Eat, Drink and Be Promoted

First & Foremost: Promote
There’s no question that the food and beverage industries do business in a highly competitive market. And the stakes are high. Consider this: The U.S. snack industry alone weighs in at about $39 billion, according to ACNielsen, the leading global provider of market research information. More than ever before, snack food companies offer a great variety of products in small, resealable and often rigid containers. The reason for the move from the simple “bag of chips” is a reflection of the American family’s eat-on-the-go lifestyles.

Marie Wade, a promotional consultant who works with one of the largest food and beverage vending/concessions companies in the U.S., says with so much competition, food and beverage companies need creative promotional ideas to stay top-of-mind and a step ahead of competitors. “They can’t afford to sit still and be stagnant,” she says.

Because of that these companies need to find products beyond a bag clip to help promote their brands.

When announcing a new product, Wade says, food and beverage companies can have their sales staff bring unique promotional products – ones that follow the theme of the new introduction – to current and potential customers. “We, as consultants, have such a huge ‘idea closet’ at our fingertips,” she says.

Competition for consumer attention is intense in the beverage industry as well. According to the leading industry publication, Beverage Digest, the non-alcoholic refreshment market totals 14 billion cases, and Americans spend roughly $93 billion annually on beverages. Right now the bottled water industry is expanding and getting stronger, and is the fastest-growing major beverage category, according to the magazine. Its wholesale dollar sales topped $9 billion in 2004.

So it makes sense that a company like Fiji Water would want to sponsor events like the Hamptons Wine & Food Festival, a food and drink extravaganza in the Hamptons (see “Cut Above the Rest” on next page). Those sorts of occasions give the beverage company the opportunity to reach out to both consumers and the trade – fellow sponsors as well as chefs, restaurateurs and wine and spirits connoisseurs.

“The feedback I’ve been getting from some of the food vendors is that it was a very successful event for them, because not only did they do sampling, which is always important to stay in front of consumers to create interest and demand, but they were also reaching restaurateurs, people in the industry on the trade side, as well as chefs,” says Stuart Racey, a co-producer of the festival.

Events Taste Good
The food and beverage industries make good use of events to promote their products. After all, what better way to sell a product than to have consumers taste it? Think back to those Pepsi vs. Coke taste tests but envision them on a grander scale. In fact, a Trial and Conversion survey, conducted by the Promotional Marketing Association, found that about 72% of consumers polled said that they purchased at least some of the brands of which they received samples. Close to 70% of survey participants said that samples and demonstrations influence their product purchase decisions more than an advertisement for the product on TV or radio.

At the Hamptons festival, Fiji supplied 5,500 bottles of water for attendees to refresh themselves. They placed six giant beverage coolers decorated with the company’s brightly colored logo in strategic areas, and filled them with ice and Fijis. In addition to the water, the company also gave colorful logoed golf umbrellas to judges and celebrity chefs who participated in the festival’s Hamptons Platinum Chef contest (inspired by the “Iron Chef America” television show).

Food and beverage companies usually take a plethora of promotional products to these kinds of events, knowing that the products go home with attendees and special guests to become keepsakes. Sometimes, promotional products can perform a valuable function at the event. Peerless Importers created a couple of thousand laminated place mats that featured both the company logo and the Hamptons Festival logo, and placed them in every one of the event’s seminar rooms.

“The best thing that Peerless did at the event was print those laminated tasting mats, which was a wonderful addition,” Racey says. The mats reinforced the company’s image, as taste-testers saw its logo over and over when picking up and placing down the various glasses used for the wine and spirits tasting.

And products need not be food or beverage related. Other sponsors brought fun logoed products, like beads, leis and candles to enhance the party atmosphere.

Fundraisers are a Sweet Deal
Events that have a charity component or are organized in support of a good cause are another opportunity for food and beverage companies to promote their products – and to show they care.

Many promotional consultants have the expertise needed to create fundraisers and charity events. Promotional consultant Dan Reilly, whose clients include Anheuser-Busch Inc., Coca-Cola, SoBe Beverage, Barton Beers and McDonald’s, created an annual event called Cheesefest to benefit Shriners Hospital for Children in St. Louis. This year’s Cheesefest, with the tagline “It’s nacho average party,” will have cheese and wine samplings, food, mouse races, a silent auction, entertainment and more.

“Wine companies donate the products to be sampled and provide reps to give the non-connoisseur a quick overview of their products and different types of wines and what foods go with them,” Reilly says. The same holds true for local cheese companies.

Reilly believes the key to the event’s success is its uniqueness. He also suggests companies in the food and beverage industry capitalize on fundraisers, charity events, community fairs and other events with visibility. “These are all very cost-effective ways to market their products and to reach their target markets,” he says. “It also demonstrates the company’s goodwill, and creates a positive company image. Consumers are also more apt to buy from a company who supports a cause than those who don’t.”

As a promotional consultant to his clients, Reilly’s goal is to provide them with “crowd drivers” – products that get a consumer to show up at a location, spend some of their own money and have a chance to participate in an event. His company often brings in an interactive photo machine (IPM), which uses a unique program that is constantly being upgraded to meet the client’s needs. When placed in bars, restaurants, trade shows or special events, the machine offers the attendee a free photo. “Consumers can get a photo taken at the kiosk, which then produces a ‘hard card’ with their photo on it, along with several sponsors’ logos,” he explains. “Every card has a unique ID number on it that is married up to the consumer’s data, which is entered into the database at the kiosk. Consumers can then utilize this card at the sponsors’ establishments to receive discounts, goodies or to enter a sweepstakes.”

The IPM is a simple promotion to execute and is cost-effective, Reilly notes, adding that it gets a brand message out. Because the program is unique, it has an excellent “wow” factor. “Not only are we able to capture consumers’ information and preferences, we are able to see significant spikes at events where the IPM was being utilized,” he says. Consumers have been known to present the cards after the event to sponsors, and ask what they get for having it – an excellent opportunity for sponsors to give them additional promotional products, discounts on merchandise or other “VIP” benefits.

Feed the Consumer
Event marketing is one important promotional strategy used by food and beverage companies, but the continual popularity and strength of consumer premium promotions is evident in every supermarket. Many times, these popular promotions, particularly ones aimed at the younger crowd, use licensed promotional products that tie in to the entertainment industry. Promotions include self-liquidators (mail-in offers), or in-pack, on-pack and near-pack offers that give consumers instant gratification; the logoed gift is either packaged inside the product, on the outside of it, or is found near it in a freestanding display.

The Internet provides a way for food and beverage companies to support their consumer premium promotions. Check in at the Kellogg’s Web site (www.kelloggs.com) under the “promotions” heading. The site allows visitors to search the company’s promotional offers or click on a licensed character, charity or co-sponsor for more information. Details on all its promotions are there, gathered in one place – not a bad strategy for any company that regularly conducts promotions. Currently Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts is featuring a free-in-the-box CD-ROM tying in to ROBOTS The Movie. Current mail-in promotions include the Kellogg’s Toy Story inflatable raft, and an Eggo Cartoon Network Scooby Doo color change plate.

Some food and beverage companies sell logoed promotional products on their Web sites to eager young, and not-so-young, consumers. Take Kraft foods as an example (www.kraftfoods.com), maker of the Oscar Mayer brand of hot dogs. The company sells a Hot Wheels Wienermobile toy and a Wienerwhistle, both replicas of the iconic 27-foot-long, hot-dog shaped Wienermobile vehicle.

Another example: Hormel Foods has a Web site devoted to Spam – its ham-like meat-in-a-can product. Logoed merchandise featuring the Spam logo on it was popular enough to spawn a “Spam Catalog” on its Web site. The Spam glow-in-the-dark camp shirt and boxer shorts are just two examples of what’s for sale. While consumers pay for these products, they’re still considered promotional items – mini advertising billboards that reinforce brand identity.

Consumer promotions are not just for kids, and they’re not limited to food companies. Many different types of companies with popular brands know that offering a little something extra can help them stand out from competitors on the supermarket shelf, reinforce brand image and increase sales.

Take the promotion done by Hain-Celestial Group, owner of the Celestial Seasonings brand of tea. In 2004 it ran an in-pack promotion that included eight collectors’ magnets inside specially marked boxes of tea. The magnets featured the same art and quotations that appear on the company’s tea boxes. A ninth magnet made of embossed metal, created to get retailers excited about the promotion, was available in floor-stand displays.

Millions of magnets were given away. “We feel we offer consumers more of an experience,” explains Joe Beauprez, Hain-Celestial senior product manager. “Rather than just giving them tea, something to put in their stomachs, we’re giving them something to put in their heads as well. The magnets are an extension of that.”

New-Product Intros
Promotional consultants note that in general, food and beverage companies want creative ideas when it comes to promotional products. Sometimes they need campaigns to introduce a new product or service. Wade suggests using promotional items that thematically support the new introduction.

For instance, if the new product calls to mind cool temperatures – like a new hot cocoa or soup – she suggests the company send out hand warmers, desk heaters, stainless steel travel mugs or stadium blankets to key customers or buyers. Logoed gym bags were used by Wade’s food and beverage concessions/ vending client to project the message of good health, tying in to healthy new products the client is offering. Salespeople will use the gym bags to carry sales information into face-to-face meetings with customers and buyers. After the meeting, salespeople will leave the bags behind for their customers to use and enjoy.

Promotional consultants Wendy Wheatley and Kathy Backes rave about the creative launch of a new barbeque product they helped put together for a Billy Bones BBQ. Approximately 3,000 “talking” mailing tubes were sent to grocery store chains and food brokers – a targeted list based on the volume of the company’s current barbeque sales.

The promotion had a Billy Bones western theme. “With this product being presented and branded by a real person, we felt it was critical for the potential buyers to get to know the man,” Wheatley explains. “He has a bigger-than-life personality, and what better way to actually meet him than to hear the good ’ol southern dialect. It just convinces the buyers of his southern hospitality and knowledge of good, southern home cooking.”

The tubes invited recipients to try his barbeque: “Howdy Buck-a-roos,” it said. “I know you’re gonna love my award-winning beef and pork barbeque. Y’all get ready for some good eatin’ now.” The tube inserts consisted of a wanted sign, which listed product specs; a custom-printed bandana and a coupon toward the first product purchase.

“The specific sales are confidential, as this was done for a privately held company,” Wheatley says. “But they felt the investment more than paid off to launch this product into a highly competitive market.”

Creativity Counts
Wade suggests that food and beverage companies not use the same old logoed stuff in their campaigns. “I am a firm believer in creativity and thinking outside the norm,” she says. “Competition is right around the corner and your product and sales staff want to be remembered. It’s good to brainstorm with your salespeople about their ideas of what might be good to give to their customers. They’re the ones selling the product, and hopefully they know their clients,” she notes.

Racey has done some brainstorming too. If his Hamptons festival had an unlimited budget for products to promote next year’s event, he’d improve upon the gift bags and take up some additional creative strategies. “I think a branded cookbook would be great, including recipes from the chefs,” he notes. He would like to create an interactive CD-ROM, with Web links to all the event sponsors, as well as the chefs’ various Web sites.

Products he’d love to logo for attendees include all things wine related – corkscrews and wineglass sets, to name two. Racey also envisions doing pre-event promotions that include products, like mailing out aprons with the festival logo or a barbeque tool set, along with press releases. These would also make great gifts for “the people who are going to help promote us from the front lines” – chefs, restaurateurs, reps from wineries and top liquor companies.

The food and beverage industries are both exciting and fast-paced, and their promotional consultants strive to keep up – to make the best possible suggestions for products and programs. “Many clients have strong relationships with their suppliers and often don’t want to stray too far from the comfort zone of who they currently work with,” offers Reilly, noting that this keeps his company on its toes. “By starting behind the eight ball, we need to really think through how the game will play out. This should be used as an opportunity to think creatively and see things from all angles. I personally like the challenge because it makes me better.”

In the dozens of promotions he has developed for the food and beverage industries, Reilly gears them to a specific brand’s audience or the company’s goals. He offers this suggestion: An existing promotion can sometimes be repackaged or fine-tuned based on past experiences to create something new and exciting. Or, you can develop a promotional program that has longevity, which can also be moved into different markets and still have a “fresh” feeling to participants. “Consumers are extremely savvy these days,” he concludes. “They like to see different programs.”

Cynthia Ironson, a freelance writer based in NY, frequently covers the promotional products industry.