Hormel vs. Fast Food

Unlike the healthy teas in my prior post, Hormel isn't targeting the same consumers.  Although Hormel products are not much different than fast food in nutritional value, they are trying to create their own image with, "Create Something Great."  This is compared to fast food as just being "something" while Hormel refrigerated Entrees are "something great."

BrandWeek is the best source for these articles...so this is once again from them...."Hormel wants consumers to know they don't have to turn to fast food when they're too busy to cook."  Hormel is going to promote their new idea with tv and print ads that go along with the idea of fastfood icon characters running after a mother on her way home from work while trying to find something to feed her family.  When the mother arrives home the Hormel Entree is there to defend dinner time...very corny. 

The food items are not new to the company but they are looking for a new way to promote them and new consumers to attract.  Hormel wants consumers to realize that even if they are in a rush for dinner time they do not need to resort to fast food. Instead they have the option of fast dinner entrees that still taste great. 

Hormel plans on running the ads through August but may continue longer if it turns out successful. 

Be honest! with Honest Tea!

I have seen these Honest Teas in our little college store but seeing the small pieces at the bottom, I never had the biggest desire to try it.  Healthier diets are now the range all across the country so the Honest expansion should go over well, especially now that they have added slightly more sugar. The range of teas are still USDA Certified Organic but now they will also appeal to the sweeter consumers. 

The flavors include Citrus Green Energy tea,  Honey Green tea, Lemon Black tea, Peach White tea, and Pomegranate White tea with Acai.  Honest Tea is trying to expand its market with the added sugar and keep the USDA certification at the same time so they can reach more consumers.  

Along with the added sugar, Honest Tea has also changed its packaging to attract different consumers that are looking for healthy treats but are not the most hard-core types.  This is really the best way for companies like this to attract new consumers who have multiple interests. Many studies report young consumers as being connected to this- they adapt to new habits or interests- like healthy eating- but they also chose products with depending on price, popularity, and similar characteristics. 

According to the BrandWeek article Honest Tea will begin the new promotion with "a year long, 10-city sampling tour." Jamis bicycles will also take part in the promo for a supporting sweepstakes. 

Pontiac uses Hot Wheels image to promote new G8

As a child, I may have been the only girl to have a collection of hot wheels cars, but I loved them anyway. I didn't play with the cars the way my brother did. Instead I had my collection lined up along my bedroom window pane, just to look at. With this example it is obvious why Pontiac has chosen the target and approach to this campaign. They are targeting married men from 35-45, who most likely played with their Hot Wheels cars as children.

This campaign for the first new sedan in over three years brings together these toy cars with video games to raise the feelings these men felt so long ago when they played with their cars. One of the tv spots that will air during the NCAA basketball's March Madness shows the G8 racing around tracks that resemble a Hot Wheels racing set, and if that doesn't bring back memories I don't know what will!

The G8 is being promoted as "the most powerful car under 30 grand," according to the BrandWeek article. Ads will run in a number of different magazine titles as well as network spots. "The notion of the campaign is this unique bond people have with their car," said Jeff Cruz, the executive creative directer at Leo Burnett.

Another spot begins with, "Remember how you felt about cars as a kid?" the narrator says. "We do," says the narrator, as the G8 takes to two wheels on a hairpin turn, revealing the name "Ben" written in child-like scrawl on the undercarriage. All the ads sound really fun and creative to both watch and read

Pontiac spent $144 million on U.S. ads in 2006 (excluding online), but lowered the spending significantly last year to $95 million, per Nielsen Monitor-Plus. This ad campaign to assist the new G8 seems like it should be very successful and I can't wait to see them...even if I am still just a little girl who collects toy cars, and not the 40 year old man who actually wants to play with the real thing.

Check out the Pontiac website too! It looks awesome with the new campaign!

What does Gatorade, the moon, and Tiger Woods have in common?

Well...to answer that question....the new Gatorade promo that is releasing three new flavors created with the help of Woods, along with a virtual golf competition later on this spring.  What more could you ask for!? 

According to the BrandWeek article, "Gatorade said today it would break a TV spot during the NCAA Men's Division I basketball tournament on CBS this weekend in which Woods, dressed as an astronaut, takes his game to the moon."  The connected promotional sweepstakes "Out of this world" will begin in April.  

The new gatorade flavors sounds pretty regular with a slight twist, Red Drive ( cherry), Cool Fusion (citrus), and Quiet Storm (grape).  Nothing really new or exciting there, just another way to sell stuff with someone else's face on it. 

The fun part will be going to the www.gatorade.com and playing virtual golf on the moon! There are also grand prizes to be won and virtual golf skills to be tested when the team visits Phoenix, Dallas, Chicago, Miami, and New York. 

Coupons in the Best Places

If you have a dog or cat you will know what I'm talking about when I mention coupons inside the product you have already bought. I guess cereal is in the same category but a lot of time you have to send in box tops or have to actually do Something to get what the company is showing you on the box. There are many products, like dog food, that have regular coupons right inside the bag, usually in a little plastic cover and usally for the same product, or a newly marketed or more expensive product.

As I mentioned in a prior post the present economy is forcing people to use more coupons to save money where they can. So, where these included coupons may have been a pain in the past, many people are now seeing them as a free and beneficial oportunity to save money.

I had an early birthday party with my family last night and as always we bought a Carvel ice cream cake for dessert. Right inside was a coupon enclosed in a plastic cover for $1.00 off another cake of the same size. I was so excited because we buy ice creams cakes for any possible celebration that we can think of because we like them so much. But as usual I took the coupon out of the box and put it in a place where I thought I would be able to find it when I needed it, buttt it is already missing. My point is that while these included coupons are handy and helpful, if it is not part of your lifestyle to use them on a regular basis they usually just pile up in a drawer or in the car.

But boy, do I wish I could find that ice cream cake coupon!

Walmart Makes Positive Sustainable Changes

Walmart has teamed up with Aveda to set 3 environmentally-friendly goals for the future.  Walmart plans to be supplied with 10% renewable energy, to create zero waste and to sell products that sustain the company resources and the environment. Overall, Walmart plans to reduce it's packaging by 5% by 2013.  To some people that 5% may not seem like a lot, but 5% to Walmart is a lot more than most people could see in a lifetime.  It is really a significant amount of savings that will positively affect the whole world.  And because Walmart is such an influential company, hopefully other smaller companies around the globe will catch on and begin to do similar acts. 

It is obvious that most promotions are only used as a way to increase sales or profit but this promotion will actually do some good for the company while making a difference in the surrounding society.  According the the AdWeek article, by changing the way it packages it's goods, Walmart will affect greenhouse gas emissions,  product-to-package ratio, the amount of renewable energy used in packaging production and transportation emissions, among other things. 

Walmart has already taken steps to make similar changes.  For example by May of this year Walmart will only supply liquid laundry detergents and fully supports the concentrated detergents that use less water.  If Walmart alone and make these significant changes and influence companies around it, whether for ethical or commercial reasons, I think our society can benefit from it in more ways than one. 

I am from a small town, where as I type this, a Super Walmart is being built on the edge of town.  The people of this town have been fighting for years about whether or not to build a Walmart here because of the repercussions on the small area business'.  Even though Walmart has many other practices that need to be evaluated and changed to better our world, I think this is a start, and one that should be recognized. 

Golf Promotion

From this week's online edition of BrandWeek, "Acushnet Golf next week will launch a season-long promotion designed to help its Pinnacle brand stand out during that is generally considered a very quiet day during a professional tour week."

The promotion is called Tuesdays on Tour and will start for the PGA Tour's Honda Classic event in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. During the month of September Acushnet will put on twelve activities at pro tournaments. The reason behind this promotion is to grab the attention of the golfers and fans once they arrive but they have yet to start the actual competition.  There will be a specific area set up for visitors to practice and have a chance to win prizes and actual samples. There will also be junior clinics offered. 

Tuesdays on Tour will include appearances by members of the Pinnacle Distance Team who can help the competitors with entertainment and information about the new line of Pinnacle Platinum Feel and Distance offerings.  Other stops on the tour include Irving, Milwaukee, Greensboro,  and the first being Madison on September 20th. 

New Promo For Geico

The little gecko is no longer running the show by himself.  Similar to the Caveman promotion, Geico has mastered up a new television spot featuring the gecko along with a new character, "the world-renowned nature expert."

The tv spot is one like many others; a nature show where a camera man follows the main character around to tell the story.  Geico has mentioned that the show has stemmed from the immense amount of huge gecko fan coverage.  People have taken ahold of, not only the company, but who actually represents the company. 

I understand this completely from a personal aspect because last summer when my grandparents were visiting, my Papa mentioned how he wished he could find golf club covers with the gecko's picture on it.  Geico has really done an amazing job over the last decade to create and build this image that represents the company. 

Reported from this week's BrandWeek, "At one point, he British-accented host turns the camera and describes the gecko as 'an extraordinary creature with a curious adaptation, the ability to save people hundreds of dollars on car insurance."

This short show should be very interesting to watch! I can't wait!

Frito-Lay and the Food Network are Teaming Up

After Rachael Ray's huge success with the Food Network, Ingrid Hoffman is next in line.  As the host of the Food Network's show, Simply Delicioso, Hoffman will work with Frito-Lay and Tositios specifically with hopes to reach the status of Emeril Lagasse and Sandra Lee in the tv cooking world. 

Tostitos is putting up a $5 million deal with the Food Network to "show Hoffman whipping up a different, party-tested recipe with an assit from Tostitos products," as told in this week's edition of Brandweek.  Brandweek also explains, "this marks the brand's first widespread integration package on the network" even though Tostitos has worked with the Food Network in the past. 

Hoffman already has her own cooking book and her show, Simply Delicioso is based on low-impact entertaining at home. In edition she also hosts a Spanish-language show. 

Brands are always finding new ways to bring their products to the front row of what consumers are already watching.  The Food Network has grown in popularity in the last few years and will continue to grow as consumers are concerned with healthy eating and entertainment ideas. Only the future will tell if the team of Tosititos and the so-called new comer, Ingrid Hoffman can make it.