Pugilists’ Story Turns Into Publishers’ Knockout
When storied NHL tough guy Tie Domi had scribed his side of the story, he felt as a first time author that the book launch needed to be as legendary as he had become. We agreed and started to turn his words, images, footage and memorabilia into a well crafted story that could take his life long tale-of-the-tape on the road in a semi-truck that was transformed into a travelling museum mecca.
The combination of a complete, interactive multi media environment and savvy social media plan transcended his biography from lofty to legendary. This physical autobiography travelled across the Hockey Heartland to engage fans in support of the launch of this hockey legacy. Working closely with Tie, Simon & Schuster, the book’s publisher, and SmartCentres, our title sponsor and benefactor, we took Tie’s story off the pages to create an immersive and interactive fan experience that echoed the feelings, lessons and stories directly from the book.
Leveraging family photos, historical news articles, memorabilia, quotes and first-hand stories, the Tour gave fans the chance to literally walk through Tie’s life; from his early childhood, right through his 16-season NHL career and the life lessons he learned along the way.
The travelling exhibit was a first for the publishing industry, creating a new and unique standard for book launches, and no doubt helped to launch this book to the top of the top-sellers list.
The tour included a strong Social Media presence with Tie posting from the road to Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, providing promotion of upcoming events as well as behind the scenes access to life on the road. During the tour, Tie’s Social followers increased significantly (started an IG account that went from 0 to 12k in 4 week period), resulting in over 9 million social impressions. The grassroots tour and book promotions garnered 163 media stories, with over 10 million impressions. His tour stats include:
- Trailer Activations – 16
- Attendees – 3,627
- Interactions with Tie – 2,029
- Social Reach – 4,159,128
- Social Impressions – 9,487,375
- Media Stories – 163
- Media Impressions – 10,493,620
paolo bugatto • creative 