Gretzky Playing It Cool When It Comes to New Sponsors, Agencies Find

Picture this for a TV commercial: Comedian Don Rickles, famous for his biting one-liners, calls somebody a hockey puck. The camera pans and that somebody is hockey star Wayne Gretzky.

Rest assured, there are no plans for such a commercial. Indeed, marketing experts say that if such an advertisement were to be made, most American TV viewers would likely be far more familiar with the bald-headed Rickles than big-headed Gretzky.

“Who is the best-known product endorser in the U.S. who is also a hockey player?” posed Bud Stanner, senior vice president of International Management Corp., a Cleveland sports marketing firm. “The answer is, nobody.”

Perhaps that is why several companies that now have Gretzky under contract say they have no plans to suddenly ram Gretzky into their advertising. This, despite the blockbuster trade last week that sent Gretzky to the Los Angeles Kings from the Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers.

Still, Gretzky may eventually have his day in the endorsement sun.

The day after the big trade, Gretzky’s longtime business adviser says he spent most of the day just saying no--and a few maybes--to interested corporate sponsors.

Indeed, five U.S. advertising agencies phoned Gretzky’s business agent with offers within 24 hours of last week’s trade, said Michael Barnett, president of Corpsport International Inc., a Canadian sports marketing firm.

Although Barnett won’t name the prospective clients--or the ad agencies--he did say that he promptly turned down a bank, an auto maker and an exercise equipment manufacturer. And he said “maybe” to one food product company and a home appliance manufacturer.

But for at least several months, Gretzky will not take on any new sponsors, said Barnett. “The product endorsements are all secondary right now,” said Barnett. “Once he’s comfortable with his new situation, maybe then we can look at other things.”

Until the trade, Gretzky had not been a very marketable celebrity in the United States. He has not appeared in any U.S. ad campaign since American Express used him in some print ads in 1986. Meanwhile, he has been featured in Canadian ad campaigns for Nissan, Gillette and a General Mills cereal called Prostars. Barnett said several of these campaigns may eventually cross the border into the United States. Gretzky is also under contract to Nike--a contract that is scheduled to expire next month.

But marketing executives at both Nissan and Nike say they have no big plans for Gretzky.

“Our position as a company is not to use spokesmen in our national advertising,” said Terry Foutz, national car advertising manager for Nissan. “We like to have our product be the star rather than a hired hand.”

Similarly, Nike, which last week broke a new $20-million advertising campaign, says Gretzky is not about to suddenly skate into its national advertising. “Our advertising is completely set for the next two months,” said Elizabeth Dolan, director of public relations for Nike. “This is nothing we would all of a sudden rush into.”

Just three days after the Gretzky trade, Nike did run a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times that simply said, “The Iceman Cometh. Greetings, Gretzky.” But that advertisement was a regional, one-shot deal.

In fact, Nike now says it is in no big hurry to renegotiate Gretzky’s contract. “We’re looking at it like any other contract,” said Dolan. “Athletes get traded and change places all the time.”

Marketing experts, meanwhile, say Gretzky should ease slowly into the U.S. endorsement limelight. “He might want to first start out regionally, and see how it goes,” said Stanner, at International Management Corp. “While Gretzky probably doesn’t have the marketing potential of an Arnold Palmer, he could eventually be pulling in well over $1 million a year in endorsements.”

In the meantime, Barnett admits, Gretzky faces a lot of competition for exposure in Los Angeles. “In a city of stars,” said Barnett, “he’s now just one of many.”

New Venture Aims to Challenge TV Guide

When media mogul Rupert Murdoch purchased TV Guide last week, he thought he had a virtual advertising monoply on his hands. After all, what other publication can major advertisers use to reach a national TV viewing audience?

Well, how about TV Week Network? The name might not sound familiar, but plans for the new joint operation of Tribune Media Services and Western States Associates are scheduled to be announced today in New York. With a single order, national advertisers will be able to buy space in 33 newspaper TV Sunday supplements in the top 30 national markets. What’s more, TV Week will have a circulation of 19.8 million--about 3 million more than TV Guide.

But TV Week will not offer full color advertising, which TV Guide does. A one-page, full color ad in TV Guide costs $104,600. A full-page, black and white advertisement in TV Week will cost about $72,000.

Robert Reed, president of Tribune Media Services, said there’s plenty of room for TV Week because TV Guide “only reaches 20% of the potential (television) audience.” But executives at TV Guide say they aren’t very worried. “People have tried to do this thing before,” said a West Coast advertising representative. “And after 35 years, we’re still here.”

‘Mac Tonight’ Has Slipped Out of Town

It all began when a Los Angeles advertising executive working on the local McDonald’s business turned on his car radio and heard the song “Mack the Knife.” He figured it would be commercially catchy to slightly alter the words to “Mac Tonight.”

That was in early 1987, and soon the ad agency Davis, Johnson, Mogul & Colombatto, or DJMC, knew that it had a winner on its hands. Although its “Mac Tonight” commercials started out as a local promotion to attract business for McDonald’s after dark, the popularity of the campaign quickly spread. Within eight months, McDonald’s asked the ad firm to create some national spots.

For years, however, McDonald’s only national ad firm has been Leo Burnett in Chicago. And the move was the first time that McDonald’s had asked a local agency to create a national spot. Now, McDonald’s has had a change of heart. And the national business for “Mac Tonight” commercials has been handed over to Leo Burnett.

“It’s by no means a surprise,” said Brad Ball, president of DJMC. “Ideas that work locally are often handed to the national ad firm.” But did Ball put up any fight to keep the campaign? Well, he says he didn’t. “I figured out early in the game,” said Ball, “that to fight them on this might cut off opportunities in the future.”

Client Mix a Good Match for L.A. Agency

Ask West Coast advertising executives the two types of clients they would most like to snatch and the answer will almost certainly be: Japanese car makers and Hollywood film makers.

Now, the Los Angeles office of the ad agency Della Femina McNamee WCRS has them both. For years, the ad firm has handled the $50-million American Isuzu advertising business. Last week, the agency also announced a joint partnership with the film marketing company, Gordon Weaver Co. Not only will this add an estimated $30 million in annual billings to Della Femina’s business, but Della Femina will now be creating some commercials for United Artists and purchasing media time for a new film company, New Visions.

But agency President Peter Stranger says he hasn’t yet bought himself a director’s chair. “I’ve been trying to get in the movie business for more than two years,” said Stranger. “But this part of the movie business is far from glamorous.”