Thread: Great marketing can be polarizing. Whether you’re a fan of the new Seattle team name or not, here’s a few reasons why you should appreciate what they have done.

The team name pays homage to the city’s maritime history and longtime folklore in the Pacific Northwest (and Scandinavia) of a mythical Kraken creature. It’s also known that the Giant Pacific Octopus lives close to the waters of Puget Sound near Seattle.

Jerry Bruckheimer, a part-owner of the team, has also used the mythical sea creature “The Kraken” in his Pirates of the Caribbean movies.

They spent years getting feedback on all possible names from fans. With hundreds of thousands of votes and over a year of social listening, they knew they had something special. Fans verified that.

When the franchise settled on five final names, they were sealed into an envelope and put in a time capsule in Seattle's Space Needle -- along with Nirvana records, a Twinkie and one share of Amazon. It will be opened in 2062, on the Needle's 100th anniversary.

The primary logo, which is S-shaped, honours the Seattle Metropolitans, the first American team to win the Stanley Cup. It also features elements of the Kraken (eye and tentacle), while the secondary logo cleverly features the Seattle Space Tower within the anchor.

Jerry Bruckheimer invited apparel partner Adidas to collaborate on shaping the logo and refining the brand colours. As they asked fans what they wanted, it was clear deep ocean blue and maritime green needed to be the basis.

To tease and announce the team name, Seattle released a series of cinematic, movie-like videos to break the news and build up hype.

The team launched a website selling “Release the Kraken" apparel -- with 100% of net proceeds going to local Seattle-based nonprofits YouthCare, Community Passageways and the Urban League of Metropolitan Sea.

The team got the whole league to buy-in to participating in fun and supportive social engagements. https://twitter.com/nhlseattle_/status/1286336580827848704

The organization planned a full day of open-forum conversations with executives around the history of the launch and what fans can expect from the team moving forward.

The team created phone, Zoom and desktop backgrounds for fans to use.

Their social team built personality into the brand with a comedic tone right from the start.

Just a brand having fun.

Here’s hoping announcements like this become the gold standard for brands moving forward.

Well done, @NHLSeattle_.