Vancouver Car Dealer Cashes in On Canucks Fever
For car retailers, getting their message out about the products and services they sell is a costly affair. They buy pages of advertising and Web listings on sites like Kijiji, AutoTrader and Craigslist for each car on the lot.
As public relations strategists, we work very hard for our car dealer clients to get them what we call ‘earned media’. That is stories on the dealerships, products and services written by reporters on topics of interest to their readers, listeners and viewers that draw positive attention to that particular business. Very often this is a struggle.
So it can only be viewed as the Vancouver sports/business public relations coup of all time when Kingsway Honda at Kingsway and 12th Avenue put up the banner Go Canucks Go with a small Canucks logo and the invitation to Honk if you are a fan across their acre-wide showroom windows. Did they know that the National Hockey League would send a letter telling them Go Canucks Go was a No Go?
The legal letter was somewhat threatening and ordered them to take their Canucks supporter sign down. The assertion was this was a violation of copyright and trademark owned exclusively by the NHL.
Doug Lum, of Destination Auto Group, responded by removing the logo and altering the Canucks support sign to say Go …Nucks Go – Honk if you are a fan. In doing so, he sidestepped the NHL’s legal department. He also got a landslide of publicity for his dealership.
The story went everywhere!
Wish we had thought of that. Brilliant manoeuvre!
Maury Keith over at Dueck’s was already offering Canucks jerseys signed by former team captain Trevor Linden. He got no publicity for that and was forced to publicize that feature for prospective customers through an expensive advertising campaign.
Mr. Keith and his dealership could have got all the publicity free had he found a way to draw the ire of the National Hockey League. He could have put a Canucks logo and support slogan on a Cadillac and parked it right out front on Marine Drive. That would definitely draw attention and, even better, a threatening letter from the NHL.
Other car-related businesses that must be green/blue with envy are likely trying to figure out how they can get the attention of the NHL’s legal department and then the news media so they too can cash in on free publicity.
Did anyone notice that Canadian Tire is offering all season rubber floor mats with the Canucks logo firmly underfoot? Boyd Auto Body has been running a Canucks contest for free Canucks tickets? Sears is offering a Vancouver Canucks seat cover set? And how about all those hockey flags mounted on cars and trucks heading in and out of the downtown area? My guess is someone is paying the NHL for the rights for each of these items. The result: No publicity.
For Kingsway Honda, it was better to beg for forgiveness than to ask permission. Their best day was when the threatening letter from the NHL landed at the dealership and some bright light decided to phone a reporter. Go Canucks Go!
Oops!
