Five More Join Midcal ‘Ten’ Lineup in Bid to Lure Back Soda Drinkers

Dr Pepper Snapple Group has added five sodas — 7Up, A&W, Canada Dry, RC and Sunkist — to its Ten platform, which boasts 10 calories per 12-oz. serving. The sodas, now being tested in Columbus, Ohio; Des Moines, Iowa and central Pennsylvania, join Dr Pepper Ten, which launched nationally in October. The new lineup is receiving full marketing support as part of the test, including a 30-second spot from agency McGarry Bowen, plus outdoor, radio, sampling and in-store marketing. The media agency is Interpublic Group of Cos.’ Initiative.

“The objective of bringing this platform to market is to focus on folks who are regular carbonated soft-drink users but have cut back on frequency of consumption,” said Layla Vela, brand manager-7Up. “Consumption has dipped over the past few years. This is an opportunity to bring incremental business to the individual trademarks under the Ten platform. But it [also provides] great stories and news for our retail partners, so they can grow the carbonated soft-drink category and aisle as well.”

Many in the industry are wondering whether so-called mid-calorie sodas, such as Dr Pepper Ten and PepsiCo Next, soon to launch nationally, could provide the boost the struggling soft-drink category needs. As consumers look to cut calories and health advocates blame the fizzy drinks for contributing to spikes in obesity and diabetes, soda marketers are looking for ways to attract lapsed users. Earlier efforts in the mid-calorie space, such as Pepsi XL in the mid-1990s and C2 and Pepsi Edge, launched in 2004, flopped. But some believe now is the time for this in-between category.

“There exists pent-up demand for better-tasting lower-calorie products,” wrote Bill Pecoriello, CEO of Consumer Edge Research, in a report on the topic. “Our research suggests that a mid-calorie cola could drive incremental volume for carbonated soft drinks, as interest levels were highest among weekly consumers of energy drinks, enhanced and flavored water, ready-to-drink tea, sports drinks and juice drinks.” (www.adage.com)

Beam Gets Evil in Debut Ad for Newest Bourbon

Beam Inc. is going straight to hell with its debut ad for “Jim Beam Devil’s Cut,” a first-of-its-kind bourbon that puts a decidedly evil spin on an old Kentucky tradition.

Launched nationally last summer, the bourbon is made by extracting and bottling the last drops of liquid trapped inside wooden bourbon barrels. In the old days this was called “sweating the barrel,” as distillers filled empty barrels with water and then rolled them in the heat to release the trapped liquid.

Beam has found a way to do that on a larger scale with a proprietary process, freeing what it says is a deeper, darker bourbon with notes of wood, oak and vanilla.

The devil analogy is drawn from bourbon-making lore: As bourbon ages, the portion lost to evaporation is called the “Angel’s Share.” So Beam decided to name the liquid left behind in the wood the “Devil’s Cut.” (www.adage.com)

McDonald’s to Launch Happy Meals Ads

McDonald’s is putting its embattled Happy Meal front and center with a national TV campaign expected to launch next week, Ad Age has learned.

According to people familiar with the matter, the campaign will feature new characters and focus on nutrition, which has historically been a sore point with those who charge that Happy Meals contributed to an increase in childhood obesity. The campaign, which will most likely run periodically through 2012, was created by Publicis Groupe’s Leo Burnett, Chicago.

The agency declined comment and referred calls to McDonald’s. A spokeswoman for McDonald’s did not provide details and said it was “premature to discuss a Happy Meals campaign.”

The campaign is believed to be the first major TV push for Happy Meals since the chain began revamping the offering last fall with apple slices, fewer fries and a low-fat dairy option. The result is a 20% reduction in calories in what the chain calls its most popular Happy Meals. (www.adage.com)

No. 2 Sports Drink Powerade Taps Into Its ‘Underdog’ Status

The campaign, which will kick off with the TV spot shown above on Saturday, will carry the tagline “Power Through,” an extension of the “Game Science” campaign the brand launched last year during March Madness. Powerade will leverage its designation as the “official sports drink of the NCAA,” with print and digital iterations of the work coming out later in the year.

Coca-Cola-owned Powerade saw marketshare rising 1.3 percentage points to a 28.5% share in the category for the first nine months of 2011, while competitor PepsiCo’s Gatorade fell one point to a 70% share, according to Beverage Digest.

“While the campaign was birthed out of brand and consumer insights, Powerade is also an underdog,” said Yolanda White, group director of marketing. “We’ve never stopped believing and we’ve been hurdling through challenges.”

Ms. White said the campaign’s insight came from a brand positioning exercise that involved ethnographic studies, spending a time on baseball fields and basketball courts. She said it became clear the way Powerade thinks about itself is very much the way the brand’s core demographic, young athletes, think about themselves. (www.adage.com)

Avoid Bad Decisions and Charlie Sheen, Says New DirecTV Spot

With two commercials starring Charlie Sheen debuting in two days, looks like marketers are cashing in on the actor’s bad-boy reputation and messy, drug-addled past.

For DirecTV, Grey New York continues the “what if” scenario theme from previous commercials, examining all the bad things that could happen if you don’t give up cable. This time, not being able to record your shows will result in some bad decision-making that may lead you to re-enact scenes from “Platoon,” in which Sheen starred.

The ad makes fun of Sheen, as expected, suggesting that bad decisions and the actor pretty much go hand-in-hand.

Similarly, Fiat introduced a commercial yesterday with Sheen driving his Fiat Abarth around inside an opulent mansion as attractive women cheer him on. He then steps out — a close shot of his ankle monitor is provided — and says, “I love being under house arrest.” (www.adage.com)

Enterprise Revs Up March Madness Spot

NCAA corporate partner Enterprise Rent-A-Car is gearing up for March Madness, bowing a new 30-second spot featuring employees who were once competitive college athletes.

Featuring a roster of more than a dozen former swimmers, football players and power forwards, the “We Played” spot tipped off on March 3 during CBS’ and ESPN’s college basketball coverage.

An extension of the year-old “The Enterprise Way” campaign, the new spot underscores the strong ties that bind the car rental company and the collegiate talent pool. According to CollegeGrad.com, no American company recruits more college grads than Enterprise, which in 2011 scoured campuses to fill more than 8,000 entry-level positions.

The “We Played” ad also echoes a familiar NCAA refrain, which is that the vast majority of college athletes will go on to pursue a career outside the sporting arena.

The campaign will air through May 30. About 25 spots will run during CBS/Turner Sports’ joint coverage of the 2012 NCAA Men’s Division I Basketball Tournament. Turner’s truTV will once again carry the “First Four” matchups, which are set to take place in Dayton, Ohio. (www.adweek.com)

Nissan May Revive Datsun

Nearly three decades ago, Nissan Motor Co. phased out the Datsun brand that had built a following around the world among buyers of small, inexpensive and sporty cars. Now, it is thinking of bringing it back.

The Japanese car maker is considering reviving the brand for a line of low-cost cars that it could make and sell in emerging markets where its Nissan vehicles are too expensive for consumers shopping for their first brand-new car. a person familiar with the matter said.

The Datsun name was first introduced in Japan in 1932 and the brand hit U.S. streets in 1958. In the 1970s and 1980s, Datsun won over U.S. consumers with small fuel-efficient models like the B210, and driving enthusiasts with its 280Z. But in the mid-1980s, the Datsun name was retired so that the parent company could put its own name on its cars. (www.wsj.com)

A Friendlier Cellphone Brand

DECLARATIONS of love for cellphone companies are few and far between. Dropped calls, rising prices, spotty service and strict contracts make many customers want to throw their hands — and their phones — in the air.

Virgin Mobile is hoping to tackle that antipathy head-on with an advertising campaign that starts this week.

Allon Tatarka, a creative director at Mother New York, the agency that created the campaign, said many people’s relationships with carriers ranged from lukewarm to vitriolic. “You either don’t care or you hate them,” Mr. Tatarka said. “We’re trying to inject love into that relationship.”

Virgin Mobile isn’t a full cellphone company. Instead it’s a brand that offers prepaid cellphones through Sprint in the United States. It hopes to solidify its position with its target market, 18- to 24-year-olds, with a campaign that includes a heavy dose of youth marketing strategies from social media sites like Pinterest and Facebook, as well as mobile applications. (www.nytimes.com)

Scion Aims Online Videos at Young Buyers

IN Toyota’s view, its Scion brand of automobiles is not just for anyone. The cars are for the young and fashionable — they are called “influencers” these days — who spread the word about the vehicles after encountering the company’s art, music or comedic marketing.

That is why Scion’s newest model, the iQ, is arriving nationally today with humorous online vignettes, which range from wry to a bit racy, and other digital offerings like an interactive car brochure and an online museum that highlights underground movements like Chicano punk music in Los Angeles.

Ever since Scion, which is a Toyota division, was introduced nine years ago, the brand has fielded offbeat marketing approaches to build an 18- to 34-year-old fan base. In introducing the iQ, its first new model in three years, Scion is hewing to the ahead-of-the-pack marketing approach that particularly appeals to youthful urbanites and the fuel-conscious.

“We are trying to hit the younger market since this is usually a first new car for our buyers,” said Owen Peacock, Scion’s national marketing manager. Some 75 percent of the iQ’s buyers are new to the Scion brand, according to the company’s most recent data. (www.nytimes.com)

State Farm, Allstate Eclipse Geico, Progressive

It might be time for Geico to retire the gecko and the caveman. And Progressive may want to put the perky Flo out to pasture as well.

Both brands have been on a long-term downtrend in consumer perception since fall 2010 in the U.S., while State Farm and Allstate have eclipsed those brands riding on their own quirky campaigns, according to YouGov BrandIndex, the daily consumer perception research service of brands.

Insurance companies have put old-school ads with men in suits and a deadly serious tone in their collective rearview mirrors. As a result, the category appears to be getting tighter with the possibility of a changing of the guard, said Ted Marzilli, senior vice present and managing director at BrandIndex.

State Farm, Allstate and Farmers Insurance have used their own edgy marketing to outdo Geico and Progressive. Taking a page from the Geico playbook, Allstate introduced its offbeat“Mayhem” character, which appears to have helped propel the brand to its highest perception point with consumers in more than four years.

State Farm got hipper by putting Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers in weird situations with his teammates and portraying him as being stalked by “cheeseheads.” Its latest “State of Disconnect” ad featured two guys quoting Journey lyrics to each other.

Farmers Insurance saw its consumer perception rise when it debuted its “University of Farmers” campaign in the fall of 2010. Its perception levels are now on par with the much-bigger Progressive. (www.mediapost.com)

Jack Daniels, Band Open ‘Drinking School’

Jack Daniels, along with music act The Zac Brown Band, is looking to take consumers to “drinking school,” though the lessons are less about partying and more about responsible consumption.

“We initially developed this as a way of sharing this [responsibility] message,” Andrea Duvall, PR manager for Jack Daniels, tells Marketing Daily. “This is a topic that’s a bit of a challenge to conquer. The name is a bit of a hook to get people’s attention.”

Through messages of loyalty and responsibility, the online campaign aims to educate people about the importance of drinking responsibly. At the online site, www.jackdanielsdrinkingschool.com, concert-goers have the opportunity to register for free designated-driver rides from select concerts in cities across the U.S. (People have to watch one of the online “courses,” which feature the band encouraging people to enjoy themselves, but to take care of the people around them.)

People who are not in one of the markets where free rides are offered can earn online badges for watching the videos. Along with the presentations are tips to recognize when one of your companions has had too much to drink. The information was created with assistance from expert organizations on responsible drinking such as The Century Council. (www.mediapost.com)

Pandora A ‘Buy,” Expected To Maintain Growth

Wall Street analysts expect Internet radio service Pandora to show another quarter of strong growth when it reports fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell Tuesday. The company’s shares rose on Monday in particular because of an upgrade to “buy” from “hold” by Stifel Nicolaus analyst Jordan Rohan.

In his new report, he described Pandora as a “must-have” application for smartphones and tablets and predicts that ad dollars will follow. He points out that the company continues to expand its local ad sales force in major markets such as Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.

“Its efforts are noticeable with the increased appearance of local advertising and newer formats, such as videos rolls on smartphones,” he wrote. “The sales organization appears to remain nimble and open to unique opportunities, such as a Leap Day sponsorship by Lexus and a coordinated campaign by JC Penney.”

Rohan predicts earnings of 1 cent per share on revenue of $86.5 million in the fourth quarter. That’s more bullish than the consensus estimate of a loss of 2 cents per share on revenue of $83 million. In the third quarter of 2011, Pandora essentially broke even on revenue of $75 million. (www.mediapost.com)