Suddenly, Everyone Wants to Be Groupon

• If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Groupon has a lot of admirers. From Walmart to a hotel in Scottsdale, Ariz., marketers have taken notice of the two-year-old Chicago startup that’s amassed 25 million subscribers, and they are building new Facebook apps that look a lot like their own personal Groupons.
• Last week, Walmart launched a deals app called Crowdsaver that unlocked 18% off a $500 plasma TV once the deal got 5,000 likes. Crowdsaver puts “you in charge of lower prices. If the deal gets enough likes, the price drops for everyone,” said the Facebook post. In less than 24 hours, the deal got enough likes, so it will be redeemable.
• In October, ConAgra brand Healthy Choice launched a coupon that increased in value as more people liked it on Facebook.
• “We looked at how successful the Groupon concept has been and how important coupons are to our community,” said Genevieve Mazzeo, manager PR-social media for ConAgra Foods. The discount went from 75 cents off to $1.50 off to buy-one-get-one. “It was a way to engage them differently and give them something they want: a coupon and reason to share.” (www.adage.com)

Walmart Hearts Justin Bieber

• There may not be a hot toy for 2010 on par with last year’s Zhu Zhu pets, but Walmart might be able to make do this holiday season with a hot import from Canada rather than China: Justin Bieber.
• Walmart is increasingly dominating the market for all things Bieber heading into the holiday season — including exclusive lines of nail polish and a fragrance designed or inspired by the 16-year-old Canadian tween idol and Twitter phenom. Mr. Bieber has developed a very special if not entirely exclusive relationship with earth’s biggest retailer, though Walmart declined to comment on just how extensive the partnership may yet become. (www.adage.com)

Secret McRib Network Defunct as McD’s Rolls It Out Nationwide

• McDonald’s is rolling out McRib nationally. But before the product’s rabid fans start rejoicing, let’s make it clear — the elusive product will be available widely only until Dec. 5.
• That’s by design, of course. The McRib — a sandwich with a boneless pork patty molded into the shape of ribs and topped with barbeque sauce, pickles and onions — has achieved cult status thanks in part to its scarcity. The brand typically pops up for a limited time on a regional or local level and has only been rolled out nationally twice before: in 1982, when it was introduced after a 1981 test-market run; and in 1994, for a McDonald’s tie-in with the Flintstones movie.
• The limited availability has created ardent McRib hunters, lovers of the sandwich who travel to find stores offering it. McRib superfan Alan Klein built the McRib Locator website and multiple Facebook pages have been created in celebration of the sandwich, and McDonald’s is planning on whipping up that mad passion for the product in its national marketing campaign. (www.adage.com)

GM Sends Colombian Cabbies to School With Chevy University

• As General Motors Co. begins an advertising blitz for Chevrolet in the U.S. by new agency Goodby, Silverstein & Partners that has caused heated debate, a little-noticed effort is underway in Colombia to educate cab drivers, many of whom drive Chevys, by inviting them to enroll in the Chevrolet University for Taxi Drivers in Bogota.
• The free program includes classes and training that taxi drivers find useful, from English lessons to helping them talk to passengers who are foreign tourists to basic business planning. After attending five hours of classes a week for six months, graduates receive a diploma as “technicians in the administration of individual passenger services.” The classes are supplemented by a 30-minute weekly program on radio station RCN that reinforces the curriculum and can be listened to while drivers are in their cabs. (www.adage.com)

Why Marathons Are Hot Spot to Chase Consumers

• With interest in marathons at an all-time high, marketers are increasingly trying to keep pace and get in front of what’s considered a highly desirable consumer. Nowhere is this more apparent than during next weekend’s ING New York City Marathon.
• Just how hot have marathons become? Last week, the registration for the 2011 Boston Marathon was over in eight hours, and that’s for a race runners have to qualify for. According to Running USA, about 467,000 runners crossed the finish line at U.S. marathons in 2009. Last year an estimated 470 marathons were held, up 5.6% from 2008.
• For the ING New York City Marathon, which takes place Nov. 7, more than 120,000 people paid an application fee just to enter a lottery for a shot at running. Of that, about 45,000 are expected to finish. Last year’s 43,660 finishers made the race’s 40th edition the largest marathon ever.
• And by all accounts, those finishers are a sought-after demo: They’re highly educated, high earners and in most cases they travel and spend on hospitality. Almost a third of New York’s field is from abroad. (www.adage.com)

Behind GoDaddy’s Growing Desire For More Sponsorships

Love it or hate it, it is hard to miss GoDaddy.com on the sports marketing scene, with the Web hosting provider and domain name registrar about to become even harder to ignore, and not only because of the annual self-generated hype around its risqué Super Bowl ad spots. Go Daddy, which has high profile team partnerships in IndyCar and NASCAR racing, now has added a deal in the previously uncharted territory of college sports with title of the former GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. (www.sponsorship.com)

Snooki, Blago Break Into Endorsements

• Corporate America usually steers clear of controversial pitch people, but pistachio grower Paramount Farms is plowing a different path.
• The unit of Roll International Corp. has signed Rod Blagojevich, the former Illinois governor who was convicted of lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. (www.wsj.com)

Nintendo Bets Big on Social DS System

• The headline feature of Nintendo Co.’s forthcoming 3DS portable videogame system is the ability to play 3-D games without the need for eyewear, but it is the device’s ability to locate other players that may prove critical to its success.
• The 3DS is the first major overhaul of Nintendo’s hand-held game system since it launched the popular Nintendo DS in 2004. With the 3DS Nintendo will upgrade how gamers can share information and play wirelessly with friends online.
• Consumers are growing tired of the current DS hand-held. On Thursday, Nintendo said sales of DS machines fell 43% to 6.7 million units in the April-September period from a year earlier. Sales of DS software titles dropped 23%.
• For Nintendo, which plans to release the 3DS Feb. 26 in Japan before a global launch in March, it is part of an effort to curb the threat from inexpensive social games played on Apple Inc.’s iPhone and cellphones running on Google Inc.’s Android operating system. (www.wsj.com)

For Marketers, Christmas Started Last Month

• For example, Abercrombie & Fitch sent e-mails to customers on Oct. 24 that carried this subject line: “We’re feeling naughty and sneaking Christmas in early!”
• And Best Buy, which last year started its Christmas campaign on Nov. 11, will introduce its first holiday ads for 2010 on Monday.
• To “emotionally engage consumers” who will be more deliberate about where they shop, Mr. Panayiotou said, Best Buy will run two holiday campaigns at once. One, created by Crispin Porter & Bogusky, part of MDC Partners, introduces an animated character, Kenneth the Blue Elf, styled after the retailer’s blue-shirted employees.
• Now, Kohl’s Department Stores is starting its holiday campaign with radio commercials on Tuesday. Although “the timing is consistent with previous years,” said Julie Gardner, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, “there’s going to be more ways to save and more offers” like early-bird sales.
• New commercials for J. C. Penney compare a promotion called “JCPca$h” that offers 20 percent “on the spot savings” with promotions at other stores, which require shoppers to spend their discounts another time — a dig at the popular Kohl’s Cash promotion that offers 20 percent off future purchases. (www.nytimes.com)

Nashville Predators secure pizza partner

• The National Hockey League’s (NHL) Nashville Predators have confirmed Hunt Brothers Pizza as the official pizza vendor of their home arena, the Bridgestone Arena.
• The new corporate partnership will see Hunt Brothers, the nation’s largest brand of made-to-order pizza in the convenience store industry, serve their food at five concession stands throughout the Bridgestone arena including the main entrance of the food court and club level. (www.sportspromedia.com)

Aaron’s Takes Music Video Approach In New Ads

• Aaron’s, Inc. is launching its first nationally integrated campaign starring Nashville recording artist Brittini Black.
• The effort includes TV, radio, web, out-of-home and print and will run through December 2011. This is the first time in the Atlanta-based rental company has created a campaign on this scale, says Mark Rudnick, Aaron’s vice president of marketing.
• This is the largest broadcast campaign ever for Aaron’s and is the first time the company has carried a national theme across multiple platforms including TV, radio, Web, print and out-of-home advertising.
• Black sings three musical styles of the theme song: Country/Pop, Latin/Spanish and R&B, which correspond with its target demographics — suburban, urban and Spanish speaking markets. (www.mediapost.com)

New Coast Guard Ads Leverage Academia

• When people consider the five U.S. service academies, they generally know the top three — The U.S. Military Academy (a/k/a West Point), the U.S. Naval Academy and the Air Force Academy — and they may know the fourth (the Merchant Marine Academy), but many might be hard-pressed to know the fifth: The U.S. Coast Guard Academy.
• “Most people have no idea who they are,” Jose Villa, president of Sensis, the agency behind a $3 million brand awareness campaign for the academy, tells Marketing Daily. While the Coast Guard itself has increased awareness with humanitarian efforts, such as the response to Hurricane Katrina and other natural disasters, the Coast Guard Academy has gone largely unrecognized. “They’re the only one that feeds directly into [the Department of] Homeland Security, and they’re the only one that doesn’t require a Congressional recommendation.” (www.mediapost.com)

Edmunds.com Relaunch To Focus On Intuition

• Edmunds.com, the largest third-party automotive commerce site — which gets about 16 million people per month looking to research cars, price them and find dealers — is prepping for a relaunch five years in the making. The reason? The online auto research and pricing site wants to fix that last link in the chain between virtual vehicles and the real thing in dealerships, and make the whole process more intuitive for non-gearheads.
• Jeremy Anwyl, CEO of the Los Angeles-based company, says products like Amazon’s Kindle are the kind of cross-media commerce play Edmunds is trying to emulate. “The challenge is how to create a seamless value-added experience,” he says. The company is running simultaneous tests on several home-page betas all designed to make the site more intuitive.
• He says the final Edmunds revamp, which will launch mid-December, will be more consumer-malleable, offering a number of ways to sift new-vehicle inventory based on a range of parameters beyond traditional specifics like sticker price and vehicle trim. Rather, consumers will be able to filter hundreds of vehicles by things like monthly payments, or the technologies that are dealmakers or breakers. (www.mediapost.com)

Geico camping out at ISC racetracks

• International Speedway Corp. has signed a five-year, seven-track sponsorship deal with Geico.
• The agreement, which is valued in the low seven figures annually, gives Geico track signage, on-site activation rights and naming rights at ISC-owned campsites. The participating tracks are Daytona, Talladega, Chicagoland, Phoenix, Homestead, Watkins Glen and Darlington. Those tracks collectively have 40,000 campsites that host more than 160,000 visitors a year.
• The deal is expected to help Geico as the insurer looks to increase insurance sales for recreational vehicles, all-terrain vehicles, boats and other powersports products. It will look to promote those offerings by telling NASCAR fans that Geico can save them money on more than just car insurance, said Eric Vaden of Geico motorcycle and powersports marketing. (www.sportsbusinessjournal.com)

illy Hosted The Great Coffee Debate to Discuss Coffee’s Future

• You get The Great Coffee Debate: a first-of-its-kind, frank, often surprising conversation about premium coffee’s present and future, held October 28 at The International Culinary Center in New York City, hosted by illycaffè, the premier Italian coffee brand and The International Culinary Center. Debate topics spanned farm to cup: growing and harvesting; purchasing and certification models; roasting and packaging dynamics; preparation methods; coffee at cafes and restaurants; consumer education.
• Three hours of spirited discussion found broad agreement on how direct purchasing relationships among growers and roasters are the best path to increasing growers’ profits, and on a renewed interest in brewed coffee, as equipment and consumer understanding continue to improve. (www.popsop.com)