May 31, 2019
The July 4th Gritty Bobblehead Is Here – And You Need It
The Philadelphia Flyers’ mascot may look like a total nutter, but he’s a marketing and branding hit.
Gritty is all Philadelphia Flyers orange, but he’s about to get his red-white-and-blue on in a big way.
The marketing and branded merchandising phenomenon that is Gritty – the pro hockey Flyers’ maniacal-looking, googly-eyed mascot – has been an endless source of amusement…and legitimate brand-building lessons, as we’ve documented here and here and here – and, well, here too. (Did we mention we like Gritty a bit…?)
And now, there’s a new Gritty swag offering that bumps elbows with the promotional products market: A patriotic, Fourth-of-July-inspired Gritty bobblehead that’s in stock starting Monday, June 3. Pre-order is already underway.
Hand-sculpted and painted by the pros at Kollectico, the new Gritty bobble comes in a full-color collector’s box. Only 243 of the bobbleheads are being produced. Each will be numbered.
Gritty aficionados – there probably are such folks – will no doubt shell out the $30 for the NHL officially licensed bobble. If we know Gritty, he’ll probably add one to his own self-adoring personal collection:
I continue to amaze me. @TheWebbyAwards #5WordSpeech pic.twitter.com/URV9MrfznE
— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) May 14, 2019
From a marketing perspective, the Fourth-of-July Gritty bobble could well be a win. It’s potentially a way of generating positive, fun fan engagement after a disappointing Flyers season and keeping the franchise top-of-mind while hockey – well, Flyers hockey anyway – is on hiatus. It’s also a case study in tying a brand to seasonal/societal events while keeping the core brand intact. But enough over-thinking it. Here’s a little more Gritty to make you smile:
#IfSocialMediaDidntExist
— Gritty (@GrittyNHL) May 22, 2019
No one would ever know. pic.twitter.com/1ZaWjTZJNg