MacLaren Advertising
MacLaren Advertising was a Canadian advertising firm. It was founded as the Toronto office of Campbell Ewald in 1923 to handle General Motors Canada's advertising account and was purchased by Jack MacLaren, who renamed it, in 1935, and made it an independent firm.[1]
The firm is best known for launching the General Motors Hockey Broadcast in 1931 when it acquired exclusive radio broadcasting rights for games held in Maple Leaf Gardens. The programme initially aired on the CN Radio network. The series transferred to CNR's successor, the Canadian Radio Broadcasting Commission and became the Imperial Esso Hockey Broadcast in 1934, when Imperial Oil became its sponsor, and then Hockey Night in Canada in 1936 when it began airing on the CRBC's successor, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. MacLaren Advertising would produce the programme in collaboration with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation until 1988.[1]
The agency became a leader in Canadian advertising, and was the first advertising agency in Canada to have a radio department, research department, direct mail and sales promotion department, as well as a poster and store display division. As it grew, it established branches in Montreal, Quebec City, and London, Ontario.[2]
It acquired the Norris-Patterson agency in 1942, and by 1954 was one of the top 50 companies in North America. MacLaren expanded further, establishing branch offices in Vancouver, Winnipeg and Ottawa.[2]
In the 1950s and 1960s, MacLaren was the largest ad agency in Canada and its staff produced 85% of TV network programming after CBC Television started broadcasting in 1952.[2] More recently, the firm was responsible for Molson's “I Am Canadian” campaign and the “Built For Drivers” platform for Pontiac and a series of ads for Sunlight detergent in the 1980s.[1]
In the 1970s, it acquired agencies in London and Paris and opened an office in Nassau.[2]
In 1988, the firm was acquired by Lintas Worldwide which renamed the firm MacLaren:Lintas. In 1995, the firm, now a Canadian subsidiary, was sold to the McCann Erickson Group and renamed it MacLaren McCann. In 2016, it was renamed McCann Canada.[1]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 "Goodbye MacLaren McCann, hello McCann Canada". Strategy Online. July 8, 2016. https://strategyonline.ca/2016/07/08/goodbye-maclaren-mccann-hello-mccann-canada/. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "MACLAREN MCCANN CANADA". Advertising Age. September 15, 2003. https://adage.com/article/adage-encyclopedia/maclaren-mccann-canada/98758. Retrieved September 7, 2020.
