Campbell Soup "is jumping into" the NHL with a deal which
"will give it NHL rights and the endorsement power of the
league's most marketable star, Wayne Gretzky," according to Terry
Lefton in the current BRANDWEEK. Campbell is close to completing
a multi-year corporate sponsorship with the NHL and a separate
deal with Gretzky, "to be incorporated into a promotion strategy
for its Chunky Soup line." Sources differ on whether Gretzky
would appear in TV ads, but one marketing source said "it's very
difficult to believe they would pay what you have to for Gretzky
and not do TV." Campbell and the league are still discussing a
buy on Fox's NHL coverage, and the "Campbell/Gretzky/NHL troika
will serve as the foundation of a themed promotion for the first
half of the season." That will include trips to NHL games and
licensed apparel and other merchandise as prizes. For the NHL,
the deal "expands its presence in packaged goods" and gets "rare
exposure on supermarket shelves, meeting a league directive that
all sponsorship pacts help expand the league's overall presence"
(BRANDWEEK, 10/2).
