St. Lawrence Starch Company made a major promotional commitment in the 1930’s when the firm tied its Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup brand to the NHL through the distribution of more than 1,000 different hockey pictures of players and teams. This commitment would run for 34 years. Another part of this commitment was a deal with Maple Leaf Gardens. St. Lawrence paid $4,750 per year for exclusive advertising rights for the corn syrup industry. In addition, the contract would allow the firm to use photographs and signatures of all the players, including endorsement of Bee Hive Golden Corn Syrup either from the team as a whole or from any of the players.
Other aspects of the firm’s hockey promotion involved St. Lawrence running a two-page ad in the Maple Leaf Gardens’ programs and announcements over the public address system at every event. The only exceptions to that would be at the Toronto Skating Club Carnival. Also, the Gardens was to arrange for players to be interviewed on radio station C.F.R.B. on “Bee Hive Sportsviews” with hockey broadcaster Wes McKnight.
The signature tune of the C.F.R.B. radio program was so popular over the years that it became traditional for it to be played at the Gardens when the Toronto Maple Leafs skated onto the ice at the start of the games. St. Lawrence extended its promotion into the United States. Of course, they didn’t have a market there, but the deal allowed them to distribute photos of U.S. players. A similar contract was negotiated with the Montreal Maroons. That, however, was short-lived when the Maroons suspended its operations in 1938. St. Lawrence continued with the Montreal Canadiens. The success of all the hockey promotion into which St. Lawrence tied it product was overwhelming. Every working day, up to 2,500 photographs were sent out the from Port Credit offices in response to requests accompanied by a proof of purchase. It was estimated that, largely due to this promotion, Bee Hive sales quadrupled through the 1930’s and became the number one selling brand in Canada.
<-- previous |