Reggie Silver

Brandweek, March 29, 1999

National Consumer Promo over $1M

STARBURST CHEW THE CLUE

Marketer: M&M/Mars Agency: Thomas J. Paul, Rydal, Pa. Growing a brand at twice the rate of its category is a tall order, especially for an impulse product like Starburst, competing with lots of non-chocolate alternatives. But M&M/Mars broke through the clutter with a mystery flavor in "Chew the Clue"--a call to action, supported by 30-second TV ads, on pack graphics and POP, for teens to guess what was in the white wrapper and win a reward. Each Starburst pack included at least one mystery fruit chew and beckoned consumers to call an 800 number with their guesses. Dangling prizes in a random drawing--such as a trip to Hawaii, backpacks and beach towels--also helped and every correct guessed won free Starburst. Five million consumers guessed; 33% of those participating guessed correctly. During the 10-week promo, sales of single packs and bags increased 20% and 11%, respectively, and the number of teens identifying Starburst as one of the coolest brands nearly doubled from the previous summer.

National Consumer Promo under $1M

SCHICK RED HOT ROOKIE

Marketer: Warner-Lambert Agency: Market Growth Resources, Wilton, Conn. W-L's Schick unit can't match Gillette's marketing budget, so to launch its Protector razor, the company got some all-star help, leveraging its NBA sponsorship to lure young shavers. Linking Protector to its title sponsorship of the league's February 1998 All-Star Rookie Game, Schick ran a teaser TV spot featuring NBA players discussing the attributes of the unseen "Red Hot Rookie," like great control and best pivot moves around, and used the teaser theme in an Inter- net sweepstakes and national FSIs, though not revealing the identity of the "rookie" until the Feb. 7 broadcast. Schick Protector held the No. I spot for men's razors in dollar sales for Feb. 1998 and, in its first year on the market, racked up $10 million in sales, per Information Resources Inc.

Local, Regional or Target Market promo over $500K

KAHLUA'S EAT, DRINK & BE MERRY

Marketer: Allied Domecq Agency: Vertical Marketing Network, Grange, Calif. Holiday promos are nothing new in the spirits biz, but it's a little more important for Allied-Domecq's Kahlua, which racks up 42% of its sales November through January. Looking to turn around a 2% decline in sales, Kahlua sweetened its brand with a little help from the Sarah Lee Bakery. The Kahlua White Russian Brownie was featured on-pack in a holiday designed tin on 750-mi gift packs and in sampling via both on-and off-premise tastings of both the spirit itself and the indulgent cake. Unique 3-0 table tents and bold retail displays helped raise awareness for the overall promotion. Supported with broadcast TV, radio and outdoor advertising, "Eat, Drink & Be Merry" helped drive sales nearly 13% in supermarkets and 24% in off-premise locations.

Local, Regional or Target Market Promo under $500K

RED STRIPE SUMMER

Marketer: Guinness Import Co. Agency: North Castle Partners, Stamford, Conn. Jamaican import Red Stripe, in a distinctive "stubby" bottle and with direct connections to Caribbean beach culture, has had to work with a constrained budget that does not leave room for TV ads and national promos. Importer GIC and agency North Castle, eyeing a straightforward promo mix that would be easy to execute in bars, restaurants and supermarkets alike, dipped into Red Stripe's "Soak it up" campaign. For "jammin' evenings" in bars, they leveraged the ad campaign's most distinctive element, a print ad that employed a photomosaic of the Red Stripe bottle created from over 1,200 slice-of-life photos from Jamaica. A 6-foot by S-foot poster of the photomosaic would be hung in bars and consumers issued raffle tickets for every Red Stripe they purchased. A raffle-winner would be invited to reach into a bag containing 162 die-cut pieces of the poster image to select a piece to be matched against the poster for prizes that included re ggae CDs, dreadlock hats, T-shirts, beach towels and barbecue grills. Off-premise, GIC gained crucial summer displays with hut displays, thematic POP and even a Red Stripe "music mat" that, when a consumer stepped on it, played an excerpt from the radio ads. Distribution increased 5.4%, volume jumped by 20%, merchandising activity soared. Sales grew by double digits in key markets, and doubled or even tripled in markets such as Charlotte, N.C., Austin, Texas and Miami.

Multi-Channel Integrated Promo Involving Consumer and Trade

POWER RANGERS IN SPACE ROCKET TOUR

Marketer: Saban Agency: In-house. It's no small feat to keep generating excitement around a long-running TV show, but for the launch of the fifth incarnation of Power Rangers, Saban went experiential with an Iwerks simulator ride that traveled to 45 markets from winter to fall. Partners included master toy licensee Bandai and Wal-Mart, which bought local media and created Power Rangers merchandise boutiques. A sweepstakes overlay took the tour to the winner's hometown for a private party. On-air promotion, which kicked off during February sweeps, brought in more than 90,000 entries, a record-breaker for Fox Kids. Nearly 100,000 kids visited the free virtual reality ride. Bandai credits the tour with boosting toy sales by 400% in the markets where it stopped. Wal-Mart upped its merchandise orders across categories and locked down exclusive retail rights to this year's tour. The new version of the show scored an average 6.7 rating/40 share among the core target, boys 6-11.