Learning from the Best
P&G’s ‘marketing services’ unit christened as Emmperative.
Cincinnati-based Procter & Gamble added a new word to the English lexicon in March by naming its new marketing services venture “Emmperative.” The name’s first three letters refer to Enterprise Marketing Management.
First announced in January, the venture is a joint project with online marketing infrastructure builder Magnifi, Los Gatos, CA. Its goal is to share P&G’s online marketing expertise with the world’s 200 largest marketers. Competencies to be offered include product launches, research methods, brand development, and advertising improvement. Coca-Cola Co., BBDO Worldwide, and Royal Philips Electronics already have signed on as customers. Philips says it expects adoption of the system to reduce its online implementation costs by 50 percent.
The effort is a way for P&G to get a better financial return on the extensive investment it has made in Internet systems, company officials say. Magnifi found Hunter Hastings is ceo and P&G vet Dan Maurer is president.
In separate news, P&G announced that it is also looking to license its proprietary manufacturing technology after signing an initial deal with an undisclosed Fortune 500 company.
Other CPGs have always watched P&G’s activities closely. Now they can pay for the privilege of a close-up look.
Web portal Lycos, Waltham, MA, signed tennis sensation Anna Kournikova to a multi-year marketing and endorsement deal to appear in promotions, TV spots, and radio and Internet ads. A “Win Anna’s Stuff” instant-win game at http://annak.lycos.com serves up more than $1 million in cash and prizes through July 11. A second sweeps called “Win Anna’s Prize Money” dangles $500,000 and runs through the end of 2001.
Sam Adams, Boston, signed on as exclusive sponsor of Project Greenlight, the screenwriting community co-founded by actors Matt Damon and Ben Affleck. The organization is currently working with Miramax Films, New York City, on a contest that will supply the author of one submitted screenplay at least $1 million to produce a film.
General Mills, Minneapolis, is serving up a new line of children’s tableware featuring images of such Big G cereal characters as the Trix Rabbit, Lucky the Leprechaun, and the Honey Nut Cheerios Bee. Manufactured by Trudeau Corp., the line includes bowls, plates, spoons, tumblers, mugs, and cups available individually or in sets and retailing for $1.99 to $5.99 at grocery chains, specialty stores, and mass merchandisers.
Looking to pay down some of the $4 billion in debt incurred through its $15.2 billion acquisition of Nabisco, New York City-based Philip Morris Cos. will file an initial public offering to raise as much as $5 billion in a partial public sale of the Kraft/Nabisco business. The IPO would be the third-largest in history behind those of AT&T Wireless and UPS.
ACQUISITIONS
A TOTAL WASH
Arm & Hammer owner Church & Dwight, Princeton, NJ, agreed to acquire USA Detergents, Inc. in a deal worth $120 million. The merger will create a $400 million company, the third-largest in the $6 billion U.S. laundry detergent category. The two originally pooled their detergent brands, which include USA’s Xtra and Nice ’N Fluffy, last summer in a joint venture called Armus. USA Detergents’ non-laundry assets, which include Country Air Candles and a variety of household-cleaner brands, will be divested.
TURNING OVER….
Display Technologies, College Point, NY, acquired NewLeaf Designs Inc., Chanhassen, MN, a supplier of bulk food dispensing and display systems for supermarkets and convenience stores. NewLeaf president Eric Rivkin stays with the company as vp-new product development.
BUYING IGUANA
Change Technology Partners, Greenwich, CT, a manager of Internet service companies, bought New York City-based Iguana Studios, an interactive ad agency specializing in online campaigns for traditional brands, for $8.8 million in cash and stock. Iguana founders Nancy Duran, Jason Jercinovic and Chris Piazza become Change Technology managing directors.
REVVING UP
Live event coordinator SFX, Inc., New York City, snapped up the mobile marketing car show and racing simulator business of Robert Yates Racing, Charlotte, NC. The 12-vehicle Robert Yates Racing fleet, which includes the show cars of NASCAR star Dale Jarrett, complements the 33 mobile marketing properties operated by SFX/Cotter Group, a North Carolina-based sports marketing communications agency.
KELLOGG/KEEBLER COMPLETE
Kellogg Co., Battle Creek, MI, in March completed its $4.5 billion acquisition of Keebler Foods Co., Elmhurst, IL, creating a company that ranks first or second in U.S. sales in seven major food categories and should have annual sales in excess of $9 billion. Eleven Kellogg and Keebler brands posted 2000 U.S. sales of at least $100 million.
