How Coke, P&G, Samsung Plan to Hit Bold Growth Targets

• The North American leg of P&G’s plan to “touch and improve more lives more completely” focuses on the “more completely” part. In North America, P&G already reaches 99% of consumers with at least one product. The goal over the next five years is to get each one to buy at least one more. That would add $1 billion to $3 billion annually to the company’s sales, which have been largely flat in North America the past couple of years.
• To that end, P&G last week launched a “Have You Tried This Yet?” campaign aimed at getting people to try just one among several products launched within the past 18 months. Among its tactics is a pop-up store in New York to encourage sampling its products.
• The “Just One More” idea is no small task, but not unattainable either. If each of the 133 million households in North America bought just one more P&G product annually, they’d only have to spend about $7.50 each to add $1 billion to P&G sales. A bigger-ticket item or repeat purchases that would drive the household sum up by $23 would add $3 billion in sales for the company. (www.adage.com)

Why More Brands Are Dangling Incentives on Facebook

• ConAgra Foods’ Healthy Choice, burger chain Jack in the Box and Barilla’s Wasa Crispbread are recent examples of brands that have been offering these digital incentives. It’s not a race to get more Facebook followers, the companies claim, but to create a sense of community and engagement among consumers.
• Let’s look first at ConAgra, which last Tuesday kicked off a “progressive coupon” offer on its Healthy Choice Facebook page. Users who “liked” the brand received a coupon for 75 cents off their next Healthy Choice purchase. ConAgra then coaxed more consumers to join its Facebook page by dangling a “buy one, get one free” coupon offer. In other words, the coupon’s value grew as more consumers joined the page.
• Within 25 hours after launching the promotion, the Healthy Choice Facebook fan base nearly tripled and it “continues to grow,” the company said. (It currently has 53,000 fans.) The coupon’s value grew from 75 cents to $1.25 and, three days later, reached its “buy one, get one free” goal. Furthermore, more than 37,000 consumers have since “reserved” the coupon to be mailed to them. (www.brandweek.com)

Saab Scares Up First Sponsorship Since Spinoff; More To Come?

Could a new sponsorship push be in the works for Saab Cars North America, Inc.? In what appears to be the brand’s first U.S. deal since Saab Automobile AB was acquired from General Motors Co. in February by Netherlands-based Spyker Cars N.V., Saab has come on board as a sponsor of Chronicles of the Cursed: The Sinkhole, which is billed as “Chicago’s premier haunted house experience. (www.sponsorship.com)

Richard Childress Racing secure Talladega sponsor

• Realtree, the creator and marketer of the world’s most versatile camouflage clothing patterns, have been announced as the primary sponsor of Richard Childress Racing’s No. 29 Chevrolet car for October’s Sprint Cup event at Talladega.
• The deal will see Realtree serve as primary sponsor on the car, driven by Kevin Harvick, at the event, the AMP Energy 500 at Talladega Superspeedway, on 31st October.
• Bill Jordan, the founder of Realtree said of the deal: “It is always a pleasure to work with Richard and Kevin, it doesn’t matter whether we’re in the field or at the track. Their passion is contagious. And this Talladega race comes at a perfect time for hunting and racing fans. Cool fall weather is in the air and Kevin and RCR are hot on the track. (www.sportspromedia.com)

McDonald’s Considers ‘Tweaking’ Dollar Menu

• CEO Jim Skinner also stressed the importance of maintaining “the value relationship” across the menu, while also maintaining the Dollar Menu and its relevance to consumers. Skinner noted that one possibility under discussion is “maybe adjustment of the lead sandwich.” He confirmed that a decision will be made and communicated soon.
• Like major food makers, McDonald’s will likely raise its prices at least moderately in coming months as a result of the rising costs of key commodities such as grain, meat and sugar. And the Dollar Menu probably will not be exempt, based on comments by the chain’s top executives during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference call.
• The executives stressed that McDonald’s has been able to manage the impact of volatile commodity prices better than the general market, and that no decisions have been made about pricing changes. However, they acknowledged that the U.S. division and its franchisees are “debating” price increases, including the possibility of adjusting pricing, or content, within the Dollar Menu. (www.mediapost.com)

Land Rover Goes Urban In 10 Cities Worldwide

• Land Rover’s campaign for company’s forthcoming Range Rover Evoque will be developed by a group of people in 10 cities. The company says that as part of the “Pulse of the City” project, 40 influential people in fashion, design, music and film will collaborate with Range Rover over the next 12 months to launch the smallest vehicle Land Rover has yet made.
• Land Rover — which along with Jaguar is owned by India-based Tata — says there will be a free app that can be used to track the 40 people on maps, which have interactive bullet points about what each of them are doing in that part of town, and their favorite venues in various areas of their home cities. The “living interactive guide” to the urban spaces is also at www.HelloEvoqe.com.
• Land Rover’s managing director Phil Popham said the urban focus on the campaign reflects the target buyer and the vehicle’s intrinsic design. “Its design is inspired by city architecture and a big part of a city is the people within it, their journeys and their conversations.”
• The “Pulse of the City” app launches first on iPhone with Android versions available from mid-November and uses GPS tracking to record the collective movements of people within the 10 cities, which are Sydney, London, Moscow, Sao Paulo, Milan, Madrid, Paris and Berlin. Some of the people involved are Josh Rubin, founder of Cool Hunting; London TV personality George Lamb; Francesca Versace in Milan; and Berlin actress Jessica Schwarz. (www.mediapost.com)

Under Armour near deal for more MLB rights

• As the World Series opens this week, Under Armour is close to completing a deal that would gain it the rights to manufacture performance footwear with MLB logos and the ability to use its stable of baseball players in advertising wearing MLB uniforms.
• “They have played around the fringes, but now they want to be a real business partner of MLB,” said a source with knowledge of the deal. Neither MLB officials nor Under Armour would comment.
• Sources said that no apparel rights will be included in the deal, and that the first Under Armour MLB shoes are expected at retail by early next year. Under Armour’s MLB endorsers include Rafael Soriano, Ryan Zimmerman and Cal Ripken.
• Rival footwear brand Reebok has held casual MLB footwear rights since 2004. Nike also has commercial use rights, along with underlayer and other licensed apparel rights. Footjoy makes licensed MLB golf spikes; Allen Edmonds has an MLB license for casual footwear and MLB-logoed shoe trees. (www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)

Additions for ING NYC Marathon target nonparticipants

• To complement the 2010 ING New York City Marathon’s marketing campaign, titled “I’m In, We’re In,” the New York Road Runners are debuting a host of new events and products geared toward fans not participating in the race.
• Nonparticipants can now watch the event live on their iPhones, participate in a five-mile race through Central Park, attend a postrace concert and watch four days of marathon-themed webcasts online.
• It’s the first time that the race has elevated spectators, family and volunteers to an equal level as runners in a marketing campaign.
• Crandall declined to attach a value to the campaign but said it is the most aggressive use of television, radio and banner branding the race has ever undertaken. NYRR developed the campaign in-house and worked with the New York-based Sandwick Media and Flat firms to execute across print and broadcast. (www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)

Citrix brands HP Pavilion’s suites

• The San Jose City Council last week approved a sponsorship deal that will brand HP Pavilion arena’s luxury boxes with the name and logo of software company Citrix Systems, which also will get its name and logo on arena concierge desks and arena walls, among other things.
• Florida-based Citrix Systems Inc. will pay $150,000 annually in the three-year deal to brand all 64 suites. The deal has a two-year extension option.
• The sponsorship was subject to City Council approval because the city owns the arena and will get half the revenue from the deal.
• For Citrix, which has a 550-person office in Santa Clara, the deal offers the opportunity to get its name and logo in front of technology executives who watch San Jose Sharks hockey games or other events from the arena’s premium suite area. (www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)

Campaign boosts renewals at Texas Motor Speedway

• Texas Motor Speedway President Eddie Gossage doodles for inspiration, and while drawing last spring, he developed an idea for a new marketing campaign driven by “hot cars and hot chicks.”
• The resulting “No Limits” campaign, which launched in August with a $500,000 Goo Goo Dolls concert at the House of Blues, features MMA-style lettering, an edgier Texas Motor Speedway logo, flashy hot rods with flame paint schemes and scantily clad women known as “The Great American Sweethearts.” The campaign is featured on 15 area billboards, poster-sized calendars, online and print advertisements.
• The cost of the campaign is far greater than anything the speedway has spent in the past. The $500,000 party alone cost $400,000 more than the speedway had ever spent on a previous campaign, Gossage said. But the results have been encouraging. (www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)