The Czech national ice hockey team had a golden dream. We had a record-breaking attendance dream. And just like them, we skated all the way to the top.

But predictions? Rather chilly…

It’s here. In 2024, the Czech Republic once again hosts the world’s biggest hockey event — for the first time in nine years. Back in 2015, the last time the IIHF World Championship came to Czech soil, we didn’t just cheer for great hockey — we set an all-time attendance record.

Now, expectations are cooler than freshly smoothed ice. With fans from Russia and Belarus understandably absent, and the usual Czech skepticism about our team’s chances, many doubted whether we could come close to that historic turnout.

The puck is in the SoMe game

So just as an extra player is called to the ice after a goalie leaves in the final minutes of a (nearly) lost match to give the offense extra strength and numbers, Unicorn Attacks—the marketing agency responsible for the championship’s marketing strategy—called us to support their performance marketing and social media efforts, while superlative.works handled the visual identity.

The first faceoff with the (Czech) fans was brutal. The puck/emoji in the logo we published a full 12 months before Bob and Bobek did their first dance, and earned as much scolding as a player who just scored an own goal. But we know our people—eventually their hearts warmed, and the World Championship’s social media channels began to fill with virtual fans.

"When we look back through championship logos from decades ago, it's all national flags, hockey players and ice chips all over the place—very few exceptions. And frankly, no one remembers the championship logos. So why not make it so that the logo, in turn, is remembered for a long time? Why not try to make a slightly different benchmark for the future? This game deserves it, and this iconic event would suit a slightly revolutionary identity (we believed). And since this championship was all about the fans from the start and one big show for the fans, we built the logo on them and their emotions. We showed the hockey federation this one option... and it turned out that we came across a very brave teammate!"

— Martin Klčo - Co-founder of Unicorn Army —

Vojta’s POV: A Specialist's Take

“During my time at Digital Ant, I’ve worked on everything from B2B lead gen to e-commerce and political campaigns. But none carried the same societal weight as the IIHF World Championship. Few things unite Czechs like hockey.

From the start, I felt a strong sense of responsibility and pressure to deliver top-tier results. Our main goal was clear: break the 2015 attendance record and make 2024 the most-visited championship in history.

Many would assume we should start focusing on ads just weeks before the event. But we planned six distinct phases, each with defined expectations. That meant creating both ideal and pessimistic media plans to transparently present projected outcomes and showcase measurable value.

Promotion began in April 2023 — more than a year before the tournament. On Meta, we managed campaigns ranging from lead gen and community-building to promotion and direct sales. On Google Ads, we focused on YouTube, Search, and Demand Gen.

What made this project unique was the full-spectrum campaign management across several countries. Add in strong domestic demand and the national passion for hockey and trophies, and you get every PPC specialist's dream gig.”

Weekly content planning sessions with the Czech Ice Hockey Association helped us steadily build and engage the fan base online, while subtly teasing upcoming ticket sales.

High-Speed Social Play from the First Minute

We produced videos featuring head coach Radim Rulík and ex-player turned rising star commentator Jakub Voráček. Weekly content planning sessions with the Czech Ice Hockey Association helped us steadily build and engage the fan base online, while subtly teasing upcoming ticket sales.

Those began alongside performance campaigns in September 2023. By January 2024, we'd already exceeded expectations with over 400,000 tickets sold.

Vojta’s Insight

"One of the first tasks was growing a brand-new Instagram page from zero. With the unique content at our disposal, I had no doubt we’d see strong organic growth. But would it be fast enough a year out from the event? Our answer: no.

Thanks to paid campaigns, we reached over 10,000 followers in just one month. We tested different creative types and messaging styles, and those learnings paid off during the main campaign. One standout insight: videos drove higher engagement than static posts. With lower CPMs, this confirmed our need for high-quality video content."

Heart of the Game: From Claim to Philosophy

Czech fans are deeply loyal, especially when the national team hits the ice — or top global teams like Canada or Sweden. But early ticket sales weren’t great for "less attractive" matchups. Even playoff games saw underwhelming interest.

Initial ticket bundles included both blockbuster and lower-profile games, but with low trust in the Czech team's chances, fans hesitated across the board. We had to engage them emotionally — testing themes, targeting, and creative executions under our "Heart of the Game" slogan.

We tested videos, statics, and carousels in every campaign, using advanced audience segmentation and real-time performance tracking. We explored every path, pivoted fast, and pushed what performed.

Santa loves Hockey

Christmas and Valentine’s Day campaigns followed. We targeted parents of young hockey players and women surprising their partners with the ultimate gift: tickets to a once-in-a-lifetime championship.

We tested videos, statics, and carousels in every campaign, using advanced audience segmentation and real-time performance tracking. We explored every path, pivoted fast, and pushed what performed.

Vojta’s Insight

“Christmas was our biggest investment period. We promoted day-pass bundles, VIP experiences, family tickets, and finals.

Advantage+ targeting outperformed other strategies. Meta’s algorithm extended beyond audience settings to find new, high-performing users.

Targeting women buying VIP passes as gifts yielded double the engagement rate compared to other ads — though with higher CPMs due to audience size.

Once again: constant testing was key. Not just visuals, but also targeting and optimization strategies. You can’t stop at the first decent result.”

Hardcore fans already knew and would buy tickets. So instead, we focused on casual fans — those who tune in only for the tournament.

Time to Break the Packs (and the Records)

Early 2024 saw bundled tickets split, triggering a massive spike in sales. We launched fresh international campaigns, focused on neighboring countries with strong hockey cultures and manageable travel distances.

Vojta’s Insight

"We ran campaigns in Poland, Finland, Germany, Lithuania, Switzerland, and of course Slovakia. Here are some takeaways:

• Expectations abroad were even higher. Static assets weren’t enough.
• We began with English creatives but saw far better performance after translating into local languages. In Poland, engagement tripled.
• Country-specific videos with native voiceovers performed best across the board."
   

Entering the Final Period

Vojta’s Insight

"Only during the championship itself did I realize just how powerful our real-time campaigns could be. Supporting less attractive games was crucial.

We updated creatives daily based on ticket sales. Simultaneously, general campaigns (mostly video) promoted the tournament's unmatched atmosphere.

We even targeted tourists already in Prague, inviting them to experience a world-class game — regardless of who was playing. With that pitch, it was easy to get results."

The Results? As you already know: outstanding.

The 2024 IIHF Ice Hockey World Championship in Prague and Ostrava welcomed 797,727 visitors. We broke the 2015 record by over 55,000 attendees.

Digital campaigns — managed entirely by our team — played a major role.
The entire agency came together:

• SoMe specialists brainstormed for over a year
• Motion designers created non-stop using the vast IIHF archive
• Vojta’s PPC team optimized daily against ambitious targets
• Project managers, led by co-founder Štěpán, maintained around-the-clock comms with IIHF and the Czech association

From our Prague office, we truly showed hearts of the game.

"This wasn’t easy. How do you allocate budget across multiple countries, phases, ticket types, platforms, and a never-ending stream of content? Even during the semifinals, we were still launching tactical promos. Everyone knows what happened on the ice. But few understand how much ant-level hustle went into filling the arenas. Thank you, Štěpán, for your ice-cold calm. I hope this campaign becomes a benchmark at IIHF and beyond — because this is how it should be done. "

— Martin Klčo - Co-founder of Unicorn Army —