Hershey Plans TV Push for Syrup, PayDay Brands

• Hershey Co. is planning new TV advertising for PayDay and Hershey’s Syrup — the first time the company has boosted the decades-old brands on air since 2001, executives said today.
• The candy maker will also spend money to promote two new offerings set to hit stores in December called Hershey’s Drops and Reese’s Mini’s, the company said on an earnings call.
• Hershey roster agency Arnold Worldwide, New York, is handling the PayDay and Syrup spots as well as the new product rollouts, which will also include TV ads. (www.adage.com)

Professor Green Joins Doritos Promotion

• U.K. rapper Professor Green, who’s signed to EMI/Virgin, has joined the Doritos “Late Night” campaign.
• Rihanna first revealed her involvement in a Doritos campaign—with the “Who’s That Chick?” video of a track recorded with David Guetta—in her Oct. 16 Billboard cover story.
• Like the Rihanna video, Professor Green’s performance is filmed using 360° camera technology allowing fans to interact with and manipulate the music video. They can see the video for his Doritos track “Coming To Get Me” from different angles and reveal new scenes. (www.brandweek.com)

McDonald’s Intends to Raise Prices

• McDonald’s Corp. plans to raise menu prices to blunt higher costs, including what would be its first such increase in the U.S. in more than a year—a time when the burger chain’s sales have thrived amid lower prices.
• The company expects to increase prices in the U.S. and Europe amid projections that commodity costs will rise between 2% and 3% in 2011, Chief Financial Officer Peter Bensen said Thursday during a conference call after McDonald’s reported a 10% increase in third-quarter earnings and added that October sales appear strong.

 A Campaign About Computer Security, Couched in Plain English

• IN recent weeks, drivers on Route 7 near Minneapolis may have noticed something unusual: once a week, a painting crew has been hoisted up to repaint a section on the left side of a billboard, from green one week to red the next and finally to blue.
• “Paint Drying,” says text on the billboard. “Admittedly more interesting than explaining malware prevention.”
• The new advertising campaign, for Webroot, which makes antivirus software, also includes one billboard with a large swath of artificial turf attached meant to look like grass (“Grass growing. Admittedly more interesting than explaining spam filtration”), and another with a section of floorboards (“Laminate flooring. Admittedly more interesting than explaining spyware detection”).
• The campaign, by TDA Advertising and Design in Boulder, Colo., is a departure for the computer security category, where marketers tend to either arouse fear, by promoting their products as a line of defense against identity theft or other mischief, or use jargon like phishing, keylogging and malware to strike a chord with those knowledgeable about computers. (www.nytimes.com)

Jim Beam extend sponsorship with NRL side

• American bourbon brand Jim Beam has extended its existing six-year partnership with the National Rugby League’s (NRL) Manly Warringah Sea Eagles.
• The new deal which is a two-year extension sponsorship includes exclusive North American Whiskey pouring rights, signage through the Eagles’ stadium the Brookvale Oval, Jim Beam cheerleaders, player appearances, corporate hospitality and ticketing and other leveraging opportunities. (www.sportspromedia.com)

BB&T partners with Atlantic Coast Conference

• American banking corporation, Branch Banking & Trust (BB&T) has become the official bank of the collegiate athletic league, the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC).
• Under terms of the deal, BB&T replace RBC Bank to become a corporate partner of the league. BB&T will have exclusive television and marketing links with football and basketball, along with the conference’s championship events. The bank also will sponsor the Players of the Decades featured on the ACC website.
• Steve Wiggs, the bank’s chief marketing officer, said that the sponsorship made good business sense taking into account that it has a branch presence in every ACC state except Massachusetts. Wiggs said BB&T will be able to “take advantage of full TV advertising of all ACC football and basketball games, which complements our overall TV media plan.” (www.sportspromedia.com)

Sony PlayStation Reality Web TV Attracts Big Advertisers

• The Sony PlayStation Network has signed on Ford, Electronic Arts and the U.S. Air Force to sponsor the second season of the video game reality show, The Tester.
• The numbers of sponsors per show will vary. One of the challenges integrates a U.S. Air Force base into the show with a 30-second, pre-roll ad. Ford provides the transportation and signed on for a mid-roll spot. Electronic Arts signed on for a mid-roll spot for the Medal of Honor episode.
• The eight episodes will run once weekly, between 25 and 30 minutes long. The episodes for the first season, more experimental and less formatted, ran between 15 and 20 minutes.
• If Susan Panico, senior director of PlayStation Network, has her way, the second season of The Tester — a reality show based on Sony’s PlayStation and video games — will become an Emmy contender for original content within five years. “About 2.5 million viewed the show last year, and our goal is to increase that by 1 million this year,” she says. “Sixty-four percent of the people who watched the show viewed it within the first three days.” (www.mediapost.com)

Glenfiddich Events, Ads Hit Major Metros

• Single-malt Scotch brand Glenfiddich is launching a multimillion-dollar advertising and marketing campaign. The campaign, focused on a visual creative and the tag “One Day You Will,” combines out-of-home, print and targeted online media buys with a series of events in key U.S. markets.
• The creative, via London-based Leagas Delaney, features photography of scenarios that are intended to inspire awe around themes of exploration and achievement. The new positioning will include a series of billboards in New York’s Times Square, as well as in central locations in Dallas, Los Angeles and Chicago. (www.mediapost.com)

Sears Launches New Payment Option

• With people still reluctant to use credit cards, Sears hopes to increase consumer borrowing by rolling out a new payment option called the Sears Monthly Payment Plan.
• The plan will allow people who are leery of unexpected finance charges to make purchases with a fixed, low annual percentage rate, and payments that extend over 48 months.
• Sears, which also offers customers layaway options as well as its Sears-branded card, says it wanted to offer credit-shy customers more financing options. “The monthly payment plan is a smart shopping solution that makes it more affordable for customers to pay for large purchases,” it says in its release. It claims the new plan now gives it more payment options than any other major appliance company. (www.mediapost.com)

Dell to spend ‘hundreds of millions’ on rebranding campaign

• The world’s number two personal computer manufacturer will launch the campaign to coincide with a range of new laptops and JBL speakers.
• Paul-Henri Ferrand, chief marketing officer for Dell’s global consumer, and small and medium business division, said: “We’re going to stop mentioning price as the single important aspect.”
• According to a Reuters report Dell will seek to emphasise that it is a premium and not price led brand. (www.brandrepublic.com)

Lee Cooper Wants Its Fans to Wear&Tear the Jeans

• One of the oldest denim brands in the world, Lee Cooper, is launching a competition for its die-hard fans who love it when their clothes have an exclusive touch. The global 102-year old brand, which now is selling its lines in 85 countries, is encouraging consumers to wear-down their pair of jeans until it acquires exclusive pattern, and then show it to public for a chance to receive nice money. This October, Lee Cooper Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand divisions have teamed up to launch a limited edition Lee Cooper Dry Denim collection, which will be the ‘platform’ for the contest.
• The pants made of so-called raw denim can adjust to the body of the person who wears then and over some time gets the color and mold which is truly unique with all the fading, whiskering and creases, which can’t be repeated. The constants are encouraged to buy a pair of Lee Cooper Dry Denim and make photos of the new jeans, register at the www.leecooperchallenge.com website until January 31 to submit the “before” stills. After that they are expected to wear the jeans without washing (if possible) or using any artificial methods that may speed up the natural process of aging for about half a year. Every month they should submit three photos (side, front, back) of their ‘customized’ item plus information on how they treated the item. The visitors to the website can discuss the entries and also read articles about the raw denim. (www.popsop.com)