El Lazo De Tucson Awarded AHL Marketing Campaign Of The Year
Tucson, Arizona – The Tucson Roadrunners and their “El Lazo de Tucson” alternate branding identity was awarded the American Hockey League’s Marketing Campaign of the Year Award at the league’s Team Business Meetings that were held this week at JW Marriott Tucson Starr Pass. The Roadrunners wore their El Lazo Jerseys for three games during the 2022-23 season that were each presented by the City of Tucson.
For the past three seasons, the Roadrunners have adopted the El Lazo de Tucson identity to honor the rich culture and heritage of Southern Arizona. “El Lazo” is Spanish for “lasso” or “lariat” which is featured on the Tucson City Seal. The campaign allowed the Roadrunners to grow and develop partnerships with the City of Tucson, Arizona Bilingual News, Mariachi Los Diablitos de Sunnyside High School, and more.
“The importance of connecting with our community fueled our marketing campaign to reach the fans in waiting,” said Roadrunners President Bob Hoffman. “I am proud of what our team has accomplished, but more so excited about the new fans that we have welcomed.”
The 2022-23 campaign also saw the Roadrunners launch a Spanish Language Team Website at TucsonRoadrunners.com/Espanol along with a Spanish Facebook page at Facebook.com/LosTucsonRoadrunners. The newly unveiled Dusty’s Cheering Section hosted “Roadrunners Hockey RULES: Hockey 101” sessions prior to each El Lazo contest. The Hockey 101 sessions were designed for the first-time hockey fan, with presentations in both English and Spanish. A Tucson Roadrunners player was in attendance for each session, along with Roadrunners Mascot Dusty in his “El Polvo” alter-ego, meaning “The Dust.” The team incorporated El Lazo de Tucson into the presentation of each game with themed music and multi-language video board presentations, and the Roadrunners social media accounts changed appearance to reflect the El Lazo de Tucson identity. The third and final El Lazo Game of 2022-23 on April 14 featured a Tacos and Tequila event which sold out through exclusive ticket packages that included a commemorative T-shirt. The El Lazo de Tucson finale also featured an El Polvo Bobblehead giveaway courtesy of KOLD News 13. At the end of the season, the game-worn El Lazo Jerseys were auctioned off to raise over $15,000 to benefit Roadrunners Community Efforts in Tucson and Southern Arizona.
To assist in marketing and promotional for El Lazo de Tucson, the Roadrunners partnered with Arizona Bilingual News, Arizona Lotus stations La Caliente 92.1 and 95.7, La Buena 94.3; and iHeartMedia’s Mega 97.1 and Tejano 1600. The team also had digital billboard placement at the international border south of Tucson.
The campaign was led by Senior Director of Communications & Broadcasting Adrian Denny and Senior Director of Sales Julie Sipe with support from the team’s dedicated Spanish speaking Ticket Sales Account Executive Azaph Crespo, Coordinator of Communications & Broadcasting Jimmy Peebles, Creative Content Coordinator Rachel Skeem and Communications & Broadcasting Representative Brad Koerner who translated content for TucsonRoadrunners.com/Espanol.
