Daily Buzz 10-21-10

After Big Brewers Back Down, Small Alcoholic Energy Drink Makers Thrive

When big brewers left the alcoholic energy drink business two years ago in the face of social concerns — one critic calls it “alco-speed” — it left a hole that Tim Baggs was more than willing to fill. And his company has been cashing in ever since.
Mr. Baggs’ Portland, Ore.-based Charge Beverages markets one of the hottest sellers in the beer category: fruit-flavored, high-alcohol-content malt beverages whose brightly colored cans and edgy names appear to be winning over young-adult drinkers by the thousands, but has also won the company continued scrutiny from the federal government.
The category leader is Chicago-based Phusion Projects, maker of Four Loko. Sales jumped 435% to $132 million for the year ended Oct. 3, according to SymphonyIRI (which excludes club stores and liquor stores). Also doing well is Joose, made by United Brands Co., Los Angeles; the brand’s sales increased 14% to $54 million. It’s also inspired hip-hop songs such as “Joose in My System,” by an artist named MackNifi$ent. (www.adage.com)

NFL Backs Broadway Play About Legendary Coach

The National Football League, despite its deep and extensive catalog of NFL Films that date back decades, has never been much of a caretaker of its own history, certainly not in the way that Major League Baseball cultivates its tradition or, say, the way the National Hockey League values the Stanley Cup.
The NFL is lending its massive marketing machine and support to the most unlikely of partnerships: a Broadway play, “Lombardi,” that opens at New York’s Circle in the Square Theater. The show is about legendary Green Bay Packers coach Vince Lombardi, who guided his team to victory in the first two Super Bowls and whose name is actually on the Super Bowl trophy. (www.adage.com)

Vizio Scores Rose Bowl Sponsorship Deal

Consumer electronics maker Vizio has signed a four-year deal to be the presenting sponsor of college football’s Rose Bowl Game and title sponsor of the 2014 BCS National Championship, the company has confirmed.
The deal was reached with the Tournament of Roses organization and ESPN, which has the rights to the games. It provides logo rights for Vizio product packaging and onsite integration for all Rose Bowl-related events. The Rose Bowl will celebrate its 100th anniversary in 2014, the final year of the agreement. (www.brandweek.com)

ConAgra Continues to Stress Value in Food Ads

Despite the improving economy, the value message remains an important marketing tactic for food companies. Take ConAgra Foods as an example, which this month launched a new ad campaign for its Banquet brand. Ads make an emotional connection with moms, but the underlying message is value.
Print, radio and in-store ads aim to get the point across by depicting everyday situations encountered by moms. One ad shows two sisters sharing a Banquet pie. “End sibling rivalry. At least for the next five minutes,” the copy states. It also emphasizes the product’s affordability and convenience: Banquet pies are “ready in four minutes” and cost “about a buck.”
The campaign, which runs across national print titles like People, Family Circle, Ladies’ Home Journal and Woman’s Day, targets value-minded consumers. The tagline, “So good for so little,” further underlines Banquet’s affordability, said ConAgra rep Shelby Stoolman. (www.brandweek.com)

After 181 Years, Local Beer Stops Playing Hard to Get

D.G. Yuengling & Son Inc. has become the seventh-largest U.S. beer supplier and is growing rapidly.
You wouldn’t know it by looking at the owner’s car. Dick Yuengling Jr., 67 years old, drives to work in a 2002 Ford Taurus that he bought used. On a recent morning, the gray sedan sat coated with dust, papers strewn across the front and back seats. (www.wsj.com)

P&G Puts Marketing Spotlight on Newer Products

Procter & Gamble Co. says 99% of U.S. and Canadian households use at least one of its products. Melanie Healey’s job is to persuade them to use at least one more.
Ms. Healey’s latest push as head of P&G’s North American market kicks off Thursday, with a round of promotions aimed at persuading consumers in the company’s biggest market to try products P&G has introduced over the past 18 months.
The “Have you tried this yet?” campaign features 18 products, including fabric-softening Bounce dryer bars, Charmin Sensitive toilet paper and Pringles Multigrain potato snacks. (www.wsj.com)

To Promote PBS Film, an Invitation to Head South

THE filmmaker Stanley Nelson’s documentary “Freedom Riders” will not be shown on PBS until May 16, but the promotional campaign has already started.
“American Experience,” the PBS series that commissioned the film, will announce Thursday the 2011 Student Freedom Ride, which will retrace the 1961 civil rights bus rides that are the subject of the film. During the protests, some 430 black and white men and women, mostly students, traveled to the South to challenge segregation, meeting the violence they encountered with their own nonviolent tactics, and eventually spurring the Kennedy administration to action.
A Web site, pbs.org/freedomriders, started this week, soliciting applications from college students for 40 expenses-paid seats on the trip, May 6 to 16, which will begin with a public event in Washington and travel through seven Southern states. The trip will overlap with a reunion of original Freedom Riders noting the 50th anniversary of their ride.

Coca-Cola seeks to boost brand equity

Coca-Cola, the soft drinks giant, will invest in emerging markets, corporate social responsibility and building brand equity as it seeks to drive growth.
Muhter Kent, the company’s chief executive, argued on a conference call that a 5% uptick in volume sales and 8% revenue improvement during the last quarter were largely fuelled by popular loyalty to its products.
“We always put our brands first in everything that we do, across each and every one of our operating groups,” he said.
“Our brand equity is growing stronger around the world as evidenced by a measurable increase in consumer preference for our brands this quarter, as well as more potent global growth for our flagship brand, Coca-Cola.” (www.warc.com)

PepsiCo transforms celebrity marketing

PepsiCo, the food and beverage giant, is modifying its approach to celebrity marketing in a bid to reflect changing media habits among consumers.
The owner of Quaker and Tropicana has allied with Brand Affinity Technologies, a company specialising in tracking popular perceptions regarding 40,000 well-known figures including athletes and actors.
It will employ a system which transforms selected editorial content from the web, like articles and photos, into multimedia applications. (www.warc.com)

Dunkin’ Donuts renews Boston Celtics deal

Dunkin’ Donuts has renewed its sponsorship deal with National Basketball Association team Boston Celtics for another three years.
The popular snack food and coffee chain will support the Celtics’ community projects, and sponsor the “KidZone” at the team’s home TD Garden arena, a seating area used to host children given tickets by charitable organisations. In addition, Celtics guard Ray Allen will appear as part of Dunkin’ Donuts “Caught Cold” promotional campaign, which will see free tickets given to members of the public “caught” drinking Dunkin’ Donuts iced coffee on the streets of Boston. The deal is likely to be worth an annual sum in the low six-figure range.
Boston Celtics president Rich Gotham said: “We are thrilled to extend the Boston Celtics partnership with Dunkin’ Donuts, a long-term sponsor of our team and an extremely active member of our community. We look forward to continuing to grow two great New England brands together while having a positive and lasting impact on the communities we serve.” (www.sportspromedia.com)

IBM Analytics See Uptick In Holiday Sales

Two years of conservative saving and cutbacks are about to give way this holiday season to big gains in consumer electronics and appliance sales.
According to IBM’s analytics-based forecast, sales of consumer electronics and appliances will reach nearly $10.2 billion in November, a 4% increase over the previous November. Of that, nearly $9 billion will be for consumer electronics, and $1 billion will be spending on appliances. The trend will continue in December, with combined sales of $13.8 billion ($12 billion on electronics and $1.6 billion on appliances), also an increase of 4% over the previous year. (www.mediapost.com)

Farmers Insurance Joins Humor Bandwagon

Farmers Insurance is the latest to use humor as a weapon in a pop-culture war among insurance companies.
It’s a big change from the antidiluvian (pre-GEICO) days when messaging around home, life and auto insurance pretty much limited marketing communications to either a “Mr. Rogers” type good-neighbor pitch, with insurance agents in hard hats lending a helping hand during floods and the like, or a “told you so” finger waver, where someone experiences a disaster and gets double-slapped by fate and a lousy plan.
Farmers’ effort, which includes TV, involves a semi-fictive “University of Farmers” overseen by Prof. Nathaniel Burke, played by character actor J.K. Simmons. The national campaign, by RPA and Tool of North America, makes fun of educational films, beginning with TV ads that started late last month, touting Farmers insurance agents as the best trained in the business.
While the university is fictional, it is an elaboration upon a real training center for agents in Agoura Hills, Calif. The scenarios shown on the TV ads and online videos at UniversityOfFarmers.com, show the professor leading training sessions on home, auto and life insurance. (www.mediapost.com)

For Gen Y Gals, Levi’s Finds The Plan Is ‘No Plan’

As part of its mission to become the favorite brand of jeans for twenty-something women all over the world, Levi’s has just taken the wraps off its new global community, shapewhatstocome.com. The idea, the San Francisco-based denim company says, is to hook these Millennials up with what they want most: Inspiration, a new type of mentor, and great-fitting jeans.
The site sprang from the brand’s extensive research initiative, which revealed that almost all — 96% — list “being independent” as their single most important life goal; 87% define success as being able to shape their own future. And while the company certainly expected the data to substantiate Gen Y’s much-discussed free-spiritedness, Mary Alderete, VP/global women’s marketing, tells Marketing Daily that she was a bit stunned by just how little they care about a traditional path. Only 68% say becoming a mom is on their priority list, 50% say getting married is, and just 43% ascribe much importance to getting rich. “Wealth came in dead last on their lists,” she says. We asked her to explain how these Gen Y women are reshaping a brand launched long before women had the vote. (www.mediapost.com)

Kool-Aid, et al. sponsoring online comedy for moms

Not all advertising needs to hit people over the head. In fact, many marketers are betting that the most effective ads may be a little more subtle — and sometimes insidious. Northfield-based Kraft Foods, for instance, is going after moms with a Web series starring comedian Anita Renfroe. With the title “You Gotta LOL,” two-minute videos that highlight challenges of motherhood such as finding time or sticking to a diet.
Renfroe has become something of an Internet celebrity with a rendition of Gioachino Rossini’s “William Tell Overture,” with nearly 500,000 views. She uses the tune to sing popular “momisms” such as “because I said so” and “don’t make me come down there.” She turned up in Kraft consumer research. (www.chicagotribune.com)

adidas “Fast Don’t Lie”

adidas tips off the NBA season with all-new lightweight signature basketball shoes to make two of the league’s most dynamic players faster: Derrick Rose and Dwight Howard. Their first-ever signature shoes, Rose will run point for the Chicago Bulls in the adidas adiZero Rose and Howard will dominate the paint for the Orlando Magic in the adidas Beast.
At 12.8 ounces, adiZero Rose is the lightest signature basketball shoe adidas has ever created and its perfect blend of fit and lightweight materials help make the Bulls’ speedy All-Star point guard even faster. adidas Beast’s, in its turn, is remarkable for its tongue, which features a unique lacing system that allows you to pop it forward for casual wear or move it back and lace through the loops for a tight fit on the court. Rich stripes, folded edges and a mix of high gloss and matte finishes represent items you would find in Dwight’s closet. Both shoes include a mix of textiles and synthetics that help reduce weight and increase stability during cutting movements. (www.popsop.com)

MacBook Air – Future Technology Made Available Today

On October 20, Apple officially announced the release of a new MacBook Air that introduces an utterly innovative concept of the portable computer. The latest model combines the best features of Apple’s mobile devices, iPad and iPhone, with laptop technology of the brand. Aside from an impressive design (it still is “the world’s thinnest notebook“) it features a ground-breaking technology that is sure to determine the future of the laptops.
Last, but not least, Apple has exceeded itself in creating external design of the device. Slim and solid, it will win your heart with its elegant looks and unbelievably low weight. New Macbook Air is available in 13 inch and 11 inch versions each weighing respectively 2.3 (1.04 kg) and 2.9 pounds (1.32 kg). (www.popsop.com)

Daily Buzz 10-21-10

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