Daily Buzz 6-7-12
Who’s Winning the Greek-Yogurt ‘Revolution’?
The surging Greek yogurt category is now a “two-horse race” between Danone and Chobani as General Mills falters with its Yoplait Greek brand, according to a leading financial-research firm.
“We believe that General Mills has likely missed out on Greek. … From having started late to poor positioning of the product, we consider that General Mills is unlikely to become a major player in Greek yogurt,” BernsteinResearch stated in a report today to investors.
To be sure, Yoplait still leads the U.S. in total yogurt sales, including non-Greek brands, with 26.7% share, edging out Dannon, which has 25.6% as of April 15, according to SymphonyIRI, which excludes Walmart. But Yoplait is paying a price for faltering in Greek. The fast-growing segment now accounts for 35% of total yogurt sales, up from 30% last year and just 4% in 2008, according to Bernstein, which referred to Greek’s surge as a yogurt “revolution.” Yoplait’s dollar sales in all types of yogurt fell 8.7% in the year ending April 15, compared with the 8% gain categorywide, according to SymphonyIRI.
A General Mills spokeswoman declined to comment on the Bernstein report but said in an email that “Yoplait is the leading brand in the U.S. yogurt category and is committed to driving innovation and growth across all of the segments in which we compete.” On an earnings call in March, CEO Ken Powell said, “There are many more ways, we believe, to innovate in the Greek-yogurt segment,” hinting at innovations coming this summer. Yoplait also seems ripe for new advertising. (www.adage.com)
Is ‘Fresh Balls’ the Final Frontier in Male Grooming?
Masculine hygiene, which may be the last frontier for the personal-care industry, is getting a new push thanks to Morgan Spurlock’s new film, “Mansome.”
Certainly Procter & Gamble and Unilever have tried — making liquid soap for cleaning all male body parts into a massive growth industry. But products specifically for men’s nether regions still significantly lag behind those for women.
No more, perhaps. Mr. Spurlock has uncovered a promising product — Fresh Balls — promising to keep the land down under dry and fragrant without resorting to allegedly carcinogenic and irritating talc. Ingredients include tea tree oil and oatmeal. The Las Vegas company behind Fresh Balls has been at it since 2009, landing placements on Howard Stern and Jimmy Kimmel among other shows, but “Mansome” gave it the best exposure yet, complete with filming of a focus group of men trying the product (discreetly).
While Fresh Balls is carried by Amazon and other fine online retailers, it continues to struggle to find space at the local Walmart. And other players will have to keep up the good fight, despite setbacks. (www.adage.com)
The Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum today announced that Time Warner Cable has been named an official sponsor of Space Shuttle Enterprise’s 2012 arrival into New York City and of its Space Shuttle Pavilion home currently being built on top of the museum’s flight deck. Today’s sponsorship announcement coincides with the Enterprise’s current voyage via a pulled barge from JFK International Airport to the Intrepid. The Enterprise is being hoisted onto the flight deck today and will be open to the public within the Space Shuttle Pavilion beginning July 19.
Additionally, Time Warner Cable becomes a sponsor of the Intrepid Museum, which in return has been named a signature partner in New York City for Time Warner Cable’s Connect a Million Minds (CAMM) program. CAMM is an initiative that inspires students to acquire skills in science, technology, engineering and math to become the problem solvers of tomorrow and help America successfully compete in a global economy. Similarly, the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum’s own education program reaches thousands of New York school children each year, including through its fully developed STEM program.
“We welcome Time Warner Cable to the Intrepid Museum’s family,” said Susan Marenoff-Zausner, President of the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum. “They are joining us at an incredibly exciting time in our history. We are especially pleased to work with them on the ‘Connect a Million Minds’ STEM initiative, since education is a vital part of our mission – as it is theirs.”
Glenn Britt, Chairman and CEO of Time Warner Cable, commented, “Time Warner Cable is honored to sponsor the historical journey of the Enterprise to its new home on the USS Intrepid. The American space program has led to some of the most exciting innovations of our time. This is a wonderful opportunity for us to show our continued commitment to inspiring the next generation of problem solvers by connecting young people to the wonders of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It is our hope that exposing today’s youth to a great example of STEM in action–in this case, the Enterprise–will serve as a catalyst for great innovations to come from our future leaders.” (www.sponsorship.com)
A ‘Mad Men’ Debut for a Behind-the-Scenes Pl
TURN, a Silicon Valley company, works with advertisers to target digital ads by determining likely demographic attributes — but not actual identities — of consumers as they land on Web pages. Its software instantly calculates whether to display ads likely to be relevant to computer and mobile device users, like a diaper ad to mothers.
It is, in other words, a fairly esoteric business-to-business enterprise, one of interest primarily to marketing and advertising executives. And when it comes to promoting itself, Turn has, ironically, eschewed advertising. Instead, the company sponsors events at conferences like Advertising Week, the annual gathering in New York, and others that draw marketing executives.
But now Turn is going prime time, with a commercial that will be shown on June 10 during the season finale of “Mad Men,” the popular AMC show created by Matthew Weiner about advertising set in the 1960s.
Directed by Michael Lehmann (“True Blood,” “Heathers”) and set in the same era as the show, the commercial opens with a shot of an office, where a man fixes a drink for a stunning blond woman, and they clink glasses and embrace. (www.nytimes.com)
America’s Cup series climax finds backer in Fidelity
Boston-based financial institution Fidelity Investments will sponsor the sixth and final leg of this year’s America’s Cup World Series in Newport, Rhode Island after signing a deal with the organizers.
As official sponsor of the Newport regatta, which marks the climax of the inaugural America’s Cup World Series championship, Fidelity Investments will back a number of events over the week of 23rd June to 1st July, becoming presenting sponsor of the AC World Series Newport Exploration Zone and also for the event’s volunteer program.
Stephen Barclay, interim chief executive of the America’s Cup, said, “We’re very pleased to have Fidelity Investments join us in Newport for this milestone regatta. Fidelity has strong ties to the community and a legacy of achievement that makes them an ideal partner for the return of America’s Cup teams racing in Newport, which was home to the Cup from 1930 to 1983.” (www.sportspromedia.com)
JC Penney CEO Ron Johnson, speaking at the Piper Jaffray Consumer Conference in New York, told investors the company would be moving away from the term “month-long value” in favor of the simpler “sale.” It’s the latest marketing adjustment since the retailer reported a dismal first quarter. “No one really understood [month-long value]. What we intend to do is a sale; we run 12 a year,” Johnson said. “That’s a messaging change within our vision for how we want to compete. … The back half will be better; the customer will understand, and there will be a lot of purchasing.” (www.mediapost.com)
Leica, which has lost more than a third of its U.S. camera dealers to encroachment from Best Buy and other big boxes, not to mention digital devices, is planning new stores. The first U.S. location debuted in Washington, D.C., last month, and Leica plans one each in Miami and New York this summer. By March 2016, the company says its current roster of 37 stores will have grown to 200 worldwide. (www.mediapost.com)
Fiat Halts Orders For New 500 Abarth
Barely a month after launching sales of the new Fiat 500 Abarth, the maker has told dealers it will no longer be able to supply orders for the rest of the 2012 model-year. The high-performance version of what Italians call the Cinquecento has helped kick-start demand after a rough launch for the Fiat brand – which led to the ouster of the marque’s original marketing chief. But sales have surged in recent months, buoyed by more aggressive marketing and the launch of the new Abarth edition. (www.mediapost.com)
Kraft Foods is asking independent developers and start-up companies to produce digital marketing projects for its Cadbury brand as part of a wider effort to “fundamentally” change how it builds relationships with consumers. The company will host a series of developer gatherings over the next 12 months to crowdsource digital initiatives for its marketing activity such as Joyville. It follows Cadbury’s first developer event last month where participants competed for the chance to build an app for the brand’s London 2012 sponsorship activity. (www.mediapost.com)
Pucker Vodka Teams With DJ Steve Aoki
Beam Inc.’s Pucker Vodka, launched last year, has hooked up with DJ Steve Aoki for a campaign promoting two new flavors, Lemonade Lust and Raspberry Rave.
Two new TV spots –- one for each flavor — recently launched on the E!, Food, TBS, TLC and We networks. The ads use an exclusive remix of Aoki’s song “Ladi Dadi” from his latest album, “Wonderland.” The videos are also on online platforms, including Pandora and Brightroll.
In addition, Pucker is offering fans 21 and older the opportunity to download the full-length remix from the brand’s Facebook page.
Aoki’s music reflects his “vibrant personality” and “Ladi Dadi”’s “explosive beat” fits perfectly with Pucker’s “live out loud persona and bold flavors,” noted Kim Washington, senior director, vodkas for Beam Inc. The vodka is made with natural fruit flavors and distilled four times. (www.mediapost.com)
Ford Escape Gets ‘Brand New’ Multicultural Campaign
Over the past couple of years, Ford has pushed the advertising envelope by doing humorous meta-advertising that, by seeming to be someone’s guerrilla campaign at Ford’s expense, comments on the media as much as it delivers against a particular vehicle. The sock puppet campaign comes to mind.
So does a new African-American market effort that plays on “You’re acting brand new.” The campaign for the Escape compact SUV has a comedy-sketch feel about how the Escape has completely changed a family, and therefore the lives of gas station attendants, and valets. The effort by the UniWorld Group, Ford’s African American advertising agency of record, launched on the season finale of “The Game” on BET.
Said Shawn Lollie, Ford manager, multicultural marketing, in a statement: “We wanted to expand upon our past efforts of utilizing comedy, which you saw in our 2011 Ford Explorer multicultural creative campaign, as a way to engage consumers while spotlighting the Escape as a vehicle of change in its owners’ lives.” That effort, in February last year, featured comic Kevin Hart — who shows up late for his brother’s wedding, albeit in a 2011 Ford Explorer.
“Brand new” refers to someone who has done something or acquired something that completely changes him or her. It is meant to be the African-American take on Ford’s new “Go Further” platform. (www.mediapost.com)
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