Hyundai Canada reached nearly 3 million viewers with its NHL-centric presenting sponsorship

Goals

The worlds of hockey and advertising don’t seem like the most synonymous at first glance, but the challenges are quite similar. You must be ready to pivot at a moment’s notice. A play can change entirely depending on the angle at which you approach it—and, of course, nothing feels better than when you’ve really nailed a goal. That’s why when Hyundai Canada was looking for a refreshed approach for its awareness campaign, it turned to the National Hockey League (NHL) on Prime Video.

With hockey being a truly national sport in Canada, with 95% of Canadians tuning into the NHL regular season each year,¹ Hyundai Canada knew there was an opportunity to reach Canadians, at scale, through the sport. The automotive brand was focused on creating meaningful connections with their audience in a way that was both authentic to the brand and congruent with the sport they’d be advertising alongside. “Our need to diversify what used to be a very traditional TV media plan on linear TV now needs to be more diversified to include connected TV and streamers,” said Christine Smith, Director of Marketing at Hyundai Auto Canada. “Ultimately, that’s where the viewers are.” Additionally, the brand wanted to increase favorability among Canadian audiences by running advertisements that maximized reach while also inspiring higher ad recall and general brand awareness.

Approach

To achieve their goals, Hyundai Canada worked with the agency Innocean to identify opportunities that would help the brand build stronger brand awareness. On October 4, 2024, Prime Video launched the highly anticipated docuseries, Faceoff: Inside the NHL, with Hyundai Canada as the presenting sponsor. With the presenting sponsorship, Hyundai Canada secured 100% share of voice (SOV). Additionally, Hyundai was able to leverage high-impact Fire TV placements, full-season video assets, and additional flex media. The brand would also be present in all three of Prime Video’s NHL properties: the initial docuseries, Prime Monday Night Hockey, and NHL Coast to Coast—shoulder programming that features live coverage, highlights, and expert analysis of every NHL game. The multi-channel approach helped to increase both exposure and recall, with assets across all facets of Prime Video and Fire TV.

To speak to audiences, Innocean and Hyundai Canada wanted to focus on the “hockey moments” that happened alongside Hyundai, whether that’s the thrill of heading to an NHL game or the all-too-familiar Canadian experience of loading into the car with your siblings to play the game yourself. With the culture top-of-mind, Hyundai Canada aimed to create a message that resonated with hockey players and fans alike.

Results

The campaign drove mass awareness across Prime Video and Fire TV. Within one month, Amazon Ads helped drive over 14 million impressions, with a 2.66 million reach.² “Wholeheartedly, I would recommend any brand that is looking to engage with Canadians or audiences alike to seriously consider a Prime Video partnership,” said Mark Pileggi, VP of Client Services at Innocean. Beyond reach, the campaign showed a 94% video completion rate and a $0.06 cost-per-video-click rate, falling at the high end of campaign benchmarks. And with a unique reach of nearly 700,000, NHL fans were exposed to Hyundai’s ad multiple times, effectively reinforcing Hyundai’s message to viewers with a 6% increase in awareness and a 14% lift in ad recall. With a wide reach across Canada, the campaign saw limited overlap, helping to achieve both scaling goals and re-engagement of exposed audiences. With the high performance of the campaign, Hyundai also has an opportunity to re-engage exposed audiences with additional advertising via placements across Amazon’s canvas.

Sources

¹ The marketers’ guide: Canada NHL Live Sports 2025, Kantar 2025.

² Internal, Amazon Canada, 2025.