If you are a Tampa Bay Lightning or Montreal Canadiens fan, you likely have been closely following the competitive series between the two teams, but has anything else stuck out to you during those games, or perhaps during some ESPN highlights? An astronaut mascot possibly? Seems a little out of place in series where the team mascots are a ThunderBug and muppet-like character, Youppi!, but there has to be an explanation…or it could just be a crazy fan. 

Well, the astronaut is not a crazy fan considering he has been present at numerous Lightning games and hasn’t been asked to leave. However, this random mascot’s presence has sparked great curiosity and that was exactly the hope of Tampa-based Bluetooth speaker manufacturer, Malektronic. As a first-year partner of the Lightning, they are hoping to generate awareness of the brand by leveraging the team’s successful season, thus far, and generating buzz around the brand by using the comical costume to promote Malektronic. According to a recent Sports Business Daily article, over 1 million people have viewed a video clip the NHL posted on their Facebook wall with the astronaut mascot taunting the Canadiens’ goalie. Despite the taunting, I think even Canadiens fans would agree Malektronic’s tactic was a success. 

What is most interesting about Malektronic’s sponsorship activation strategy is they do not have any branding located anywhere on the suit. However, according to CEO Ben Malek, that was strategically done in order to not appear too commercial. They’d like to see organic growth, which is exactly what the brand has done as a viral hit. The dancing astronaut did, however, wear a Malektronic speaker around his waste. 

With social media more popular than ever and the ability of consumers to view content on multiple mobile platforms, viral advertising campaigns have proven to be wildly successful. In line with Ben Malek’s hopes for organic growth, this type of advertising allows consumers to hear about your brand word of mouth rather than being bombarded with commercial advertising. Malektronic is hoping to target sports fans through its NHL team sponsorships, particularly in their headquarters, Tampa Bay, but they have, also, infiltrated national broadcasts. If sports fans are still unaware of what Malektronic produces, they at least know who is responsible for the conspicuous astronaut mascot they have seen all over ESPN and social media.