Nike Canada has drafted the u.s. agency behind the global branding of Nike ­ Wieden & Kennedy of Portland, Ore. ­ to play on its team.

Cossette Communication-Marketing, which previously had all of the Nike Canada business, will continue to handle in-store and some regional work.

Harrison Young Pesonen & Newell remains the media buying agency for Nike Canada, which, according to A.C. Nielsen, spent more than $2.8 million in 1994.

Much of the Canadian advertising in the past has been adapted from Wieden & Kennedy’s u.s. creative but now the agency will also be creating Canada-only work.

Bill Redford, Nike Canada director of marketing, says, ‘Globally we are trying to send a consistent message worldwide, and the feeling is Wieden & Kennedy has very good knowledge of brand and can help us do that.’

Wieden & Kennedy, although rumored to be opening a Toronto branch, will handle only the account service end of the business from Toronto.

Says Mike Amour, Wieden & Kennedy’s international director:

‘We will be handling Canada like we are handling the rest of the world for Nike. Portland is essentially the central hub, and we will have service spokes or service bureaus in different markets around the world.

‘We are already doing this in Europe, and we will most likely have an account person based in Toronto,’ Amour says.

‘Beyond that, there are no plans for a full-service office in Toronto,’ he says.

The first advertising from Wieden & Kennedy is expected next month.

Redford says category differences in Canada and the u.s. make it imperative to have Canada-only creative designed for the sports category.

He says that while basketball is firmly entrenched in the u.s., it is only a developing category in Canada.

Hockey is strong in Canada and that, Redford says, is one of the reasons Nike is about to enter the category.

Nike has recently sponsored some junior level hockey tournaments and will make a bigger splash this month during the NHL All Star hockey game when several of the players will be wearing Nike brand skates and other equipment such as helmets, gloves, pads and sticks.

Mats Sundin of the Toronto Maple Leafs is one of the first professional hockey players to sign with Nike.

Says Redford: ‘We want to begin telling the market that we are in hockey, and tell Canadians that Nike will now be competing in a sport that is relevant to them.’

Although Oregon-based Nike bought 46% of Montreal-based Canstar, the maker of the Bauer brand of hockey skates and equipment, a year ago, Redford says Nike hockey equipment will not be Bauer clones.

He says the line is newly developed using Nike technology and is, in fact, still in development and will not be available at the retail level for another year.

Since the Nike purchase, Canstar has made some moves to emulate its successful parent.

Canstar has eliminated all other brand names from its portfolio and consolidated all its business under the Bauer name on a worldwide basis.

Also like Nike, Canstar has consolidated advertising globally in order to establish the Bauer superbrand around the world.

PNMD/Publitel of Montreal, a member of the BBDO Worldwide network, has been named Canstar’s global advertising agency.

The account was previously with Vickers & Benson Advertising of Toronto with the exception of inline skates and off-ice hockey, which was with Leonard/Monahan of Providence, r.i.

Genesis Media will continue to handle Canadian media buying, while bbdo agencies have the assignment elsewhere.