core insight behind this ad is that modern sports fans crave more than just victory; they want spectacle. They view star athletes as entertainers and heroes capable of almost mythical feats. This ad bypasses traditional game highlights to tap directly into that desire for 'did you see that?' moments.
The execution follows a clean Hook–Proof–Ask model, perfectly suited for its 20-second runtime and viral potential. The Hook is immediate and visual (0:00-0:05): a player inexplicably turns the hockey goal sideways. This breaks the viewer's expectations of a typical hockey scene and creates an instant question that demands to be answered. The Proof is the payoff (0:06-0:11), where a slap shot causes the goal to spin 360 degrees and land perfectly. This is the 'wow' moment, the visual gag that serves as proof of the players' incredible (and fun) abilities. It's the entire reason for the ad's existence. The Ask is the commercial purpose (0:12-0:19). After the players' celebratory high-five, the ad cuts to an energetic graphics package with the tagline 'Together we are - the city!', followed by a clear schedule for two upcoming games and the team's URL. The ad entertains first, then sells.
What the team should learn from this is the power of content designed for its platform. This isn't a traditional TV commercial chopped down for the internet; it's a piece of entertainment built to be shared. It proves that for sports marketing, creating mythology around player skill can be just as potent as showing game-winning goals. A single, clever idea executed cleanly can generate significant buzz and memorability without a complex narrative.
Theme Keywords
Brand Position
SKA is the home team that delivers spectacular, world-class hockey entertainment.
Brand Archetype
The Magician
Creative Game Plan
Demonstrate the superhuman skill of our players through an unbelievable trick shot to create a fun, shareable piece of entertainment that gets fans talking and buying tickets.
Diagnosis: Issues & Solutions
Primary Issue: Strategic Sense
The Problem:
The tagline 'ВМЕСТЕ МЫ - ГОРОД!' ('Together we are - the city!') feels disconnected from the creative. The ad showcases an amazing trick by two individuals on an empty rink, which highlights individual brilliance, not collective, city-wide unity.
The Solution:
To better link the creative to the strategy, a final quick cut showing a packed arena of cheering fans reacting to the shot would have visually bridged the gap between the players' on-ice magic and the community they represent.