Marketing head for Sens has work cut out for her
No one envies Aimee Deziel.
It can’t be easy to be assigned the task of marketing a raging tire fire.
Yet, the first step toward putting a positive spin on the unprecedented malfunction that has been the 2018 off-season of the Ottawa Senators is to have a marketing person in place.
The Senators took that step this week, announcing Deziel as the new chief marketing officer, the first occupant of that title since Peter O’Leary, who was let go as part of an executive bloodletting inside the Senators’ offices two years ago.
Since that time, there have been a lot of unfilled vacancies in the front office.
CEO Tom Anselmi, a high-profile replacement for president and Senators co-founder Cyril Leeder, left the hockey team in February, after barely a year on the job. Anselmi, a former executive with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks, must have wondered what he was thinking to take on the position, given the turmoil in Eugene Melnyk’s kingdom to that point. Geoff Publow remained as the club’s VP of strategic development.
But now the Senators have announced in fairly quick succession a couple of front-office hires that at least suggest they are trying to get out from under this mess.
In mid-June, Ottawa guy Nic Ruszkowski was introduced as chief operating officer, meaning Melnyk shouldn’t have to act as judge and jury in his own building. He could let his new hires do their jobs — it’s a good theory, at least.
Deziel takes on her new duties effective Aug. 13. According to her LinkedIn profile, she has been based in Barbados as COO of the digital marketing company Momentous Advertising and Design (MAD).
A Windsor native, Deziel has Ottawa ties, having studied at Carleton University and worked for the minor baseball Rapidz.
Both executives are cited as bilingual, which means they have a chance to improve on the dismal state of market penetration in the Outaouais. The CFL Redblacks, in business only since 2014, have done a far better job of making their presence felt in the French community, despite the presence of numerous francophones in hockey operations in recent Senators seasons.
Of course, raising the profile in the French quarter is small potatoes compared to the larger issues that dog the hockey club — chiefly, a widespread lack of belief in ownership, the spectre of losing Erik Karlsson, the greatest talent the Senators have known in their 26-year history, along with a general disbelief the organization has the will and the means to succeed.
There is no spin that can make this better — not for the segment of the fan base that believes things will only improve with a change in ownership. Those fans are the loudest on social media. Some have even been known to buy tickets to the games.
There is another group, though, that fears for the future of the franchise if the Senators aren’t supported in the immediate future. It’s fine to say we’ll all get on board when the next billionaire owner comes along and we sing a merry tune — “Heigh-ho, heigh-ho, it’s off to LeBreton we go.”
The proposed move to LeBreton Flats, with a new arena as part of a multibillion-dollar development just west of Parliament Hill, will create an NHL franchise environment in Ottawa such as we haven’t seen — a centrally based team surrounded by vast retail, housing and rapid transit, dining and bar options.
These will be the days, but they are years away from happening.
In the meantime, there is a team to support. And in the case of Ruszkowski and Deziel, a franchise to put in a better light.
There is nothing these two can do to re-sign Karlsson to a long-term contract or to ensure a massive return via trade to set the club up for years. They can’t fire their boss or hire more scouts, or likely even beef up the sales team, although that would be a good idea.
They can focus on the present and not the sordid recent past or too-distant future.
They can highlight some of the new changes to fan experience at the arena, and the young talent expected in the lineup.
They have a pulse, and can have a presence in the marketplace.
That is something that has been sorely lacking since Leeder left. Anselmi worked behind the scenes, more or less. There hasn’t been a strong marketing arm, beyond the great work the Senators Foundation does on behalf of the organization for charities in the community.
No one would want their jobs, working in the long shadow cast by Melnyk, but Deziel and Ruszkowski deserve a warm welcome as they set out to put lipstick on this pig of an off-season.
A warm Ottawa welcome, despite every temptation to be cynical.