PepsiCo Pitches Sierra Mist Natural

• PepsiCo has renamed its lemon-lime soda to Sierra Mist Natural, and introduced a new campaign this week to reflect the beverage’s more natural ingredients.

• TV spots, via Goodby, Silverstein & Partners, San Francisco, debuted on Monday. According to PepsiCo, the reformulated soda contains no preservatives or artificial flavors, and is now made with real sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup.

• The commercials communicate Sierra Mist Natural’s new positioning by showing a variety of “nature experts”—rocks, trees and a rainbow—craving for the product. In one spot, a tree devises a plan to trip a hiker and, in the process, have Sierra Mist Natural “spill” all over him. The new tagline is: “The soda nature would drink if nature drank soda.” (www.brandweek.com)

Gucci Unpacks ‘La Dolce Vita’

• Old fashion is hot again, and Gucci is banking on its heritage. New products include the New Bamboo bag—an updated, $2,000 version of a 1947 bag with a bamboo handle, devised back then because the flexible wood was available during postwar rationing.

• At a recent yacht festival on the French Riviera, Gucci premiered a €590,000 Aquariva speedboat designed by Ms. Giannini to celebrate Gucci’s “jet-set, dolce vita years,” says Gucci Chief Executive Patrizio di Marco. (www.wsj.com)

Stores Scramble to Accommodate Budget Shoppers

• Some customers at Wal-Mart and the major dollar chains — Dollar General, Family Dollar and Dollar Tree — have such modest budgets that the retailers report upticks in spending at the beginning of the month, when government benefit checks and many paychecks come through. Late in the month, sales drop as even multiroll packs of paper towels are ditched for a single roll.

• “People are literally running out of cash on hand as the month goes on and they’re looking for smaller package sizes,” said Craig Johnson, president of the retail consulting and research firm Customer Growth Partners. “They may have $10, $20, $30 to spend getting toward the end of the month, and they have to be able to still feed the family and get diapers and so forth.” (www.nytimes.com)

Union Square Is Booming Despite a Soft Economy

• As Mr. Meyer’s restaurant prepares to celebrate its 25th anniversary, Union Square is on something of a roll. A $20 million project has reshaped the once-barren north end, and even on the heels of a recession more than two dozen stores, restaurants and bars have opened this year alone on and around the square.

• The latest big name to take up residence on the square is Nordstrom, which opened a 32,000-square-foot branch of its Nordstrom Rack discount clothing store on the south end, at 60 East 14th Street.

• “Union Square has really emerged as one of the top retail areas in the city, so when an opportunity came available to open a Rack there, we took it,” Colin Johnson, a spokesman for Nordstrom, said. “The number of pedestrians that pass through that area on a daily basis is really more significant than we see at any other Rack location.” (www.nytimes.com)

Clorox Said to Be Near Deal to Sell STP, Armor All to Avista

• Clorox Co., the maker of household- cleaning products, is near an agreement to sell its STP and Armor All auto-care brands to private-equity firm Avista Capital Partners for $750 million to $800 million, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

• The sale may be announced in the coming days, said these people, who declined to be identified because the talks are private. Blackstone Group LP, Golden Gate Capital and Castle Harlan Inc. were among firms that looked at the assets, which have been on the block since April, one of the people said.

• Clorox Chief Executive Officer Don Knauss said in May the bleach maker would explore options for the auto-care brands because the businesses have languished for years and aren’t a good match. Proceeds from a sale could be used to help bolster household and professional-cleaning businesses in Latin America and Asia, areas where Clorox has said it wants to expand. (www.bloomberg.com)

IBM Chief Says Consumers Aren’t Sold on `Smart Grid’

• Samuel Palmisano, chief executive officer of International Business Machines Corp., said improving the U.S. electric-transmission grid depends on providing better information to consumers.

• Companies shouldn’t wait for government to set standards for data and technologies to create a “smart grid,” which lets consumers monitor their energy use and take conservation steps that can save energy and money, Palmisano told the Gridwise Global Forum in Washington today.

• “There is an incredible buy-in for change” in the U.S., and backers of new energy technology should tap into the sentiment, he said in a speech opening the conference. (www.bloomberg.com)

UnitedHealth to Acquire A-Life, San Diego Maker of Software

• UnitedHealth Group Inc. said it will buy A-Life Medical Inc., a closely held maker of medical- coding software, in its fourth purchase this year of a company focused on helping doctors and hospitals reduce costs.

• A-Life assists more than 40,000 U.S. physicians with billing, processing more than 5 million transactions monthly, Minnetonka, Minnesota-based UnitedHealth, the biggest U.S. health plan by sales, said in a statement today. Terms weren’t disclosed. A-Life, based in San Diego, will join Ingenix, UnitedHealth’s health-technology and consulting unit. (www.bloomberg.com)

Kia Motors extends title sponsorship of the Kia Classic

• The LPGA today announced that Kia Motors America (KMA), the American arm of South Korean-based automobile manufacturer Kia, has signed a two-year extension of its title sponsorship of the Kia Classic golf tournament.
• California’s Industry Hills Golf Club at Pacific Palms in the City of Industry will host the event’s second year in 2011. Kia’s sponsorship of the California-based tournament is a boost for the manufacturer’s sports marketing activities in America following marketing initiatives such as its partnership with two-time LPGA winner Michelle Wie, who is the brand’s official golf ambassador. In addition to the partnership with Michelle Wie, Kia recently completed its inaugural US motorsports campaign in the Grand-Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Series and is also close to finalising a sponsorship deal with the National Basketball Association. (www.sportspromedia.com)

Virtual World IMVU Combines Social Gaming And Avatars

• Anxious to tap into a budding market, virtual world IMVU on Tuesday began offering casual and social games through partnerships with developers like Viximo, Heyzap and OMGPOP.

• “From a business perspective, games combined with our social networking and virtual goods economy is the natural direction to take IMVU to the next level of growth,” said Cary Rosenzweig, CEO of IMVU.

• Indeed, Americans now spend about 10% of their time online playing games, according to a recent study from Nielsen. Driven largely by the popularity of gaming on Facebook, meanwhile, the social gaming market has exploded. This summer alone, News Corp.’s IGN Entertainment debuted a social gaming network dubbed MyIGN; Zynga raised $150 million from Japanese wireless carrier Softbank; and Google acquired social media gamer Slide for a reported $180 million. (www.mediapost.com)

P&G Wants NFL To Tackle Problems Before Next Season

• While the NFL and its players’ union face a possible work stoppage next season, the specter may be having an effect on marketers’ plans already. Hypothetically, the two sides could resolve their labor dispute just before opening day, but some companies with NFL sponsorships need to inform retailers about related marketing plans months ahead.

• “The biggest issue that we face is, we are bound by our retailers … our time line is a lot shorter than, say, the NFL or the players’ association,” said David Palmer, Procter & Gamble’s head of global sports marketing.

• It would be curious if an Old Spice package or Febreze bottle had an NFL shield on it next fall, and the NFL had a lockout and no action. Palmer said P&G has some pressure to tip retailers off about its July 2011 plans now. (www.mediapost.com)

Sprint Creates ‘Epic’ Campaign

• It’s one thing to watch a YouTube video on a smartphone, or perhaps even a clip from a television sitcom. In a new advertising campaign, Sprint wants to show off the capabilities of its newest phone when it comes to showcasing movies and other mobile entertainment.

• In a new advertising campaign for the Samsung Epic 4G, Sprint has launched “Epic Mini Movies,” a series of short films that take the stereotypical moments from several movie genres to highlight the phone’s capabilities. The tongue-in-cheek satires, which are being shown on TV as well as on a Sprint microsite (www.sprint.com/epic) go over the top when spoofing the genres. (www.mediapost.com)

O Canada: Scion Enters Maple Leaf Country

• Until now, Scion vehicles have only been available in the U.S. Starting next week, Canada will become part of the North American market for the Toyota division. Around 46 Toyota dealerships will begin selling 2011 editions of the brand’s xB, xD and tC models in Montreal Toronto and Vancouver.

• The effort, via Los Angeles-based Attik — which has had the Scion account since the brand launched — includes print and online elements with the tag: “Introducing Scion. What Moves You.” On Monday, Scion launched a 60-second 3D cinema ad for an eight-week run in Toronto movie theaters ahead of selected R-rated movies.

• The campaign also includes digital out-of-home boards, dealership elements, and many non-traditional elements aimed at the creative community, to include “chalk art” stenciling around urban centers and projections supporting Scion Sessions and other local events like Montreal’s Piknik Electronik and Shine Night Club in Vancouver. Media is being handled by Dentsu Canada. (www.mediapost.com)

MillerCoors CMO Expounds On The Reach Of Sports

• The economy has hurt sports marketing, but the good news is that 2010 was a rare year, with the Olympics and World Cup happening at the same time. And TV ratings for sports are strong, especially compared to other entertainment.

• At the IMG Sports Marketing Symposium in New York, boasting record audience numbers on Tuesday, MillerCoors CMO Andy England opened the conference with a discussion of the “three R’s”: retail activation, relationships and reach. “Sports deliver the right audience for our media message. Sports deliver audience and reach I care about. That’s why we spent 60% of media against sports,” he said.

• He said the company also is looking to find ways to activate more strongly in the summer, which is when people drink the most beer. And he said activating at retail is the key. “Job number one is more assets to activate during the summer,” he said, explaining that MillerCoors’ largest trade channel is convenience stores, then on-premise at bars, restaurants and the like. Next comes grocery stores. “My point is — retail activation of sports is critical.” (www.mediapost.com)

Eli Manning QBs Oreo Double Stuf Racing Ads, But Where Are Peyton, Serena?

• New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning has often appeared in national ads alongside older brother Peyton, but he steps into the spotlight to lead an organization that has stocked itself with all-stars: the Oreo Double Stuf Racing League. Manning, who had been teamed on the DSLR with brother Peyton for several years, now leads a line-up that includes Shaquille O’Neal of the NBA’s Boston Celtics, Olympic gold medal-winning speed skater Apolo Anton Ohno and tennis star Venus Williams, another DSRL veteran whose previous partner was her sister, Serena.

• Parent company Kraft Foods confirmed that Peyton Manning and Serena Williams no longer have marketing deals with the company and that Kraft, Nabisco and Oreo executives decided to move the DSRL campaign forward without them. (www.nysportsjournalism.com)

Coty Wants US High School Students to Show Their Moves

• Coty is calling for moves. To promote the new product, adidas Moves Pulse, the global fragrance and the iris creative agency presented a website, which also serves as a platform of the new contest, encouraging US high school students (13 years of age and over) to showcase their inspirational moves for a chance to win $15,000 for their High School and $1,000 of adidas gear for them and their team.

• Starting September 15 through October 30, everybody who wants to display the flexibility and energy of their bodies, can upload short videos featuring the moves (sports, dance, juggling, party and so on, barring dangerous stunts, violent acts or anti-social behavior of any kind). The ultimate goal of the competition is to demonstrate that you really have this adidas Pulse and can become the icon of its ‘kinetic style.’ The videos are able to increase its ‘pulse’—the more ‘likes’ it gets on the website, the more ‘powerful’ it becomes.

• The competition is split into several rounds, including selection of “the sweet 16” spots to compete as pairs, which will be later shortlisted to “elite eight” and then “final four” videos—eventually, on December 13, there will be named just one grand prize winner, which will receive 15k plus $1,000.00 adidas.com gift certificate. Theу finalists on each of the stages will be determined by public voting. Top 250 videos will each get a bottle of adidas Moves Pulse fragrances, the 16 finalists will receive five adidas Moves Pulse holiday gift sets for them and their team/squad members. (www.popsop.com)