Dog Day Afternoons - Armour hot dog brand promotion - Statistical Data Included

Brandweek, July 16, 2001 by Sonia Reyes

No, the pairing of hot dogs and baseball is not an original idea, but don't tell that to the folks at Armour. Marketers repositioned the ConAgra Foods hot dog brand last year as Armour Stars through a tie-in with Major League Baseball, and went on to score double-digit growth in the $1.6 billion refrigerated hot dog category Based on the program's success, ConAgra is building on the strategy with a 50-city MLB Roadshow tour this season featuring Armour's all-star lineup: Greg Maddux, Roger Clemens, Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds, Roberto Alomar, Frank Thomas, Jason Kendall and Kevin Brown.

Since last May, players have appeared on packaging of Armour's Premium Jumbo Beef and Meat lines, and in radio spots via Grey, New York. During the 2000 season, they interacted with kids at sports clinics and meet-and-greets at outdoor venues, and sold hot dogs to raise money for ConAgra Food's pet charity, Feeding Children Better. This year, the Amour All-Stars were featured in the brand's first-ever TV ads, singing the Armour jingle: "Armour hot dogs ... the dogs kids love to bite!" While sampling events take place this summer, onpack sweeps will offer autographed items and tickets to the World Series in October.

The strategy has been red hot for Armour. The brand's sales shot up 15.3% to $42.2 million for the year ending May 20, per Information Resources Inc. Though one of the small players at the lower end of the category--led by Oscar Mayer with $342.1 million in sales--Armour is now the second fastest-growing hot dog brand behind Nathan's Famous Franks. Factory shipments are up and the product is selling to more accounts, according to company execs. That has opened the door for extensions like Armour Corn Dogs and Armour Cheese Dogs, which are shipping now.

Prior to 2000, Armour had been on automatic pilot, while deep-pocketed Oscar Mayer and Sara Lee's Ball Park Franks joined value-priced Bar-S Franks in a race to produce the splashiest campaigns. "Volumes and profits were sliding every year for a decade," said Steve Silk, president of ConAgra's refrigerated products division. Silk was brought in to head the unit after catapulting the growth of Hebrew National hot dogs, purchased by ConAgra in 1999.

"We were sandwiched between private label and Bar-S on one side, and Oscar Mayer on the other, unable to be low enough to get to the Bar-S level, but not at the quality level to effectively compete with Oscar Mayer," Silk said.

Reviving the brand was a high priority under the company's "Operation Overdrive" strategy to spur long-term growth. Brainstorming sessions began with Silk and team members, including Michael Kelly vp and general manager. Their challenge: how to lift Armour into a mid-priced, higher-quality segment. The initiative began with a reformulation of the product using higher-quality meat to replace fillers and water. And, when it came time to communicate the improved quality to consumers, baseball seemed to be the right fit.

But too obvious a fit? Silk is adamant that effective, not original, is what he's after. He readily cites the precedent of Ball Park's signing of Michael Jordan in 1997 to a three-year deal that, at the time, made it the No. 1 hot dog brand in the U.S. "The connection of [Armour] to baseball stars and their stellar accomplishments as athletes provides instant notoriety for the brand," he said.

"Who better to promote Armour, a brand that represents great quality and staying power, than the best players," said Reed Bergman, president of Impact Sports Marketing, Atlanta, which brokered the marketing deal with Armour.

Charged with the logistical headache of creating events around the players' busy timelines, Bergman recalled the steamy August day when Philadelphia Phillies catcher Mike Lieberthal hosted a two-hour sports clinic for 70 boys and girls age 7-14 at Temple University Lieberthal, assisted by five other pro coaches from Temple, was at home plate in front of the batting cage. "As each kid stepped up, he'd shout instructions on how to hit at the plastic tee. He showed them the best way to swing the bat," said Bergman. "The energy was great. The kids loved it."

New York Yankees flamethrower Roger Clemens pitched in at an event prior to a home game last July. He prefers to have promo duty on a scheduled game day because, said Bergman, "It's therapeutic. It takes his mind off what he has to do later that day."

Clemens joined Armour execs at noon across from Rockefeller Center and sold hot dogs for $1 each, as eager fans lined up for autographs. "He was selling as fast as he could to move the line of 100 people. When a kid would show up, he'd slow down to talk to him," recalled Kelly At another clinic at Pace University in suburban Westchester, N.Y., Clemens, the father of four boys, played catch with disadvantaged kids, letting each one hit the ball to him.

Meanwhile, the MLB Roadshow--also sponsored by ConAgra's Hunt's Snack Pack puddings and Orville Redenbacher brands--hit the highways with its 53-foot-long trailer trucks visiting ballparks and events at Chicago's Grant Park, the Texas Fair in Houston and The Mall in Orange County Calif. Spending 4-7 days in any given location, the All-Star ballplayers held clinics atop the roof of the 18-wheelers.