CPL Marketing & Playoffs Strategy ‑ Internal Meeting Notes

Follow-Up & New CEO

  • Immediate action:
    • Attendee sends an on-the-spot follow-up email (“let me just send a follow-up right now”).
    • Objective: collect as many resources/approvals (“scoop as much as I can”) before the CEO’s first day (Tuesday).
  • Strategic approach:
    • Group wants to “take advantage” of the CEO’s arrival—i.e.
    • Secure budgetary or strategic buy-in early.
    • “Take it out of his pockets” = capture new funding while enthusiasm is high.

Playoffs Planning & Marketing Overview

  • Two awards in the CPL (Canadian Premier League):
    1. Regular-Season Shield
    • Analogous to European leagues’ emphasis on season standings.
    1. Finals Cup (a.k.a. North Cup).
    • Considered the marquee trophy in North America.
  • Key deliverables in progress:
    • Website update that explains:
    • Criteria for winning the Shield.
    • Steps required to capture the Cup.
    • Explainer video to simplify a non-traditional playoff bracket.
Playoff Bracket Nuances
  • 1st place earns home-field and a bye to the semi-final.
  • 2nd place initially “bounced” to an extra knockout path.
  • Lower-seed matchups: 4 vs 5 and 2 vs 3.
  • Winners advance to meet 1st place in the semis/finals.
  • Communicated as “not the smoothest, easiest thing to explain,” hence the video.
Digital Assets Being Built
  • Dedicated Playoff Page to mimic prior season’s bracket page:
    • Live standings.
    • Weekly updates.
    • Added excitement via visuals and real-time data.

Sponsorship & Themed Branding

  • Entire playoff window positioned under a two-phase umbrella:
    1. The Outcome (last regular-season match day)
    • All 8 CPL clubs play the same day.
    • Expect “jockeying for position,” potential eliminations, drama.
    • Sold as a sponsorship property.
    1. Rise to the North (playoff & finals run)
    • Formerly phrased as “race to the Cup,” clarified by Michael: “Rise to the North” because the trophy is the North Cup.

Paid Media & Channel Contingencies

  • Core question: Will the league finalize a national TV deal?
    • If NO TV deal → Paid media focuses on ticket sales in local markets.
    • If YES (e.g., TSN) → Budget shifts to broadcast tune-in campaigns.
  • Decision pending; agency brainstorming on hold until objectives are 100 % defined to avoid “two opposite paths.”

Finance & Budget Status

  • Current over-spend flag: 56,00056{,}000 above plan.
  • Source documents:
    • Canva deck → slides 32–33.
    • Slide 33 shows May spend = 50,00050{,}000, dramatically higher than other months.
  • Historical context:
    • Original annual budget ≈ last year’s spend (≈ 300,000300{,}000+).
    • Q1 spend: 30,00030{,}000 (Jan–Mar), mainly season-ticket awareness.
    • Budget became “ring-fenced” → amount reduced mid-spring.
    • Leadership decided to front-load spend to build early momentum and hedge against cuts.
    • Hope was another 100,000100{,}000 might be released later (July–Aug) as in 2022.
  • Budget communication rule:
    • Any monthly figure provided (e.g.
      50k50 k) must be all-in—includes media, platform taxes, data-wise fees.
    • Avoid “40k40 k media + 10k10 k extras” surprises.
  • Next steps:
    • Request a mid-year total from the agency for reconciliation.
    • May require trimming future buys to stay within cap.

Upcoming Campaigns & Asset Delivery

  • Goal-of-the-Month Campaign
    • Launch window: next Monday → Friday (short week).
    • Paid ads Monday–Friday; winner selected Friday.
    • Organic social posts Tue–Thu following winner announcement.
  • Dependency: Waiting on creative assets (video/graphics) from client side.
    • Team commits to building & scheduling immediately upon asset hand-off.
    • Some staff (U.S.-based) will work the holiday Monday if needed.
  • TSF Video Ads
    • Still pending (“We’ve heard that”).
    • Editor working on multiple versions; master file still forthcoming.

Operational / Action Items

  • Follow-up email to support CEO onboarding—collect data, build case for funding.
  • Finish playoff explainer video & publish playoff webpage.
  • Productize and price “The Outcome” sponsorship package.
  • Finalize naming/creative for Rise to the North.
  • Confirm TV rights; choose ticket-sales vs broadcast-tune-in objective.
  • Provide agency with mid-year spend report (all-inclusive numbers).
  • Receive & approve TSF ad assets; schedule Goal-of-the-Month campaign.

Miscellaneous Notes & Culture

  • Meeting ends on upbeat, sales-oriented note: “Let’s go get that money… go to the honey pots.”
  • Emphasis on rapid iteration, internal alignment, and avoiding duplicated effort.