THE BUSINESS OF BEING P.K. SUBBAN
He’s young, rich and charismatic. A male fashionista with social-media savvy and a desire to do good and have a ball doing it. In short: “He’s a marketing machine.”
He wanted to pay homage to Jean Béliveau and the era he played in, as well as the 100-year-old rivalry with the Bruins. It’s an outdoor game, and how often does a player get to participate in one of those? Mark Patrick Chevalier Taking care of his appearance is very important to us. He visits us every now and then when he’s in town … it’s fun working with him. MARK PATRICK CHEVALIER
When P.K. Subban signed the richest contract in the history of the Montreal Canadiens, it vaulted him to the top percentile of earners in hockey.
The deal — $72 million over eight years — instantly brought extra scrutiny for every play the defenceman makes on the ice on top of the intense pressure he faces in one of hockey’s most rabid markets.
Away from the rink, Subban has also had to adjust to being one of the city’s wealthiest, most visible citizens.
So far, Subban has chosen to give back to the community. Since the 2014 deal, he has donated $10 million to the Montreal Children’s Hospital, the largest gift by a Canadian athlete, and he continues to raise funds for sick children through P.K.’s Helping Hands.
In Montreal, P.K. Subban has become big business.
Never mind the dismal season the Habs have had after a torrid start. That doesn’t change a thing.
The tailored suits he wears, the sushi he eats and the viral videos he participates in are all made by Montrealers who say Subban is handson in the managing of his affairs in a way many busy athletes are not. The defenceman also endorses a number of brands: Gatorade, Samsung, Air Canada and Scotiabank.
Like many athletes of his generation — he’s 26 — he has harnessed the power of social media, with more than 788,000 Twitter followers (of which 59 per cent are real, according to Twitter Audit, a not uncommon number for a famous figure) and more than 463,000 on Instagram at @subbanator. He doesn’t appear to be on Snapchat in a public capacity, so he’s not entirely au courant with social-media trends.
He used his considerable socialmedia pull a few months ago to coax Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his wife Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau into singing Jingle Bells as part of an Air Canada campaign for the Children’s Miracle Network.
He has demonstrated his comedy chops by delivering a pizza via a slapshot for Boston Pizza. He has his own marketing company dedicated to expanding his business partnerships called P.K.S.S. Management, run by his sister Natasha.
At this year’s NHL Winter Classic outdoor game in Foxborough, MA, he made a grand, stylish entrance. His retro-inspired three-piece glen check suit in burnt orange was designed by his longtime bespoke tailor on Papineau Ave., Sartorialto, which also counts Habs GM Marc Bergevin as a client.
Sartorialto provided the suit, shoes, hat, shirt and tie. Another local company, Eläma, designed his Italian cashmere and Canadian mink fur coat, while his retro skates for the game were one of only eight pairs produced at CCM-Reebok’s factory in St-Jean-sur-Richelieu. The outfit turned heads — Twitter user @dankmtl said P.K. looked like he was “about to drop the most fire jazz 45 of the wartime era” — and even warranted a story by USA Today.
“We started working on it around the start of the season,” Sartorialto founder Mark Patrick Chevalier said. “He wanted to pay homage to Jean Béliveau and the era he played in, as well as the 100-yearold rivalry with the Bruins. It’s an outdoor game, and how often does a player get to participate in one of those?
“We went with different eras, so ‘30s, ‘40s and ‘50s. We then brought it to today’s style,” he added. Subban is an endorser for Canadian suit retailer RW & Co. but he has been a client with Sartorialto for around five years, Chevalier said. He reckons Sartorialto has made more than 100 suits for the blueliner.
“Taking care of his appearance is very important to us,” Chevalier said. “He visits us every now and then when he’s in town. He loves wearing different outfits and being the centre of attention, so it’s fun working with him.”
It’s worthwhile, too. The Winter Classic suit ended up generating some buzz on social media. “He wore it with pride which I think is very important when you wear something that stands out,” he said. “We’re very happy with the response we’ve gotten from it.”
He’s a busy guy, that’s for sure. But when he’s not playing hockey he’s extremely committed to building his brand and fulfilling his commitment that he made to the hospital. Rebl House Media founder Alexandra Toulch
When Subban decided to dress up as a Don Cherry look-alike for a video, Chevalier provided Subban’s measurements to Sportsnet’s wardrobe department. The video of Subban doing an impersonation of the famed hockey commentator, with a laughing George Stroumboulopoulos beside him, has been a favourite on social media since it was released in September.
“We pay for two things in our industry: talent and charisma, and he’s (P.K.’s) got both,” said Coach’s Corner sidekick Ron MacLean on live television upon showing the Subban video to viewers.
Bruno Delorme, a sports marketing professor at Concordia and McGill, said Subban checks off all the boxes companies are looking for in an endorser. He has the expertise, the look, the role model qualities and youth. “He’s a marketing machine,” said Delorme.
Not all star athletes brand themselves in the way Subban has, and not all of them have the savvy or dedication to pull it off. He’s no Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, but those two serve as the template for athletes who transcended their sport thanks to smart marketing.
“Every player is different. It depends on how out there they want to be and how far they want to push the envelope,” Delorme said. “Look at Max Pacioretty. He’s the team captain, but I’m not sure he has the same marketing machine behind him or is as interested in pushing the envelope.”
Those who work with Subban on projects say he has a clear sense of what he wants and in some cases is the driver of the project.
He came up with the concept for his video, A Winter Wonderland Surprise, which went viral. It showed the transformation of the atrium that bears his name at the Montreal Children’s Hospital into a Christmas-themed slumber party with sweets, face-painting, plush toys and Air Canada gift certificates.
The video has been viewed just under half-a-million times on YouTube since it came out on Christmas Eve. Like the previous year’s holiday surprise, the video was created by Rebl House Media, a Montreal boutique video and digital media agency. Air Canada’s advertising agency, J. Walter Thompson, also contributed.
“We did this year’s holiday video in record time,” said Rebl House Media founder Alexandra Toulch. “It was like putting together a wedding in 10 days.”
It took more than 50 people to make the video happen, drawing on Rebl House, J. Walter Thompson’s, the film crew and others who contributed to the project. “He was really hands-on with it, which is cool and rare for a celebrity,” says Toulch. “He is super into all the projects he puts his name on.”
Rebl House’s relationship with Subban started with 2014’s holiday surprise video, and Toulch says there are more projects in the pipeline. He also works with Rebl House Media on strategy for content, social media and business partnerships. It comes up with ways to promote his marketing deals with the likes of Gatorade and Samsung in creative, social mediafriendly ways.
His official website — pksubban.com — launched with a glitzy party last October where limited edition Skateman T-shirts done in collaboration with local clothing shop Off The Hook were sold. The site is in need of some fresh content, and Rebl House will be helping with a facelift. (Mad Studios in Fort Lauderdale, FL, was responsible for the site’s creation.)
“He’s a busy guy, that’s for sure,” Toulch said. “But when he’s not playing hockey he’s extremely committed to building his brand and fulfilling his commitment that he made to the hospital. When he has a day off he’s not lounging with his feet up on his couch. He’s thinking about how to fulfill the commitment he made and build his brand.”
For Toulch, the Winter Wonderland Surprise video was “mission accomplished.”
“It was an experience the hospital really wanted the kids to have. We received feedback from the families and kids afterwards and they said it was the best day of their lives, they did not feel like they were at the hospital, which is exactly why we did it,” she said.
Toulch doesn’t worry about Subban overextending himself with his off-ice activities. But Delorme says it is possible for an athlete to be overexposed — recently retired quarterback Peyton Manning is considered a prime example of a sports star who’s out there a little too much — although the risk of saturation is not with the player, but the brands who seek him out.
Subban’s marketability is not directly tied to performance, Delorme said. The Habs missed the playoffs, and Subban didn’t match his usual goal scoring pace, but he was still the team’s lone representative at the All-Star game, John Scott notwithstanding, so he’s still recognized as one of the top rearguards in the league despite this season’s woes.
Off-ice issues are a bigger problem for advertisers, Delorme said. Witness the fallout for Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane, who is arguably the best player in the NHL right now, and an American to boot. After he was accused of rape last year, with the charges eventually being dropped for lack of evidence, his image was removed from the cover of EA Sports’ latest NHL video game.
“Subban’s at the point in his career where he has his $72-million contract,” Delorme said. “He’s proven himself, so he’s at the apex right now. Companies looking for endorsements are forgiving of a dry spell.”
Anyone who follows Subban on social media has likely seen references to his longtime pal Antonio Park. The Montreal chef is such good friends with Subban that when the player had a sit-down interview with Sportsnet magazine at his high-end sushi joint Park in Westmount, espousing its virtues the entire time, the chef didn’t even look at it in a promotional sense.
“As much as I’m a big part of his life, he’s a big part of mine. We’ve supported each other in the businesses we’ve done,” says Park. “We protect each other; if something is not good for me he’ll let me know and I’ll do the same.”
Park says they met eight years ago, when he was working at since-shuttered Kaizen Sushi Bar in Westmount.
“We met through food,” Park said. “As an athlete he cares about what he puts in his body.”
Park has taken it upon himself to ensure Subban’s nutritional needs are met: Subban eats at Park twice daily, for lunch and dinner, and in turn it has motivated Park to seek out better quality ingredients for his dishes, like beef that’s free of hormones and organic chicken.
“He doesn’t like to eat fried things or airplane food,” said Park. Subban’s eating habits have rubbed off on his teammates as well. For one road game, he prepared meals for fellow Habs Lars Eller, David Desharnais, Max Pacioretty and Alexei Emelin to take with them.
Park’s friendship with Subban has extended to the rest of the Subban clan. He jokes that he calls P.K.’s parents “mom and dad” from time to time, and last off-season they shared a condo in Toronto while Park was there filming the television show Chopped Canada.
“It’s my job to keep him healthy,” said Park, adding there’s a lot of research that goes into keeping an athlete in top form. “If the team doctor says he’s high or low on something, I try to provide him the best thing I can.”
Subban’s only limitation from a marketing sense is his sport. By virtue of being a professional hockey player, it’s unlikely he’ll ever reach the marketing stratosphere of a Michael Jordan, whose iconic Nike logo was an obvious inspiration for P.K.’s own Skateman, or a pair of athletes he took selfies with earlier this year on his Instagram: Dallas Cowboys star quarterback Tony Romo and retiring Los Angeles Lakers basketball player Kobe Bryant.
He isn’t even the Montreal athlete with the most worldwide recognition. That would be tennis pro Eugenie Bouchard.
“When companies look for endorsers, they also look at the geographic reach of the sport,” Delorme said. “Does the athlete play a local sport or an international sport? If you use that logic, Eugenie Bouchard has more marketability than P.K. because her sport is truly a global one. She’s more interesting for national and international marketing purposes.
“No knock against P.K., but a lot of people in the United States and Europe don’t know him.”