BEST promoted BRANDS of 2002

One year later, and our ‘temporary’ economic slump has become ingrained. That’s got marketers using words like ‘endurance’ and ‘ROI’ as often as they say ‘integrated’ or (God help us) ‘impactful.’ ▪ There’s a silver lining, of course. Tough times make good ideas shine. Back in the swinging 90s, just about anyone could throw money at a Super Bowl spot or inflict a sock puppet spokesperson on the world in an endless barrage of mass advertising. With spigots turned down (or off) for large and small marketers alike, brands have to do more with less. Often, less money fosters better ideas. ▪ So with PROMO’s Best-Promoted Brands of 2002, we’re happy to be able to recognize a select group of marketers as much for their creativity as their resilience. These are 25 brands that kept their marketing fresh and functional — brands that we think will inspire you as much as they impressed us. ▪ Enjoy.

BASKIN-ROBBINS

The chain went back for seconds — and proved winter promos work for ice cream. Baskin-Robbins got its best sales increase in 15 years with the May 2001 theatrical release of DreamWorks’ Shrek, so the Glendale, CA-based chain came back for the December home video release (May PROMO). Reprising ogre-themed flavors gave Baskin-Robbins its best off-season sales ever. This year, flavors based on DreamWorks’ Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron outsold Shrek flavors. “Consumers are starting to come into the store to see what the next cool product is,” says Joe Adney, senior director of marketing. “It’s not about toys or tchotchkes, but translating the equity of a film into ice cream.” Baskin-Robbins is promoting NBC’s fall primetime line-up with a sundae and four flavors built around shows. Norm Marshall, Sun Valley, CA, handles all.

BEST BUY

Putting customers first made it the hot retail partner. “We changed the shopping experience,” says director of promotions and events Debbie Estes. “The aisles are clutter free so we can speak to customers in one voice.” That’s drawn TiVo (whose electronic tag runs with Best Buy TV spots), Discover Card (adding retail reach to its College GameDay promotion), and MGM Home Entertainment (for the notoriously well-protected James Bond franchise). Eden Prairie, MN-based Best Buy’s Fun Zun mobile tour stops at the Indianapolis 500 and similar venues; online club Virtual Backstage Pass gives members special access to tickets and info on fave musicians. “When you have fun with your branding message, it’s easy,” says Estes. Best Buy sales hit $19.6 billion, up 28 percent for fiscal 2002 (ended March 2).

BMW

They write their own scripts. BMW of America won kudos — and 13 million downloads — for its Hire Film Series at bmwfilms.com. Three new films come online this fall, and a cause-marketing sweeps awards the M5 used in “The Star,” autographed by Madonna. (Entrant donations go to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.) Fallon, Minneapolis, handles. BMW’s biggest news is its smallest: Mini Cooper launched in March with ads next to oversized props, and “creative content” print ads like a Playboy centerfold parody. “We celebrate what the size is all about, instead of defending it,” says Mini’s “guardian of the brand soul” Kerri Martin. “As unique as the vehicle itself is, so must our marketing methods be.” Woodcliff Lakes, NJ-based BMW won’t swap Minis for promos; any you see in prize pools or on sampling jaunts were bought off the lot (see “Mini Me” in Marketers). Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami, handles Mini.

BLOCKBUSTER

They’ve gone beyond the guarantee. Dallas-based Blockbuster added games and partners. Most notable is a five-year pact with Coca-Cola that gives Blockbuster greater access to Coke partners like Wendy’s: A September instant-win game for the QSR’s chicken nuggets awards free movie rentals for life. Its tie to AOL Time Warner’s second Celebrity You’ve Got Mail sent players to Blockbuster to guess celebrity voices. Traffic should pay: “With the advent of DVD, we want to be consumers’ complete source for movies and games,” says Lisa Zoellner, vp of alliance marketing and brand promotions. Promotion Resources Group, Dallas, is AOR.

BOB THE BUILDER

The claymation carpenter built an empire. The HIT Entertainment character swept the 2002 Licensing Industry Merchandisers Association Awards, bulldozing the competition in the tight three- to six-year-old market, proving that the people who made Barney a mega-star really know what they’re doing. “One of the success elements in preschool programming is to own something that is important and attractive to that young audience,” says Sue Bristol Beddingfield, HIT’s senior vp-marketing. “For Bob, it’s construction, teamwork, and friendship.” In 2001, Bob the Builder was the highest-rated launch ever on Nick Jr. Partners include General Mills’ Yoplait Yumsters, Applebee’s, THQ, Hasbro, and Lego; Dallas-based HIT gets all licensees to work together. “Our challenge now is to turn Bob from a phenomenon into a classic character, which means always refreshing the character but never going overboard with big promotions that are here today, gone tomorrow,” Beddingfield says.

BOISE OFFICE SOLUTIONS

It turned a bad hop into a double play. When two of its largest competitors merged last year, Boise picked off customers alienated by the deal. Boise’s baseball-themed direct mail campaign, Top Prospect, used five mailings to introduce Boise services and ensure face-to-face meetings. “We needed to solidify relations with the customers, otherwise we’d just get a lot of tire kickers,” says Pat Rooney, manager of campaigns and promotions. Three mailers described Boise services; a fourth dangled a Boise-branded baseball stand and Hank Aaron autographed baseball (worth $150) to be presented at a face-to-face meeting. Boise batted a whopping 34-percent response rate; 17 percent became clients. A new version will be “configured a little differently to keep it fresh,” says Rooney. Momentum North America, St. Louis, handles.

CINGULAR WIRELESS

Its web is tight. All threads lead back to the singular message: Express yourself. Atlanta-based Cingular put Spider-Man on face plates, calling cards, its NASCAR ride, and a Dodge Viper summer sweeps prize — then reupped for the holiday video release with a national sweeps, online and in-pack offers, and Spidey phones. Two Vipers toured stores and garnered 250,000 sweeps entries, Cingular’s best-ever. “Promotion’s primary job is to drive traffic and differentiate the brand,” says exec director-national promotions Chris Penrose. A June deal with mass-merch grocer Meijer puts Cingular stores inside 24 Midwest Meijer units, and up to 100 Meijers next year. Sugar Ray came calling for a tie-in to its hit “Answer the Phone,” and Cingular sent sweeps winners to an L.A. concert. March Madness put Cingular on court and brought basketball into stores. Promos are handled in-house with assists from Integer, Dallas (P-O-P), and BBDO, Atlanta (ads).

DASANI

It keeps things simple. Coca-Cola Co.’s three-year-old water brand went national in 2000 and set a healthful positioning in 2001. Its Wellness Begins with Simple Solutions program earned greater bottler participation (88 percent) than any Coke launch in history. Stamford, CT-based agency BEN Marketing sent a “Wellness Team” comprised of fitness and health experts on a mobile tour to 30 markets. “We don’t do complicated things like collecting labels, or playing games,” says Kellam Graitcer, Dasani’s senior brand manager at Atlanta-based Coke. “We give access and information to consumers.” This summer, the brand launched a Dasani Women at Their Best contest with Glamour magazine recognizing spiritually-balanced women. Dollar sales hit $2.2 million (up 75.5%) for 52 weeks ended July 14, per IRI.

DIGIORNO PIZZA

“Nothing” works. Kraft Foods hit the mark twice with Be the DiGiorno Delivery Guy sweeps. Players called with in-pack codes to win a $100,000 “salary” and car for doing … nothing. First rendition in spring 2001 bumped incremental volume 90 percent; the 2002 spring repeat helped bump sales 16 percent to $432 million for 52 weeks ended June 16, per IRI. DiGiorno hit its highest-ever sales week mid-promotion, per Kraft. The sweeps as punchline to ads’ tag “It’s not delivery. It’s DiGiorno” is nifty integration; the redux nails it home. “It resonated so well with consumers, retailers, and the sales force that it was a must to repeat,” says director of consumer promotion Andrea Brown. “It’s such a tight fit to the brand.” DiGiorno also scored with Stuff the Rim and Win sweeps on 2.5 million stuffed-crust boxes dangling trips to the 2003 NBA All-Star Game. Chicago’s 141 Communicator handles.

DISCOVER CARD

It plays out of its league. Riverwoods, IL-based Discover Card’s promotions — like its image — get bigger and better. Its affiliation with ESPN’s College GameDay began in 2000 with reps walking college football stadiums with armloads of merchandise; folks with a Discover card got a treat. “We pulled together the most bare bones promotion ever,” says director of advertising and brand management John Birmingham. “But by the end, people were chasing us around.” Birmingham convinced Discover brass that a larger promo would pay off. The 2001 Discover Card Tailgate tour hosted GameDay anchors in a branded truck; 25 fans guessed game outcomes to audition as guest anchor (May PROMO). The 2002 fall kickoff offers open auditions at Best Buy stores nationally. Marketing Werks, Chicago, handles.

DOVE

Unilever’s $375 million master brand thrives on its spa treatment. An annual fete sends winners on spa trips: This year it’s the Dove Enrichment Resort & Spa in Tucson; last year Dove took over a cruise ship. Dove sponsored Lifetime Network’s 15-city mall tour (think Nutrium body wash beads in a caviar bowl) and gave top customers a free fleece pullover. Positioning encompasses a health-is-beauty message; SKUs include body wipes (sampled in health clubs), deodorant, and body wash. Ryan Partnership, Westport, CT, handles. Bring-a-friend promos get loyal users to share Dove. Best customers get new-product previews and high-value goodies — affordable through tight targeting of databases from partners like Kroger Co. and Bally Total Fitness. “Dove has such mastery of diversity to the product,” says Unilever director of promotions Michael Murphy. “Consumers just know it’ll deliver a quality product. We want to continue to nurture those consumers who are very important to us.” Now that’s the full treatment.

DUNKIN’ DONUTS

Dunkin’ Donuts turned a donut shop into a coffee shop, a bagel shop, and now a staple for “everyday” celebrations, sports, and Gen X. Destination Dunkaccino in 2001 connected with 18- to 24-year-olds on college campuses with coupons for a free small Dunkaccino; by redeeming the coupon, they were entered into a sweeps. WatersMolitor, Minneapolis, handled. “We always want to reach out and be relevant to our core consumer (18 to 49) but we realize this is a broad target so different programs speak to bullseye consumers,” says Ken Kimmel, vp of Dunkin’ Donuts Concepts, the chain’s marketing group. The spring What’s Your Occasion? effort pitched donuts as an everyday treat; on-pack game codes were entered at dunkindonuts.com to win party money (via WatersMolitor). The Randolph, MA-based chain — whose Sports Dream sweeps via Cohen-Friedberg, Framingham, MA, had a Boston Bruin deliver coffee and donuts, opened its first store in California last month.

EBAY

It’s the unofficial buzz barometer for promotional premiums. Hot premiums and P-O-P that disappears from retail often resurface in bidding wars on eBay — the kind of recognition creative directors crave. (Pepsi Twist’s Austin Powers in Goldmember standee was going for $24.99 last we checked; a Britney Spears sign was fetching $26.) Formal partnerships make auctions promotion. Burger King chose eBay for its BK Rewards loyalty program: Members collect points with purchase, then bid for goodies from hats and CDs to vacations and walk-on movie roles. Sprint set up Sprint Prepaid PhoneCards store at eBay (auctioning one million minutes to launch the site), and Motorola auctions off customized cell phones to pitch new features.

HISTORY CHANNEL

Why: They make history hip. “People may think we’re inaccessible, so we go out of our way to show that we can be fun and have a contemporary edge,” says senior vp-marketing Artie Scheff. For Egypt: Beyond the Pyramids, History Channel’s Live Like a King watch-and-win game awarded a trip to the pyramid-shaped Luxor hotel in Las Vegas and private concert with 1980s pop band the Bangles. (Remember “Walk Like an Egyptian”? OK, it’s a stretch.) Clarion Marketing & Communications, Greenwich, CT, handled. The New York City-based network takes on reality TV with fall’s The Ship, a recreation of Captain Cook’s journey to the South Pacific — and outdoor boards headline “Ship Happens.” “It doesn’t get much more 21st Century than that,” says Scheff.

HARRAH’S ENTERTAINMENT

It ups the stakes of grown-up fun. “Our promotions have a high mystery index with our customers,” says senior vp-marketing Rich Mirman. “There’s a sense of, ‘What’s going to happen next?’” The 2001 Harrah’s Total Rewards Treasure Hunt brought players from Harrah’s 25 casinos to search the Nevada desert for a hidden treasure chest containing $1 million. (Harrah’s ironed out logistics with a dress-rehearsal for employees, awarding $10,000.) Events in each casino sent one finalist to the hunt, which was broadcast on ShopNBC. “We had people who’d been married for 50 years and been all over the world telling us this was the best time they ever had,” says Mirman. Harrah’s handled in-house.

INTEL

Intel Corp. makes technology tangible. Its April 23 launch of Intel Pentium 4 Mobile processor put 70 “messengers” wearing laptops on New York City streets to show off wireless music, gaming, and movies. Folks who “test drove” Pentium 4 at retail that day got VIP seats at Intel’s free Barenaked Ladies concert in Bryant Park, the first “wireless park” where mobile computers get free online access. Demos at Bryant Park, Penn Station, and Columbia University drove awareness. It was intercept, it was retail, it was awareness — it was fun. Last summer Santa Clara, CA-based Intel hosted a Digital Music Zone at the 17-city Area: One Music Festival it sponsored. Five kiosks let concertgoers try videogames, cameras, and digital music via Intel Pentium 4. GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, handled both. Events “enable a one-on-one experience that lets consumers get up close to the brand, and [builds] preference and conviction,” says Intel consumer manager for events and sponsorships Chris Katsuleres. “They show how Intel technology makes consumers’ lives richer.”

JEEP

Jeep excels at making live events its own — no easy task when you’re doing 1,500 events per year. “We have to identify the passion points for the brand,” says direct marketing manager Lou Bitonti. “If we’re in the wrong place, we could really blow it.” Camp Jeep finished its eighth year in July with 8,000-plus attendees. (BBDO Detroit handles.) Jeep 101 takes Camp Jeep to the city, now adding events for Asian-Americans and other groups. Jeep King of the Mountain extreme ski events debut later this year, broadcast by CBS; College Road Scholar campus tour (with sisters Chrysler and Dodge) gives students test drives. “For years at Chrysler we were considered the step child in the ad industry,” says Bitoni. “Now our time has come.”

KROGER

It drives brands home. Top CPGs beat a path to Kroger for targeted mailings; Kroger dices its database well to hit just the right cardholders. At first mailings (from 40 to 50 companies) carried only brand names; shoppers complained that Kroger sold data. (It didn’t; all mailings come straight from Kroger.) “When we Krogerized it, redemption rates went up,” says Ron Bonacci, former corporate manager of loyalty marketing (who left in July). Kroger succeeds at “new-age marketing: collaborative marketing driven by the manufacturer and delivered by the retailer,” says Cannondale Associates partner Ken Harris. Unilever, Nestlé, Kraft Foods, Coca-Cola, and P&G all play in its 2,418 stores. Another measure is private label (Private Selection, Kroger Brand, and F.M.V. — “for maximum value”), 23 percent of Kroger’s $50 billion-plus sales — second only to Loblaw’s in Canada (35%), says Harris.

M&M

Tweaks to the classic brand are done with class. Consumers’ affection for M&M makes it a crown jewel in Masterfoods USA’s candy lineup. When time came to add a new color, Masterfoods asked fans first. Global Color Vote asked consumers worldwide to vote for purple, aqua, or pink. Ten million (from 200-plus countries) voted — and made this M&M’s biggest promo ever. “The concept wasn’t much different from what we’d already done in 1995, but M&M is a global brand, so we decided to expand to the global stage,” says marketing communications manager Scott Hudler. Purple won. Production began in August; a purple M&M NASCAR racer supports. New York City agencies Grey Interactive (online), Porter Novelli (p.r.), and BBDO (ads) handled.

OLD SPICE RED ZONE

This is not your father’s Old Spice. Procter & Gamble gets teens all sweaty with repositioned Red Zone deodorant, soap, and “refreshment towels.” A five-month Players of the Year 2001 program hit high school locker rooms to recruit football coaches and players. Its “Inspiration through Perspiration” award program let coaches laud red-zone players with the most heart, not the best stats. Weekly rankings got local buzz and led to a USA Today ad congratulating 50 Red Zone Players of the Year. Four thousand schools got samples; players got Red Zone premiums. The program nearly doubled the trial rate and number of Red Zone users. Red Zone deodorant sales rose five percent to $24 million, per IRI; all Old Spice grew 5.5 percent to $141 million for 52 weeks ended June 16. 360 Youth, Cranbury, NJ, handled. P&G also sampled two million Old Spice Cool Contact wipes in 30 cities and Spring Break beaches with sexy Towel Girls; a sweeps sends four friends to Vegas for four days — and a dinner visit from four Towel Girls. Bounty SCA, Chicago, handled sampling; Paine Public Relations, Los Angeles, managed separate towel girl brigade for p.r.

PAMPERS

Damage control — and we’re not talking dirty diapers. Procter & Gamble weathered a p.r. nightmare when Pampers Perks loyalty program ran out of Fisher-Price toy premiums near the end of the program’s 12-month run. Consumer complaints poured in; P&G responded quickly with a classy cash offer (August PROMO). Pampers.com is still a destination for parent education; Parentpages e-newsletter offers customized content to registered visitors. New products such as Cruisers hit the mark. Pampers (all SKUs) sold $820.7 million for 52 weeks ended July 14, per IRI. “All of our marketing and promotions reflect the different developmental stages of babies,” says brand spokesperson Lisa Hulse Jester. “The idea is that no matter what size or state your baby is at, Pampers is there every step of the way.”

SPIDER-MAN

Culver City, CA-based Sony Pictures wove a strong — yet untangled — web of big-name partners. “We pinpointed partners that made sense for each demographic and had them go really big, but within their category,” says Sony senior vp-promotions worldwide George Leon. Sony also wanted to set records outside the box office, so partners weren’t chosen for size: “We wanted them to do first-evers,” Leon says. Spider-Man scored six first-evers from Dr Pepper, Reebok, Carl’s Jr. and Hardee’s, Cingular Wireless, Kellogg Co., and Hershey Foods. (Kellogg, for example, teamed with Dairy Management, Inc. for the first time. See Cingular, page 52 for its tie-in.) It didn’t hurt that the Sony film lived up to the hype — and a sequel is slated for May 2004.

VAIO

Heavy-duty demos for a lightweight laptop. Sony Corp. of America’s high-end Vaio targets road warriors — tough to reach via TV, but always hanging around airports. Sony blitzed business travelers with ads, then demos in train stations and airports. A Delta deal put Vaios in all Delta Crown Rooms (and brand messages on breakfast bags and frequent-flier e-mails). Fifteen cities each got a handful of five-day events that prompted nearly 100-percent recall and helped bump sales 11 percent. Some commuters proffered credit cards on the spot (but samplers weren’t selling). Airport and train-station managers wary of post-Sept. 11 promos let the December-March campaign go on. “It was so overt and pleasantly overwhelming, it captured the imagination,” says strategy marketing manager Chris Pollitt. Young & Rubicam’s Brand Buzz, NYC, handles.

WRIGLEY

Stellar work on Orbit, a European brand launched here last fall. Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co.’s quirky “Orbit Institute” ads (testers get filthy, but their mouths stay clean) translated to Orbit Institute Sampling Initiative dispensing seven million samples via “field research teams” dressed like ad characters and traveling on vintage Vespa scooters (via Piaggio USA). Sales jumped more than 50 percent. Wrigley, Chicago, also proved sweeps come in small packages. It put game codes inside Big Red and Juicy Fruit wrappers; players enter codes online for club-hopping in L.A., New York City, or Miami (Big Red) or Nintendo Game Cube, DVD player, and TV (Juicy Fruit). Winter Fresh let fans collect wrappers from five packs to get a free movie ticket. Wrigley’s sugarless sales jumped 34 percent to $258 million for 52 weeks ended June 16, per IRI; regular gum hit $234 million, down three percent but beating category slide of 6.5 percent.

YOPLAIT

What’s better than a glow-in-the-dark light saber filled with … yogurt? Line extensions added Go-Gurt and Yumsters to kids’ lexicons and lunchboxes. Minneapolis-based General Mills’ spring promos tied to Lucasfilm’s Star Wars Episode II. Meanwhile, Yumsters leveraged its ties to top entertainment names like Bob the Builder, Thomas the Tank Engine, Sesame Workshop, and Beatrix Potter through product-with-purchase offers. “Often you think you have done this great packaging, but moms aren’t going to come to a screeching halt at the grocery store based on that,” says David Fisher, Yoplait’s director of promotion marketing. “You have to talk to the kids via TV advertising and the product itself.” Total Yoplait sales were $811.9 million for 52 weeks, per IRI. Yumsters sales jumped 37-percent versus a year ago. General Mills handles Yoplait in-house.