Premium Purchase

Omnicom Group, New York City, acquired custom premium manufacturer Adpac Corp., Elk Grove, IL, for an undisclosed amount, and will align the business with its Case Dunlap Enterprises division.

The acquisition will allow Adpac to grow “faster than ever before through new and enhanced client relationships,” says president Judy Crane, who will remain at the company’s helm.

Among 30-year-old Adpac’s most recent efforts were an on-pack premium program for General Mills’s tie-in with Walt Disney Co.’s Toy Story II and work on The Mills’s Cheerios Millenios campaign. Adpac’s long and storied client list has included Taco Bell, Hallmark, Time Warner, Pillsbury, Nestle, and Borden. Although the company is best known for children’s premiums in the packaged goods market, it has also provided product for family, adult, senior, and pet programs.

Dallas-based Case Dunlap develops promotional products, merchandise programs, and incentive programs for a variety of clients including Frito-Lay, Sherwin-Williams, and HBO.

DraftWorldwide, Chicago, in March purchased a majority stake in New York City-based AG Worldwide, a marketing agency specializing in brand consulting, interactive branding, marketing, and advertising. Soon after that announcement, Draft also gobbled up Scandinavian agency Trampolin Advertising.

Keebler Co., Elmhurst, IL, signed a long-term licensing agreement with Children’s Television Workshop to use CTW’s Sesame Street characters on a variety of snacks. The product line will roll out this fall with Sesame Street cookies, crackers, and other snacks.

Lester Wunderman obviously doesn’t expect to be kept too busy through his new duties (April PROMO) at New York City-based Impiric, the agency that used to bear his name (along with those of Cato and Johnson): The ageless direct-marketing legend launched I-Behavior Inc., a White Plains, NY, company that will offer marketing data and information-based services to e-commerce businesses. The venture will maintain a co-operative database of opt-in consumer names and information. Charter clients are being given stock in the company.

Speaking of Impiric, the newly minted “customer relationship management” agency struck an alliance with Internet direct marketer ValueFlash.com, New York City. The pact gives Impiric access to Vflash Messenger, a desktop application that lets marketers send customized information to customers’ computers.

Los Angeles-based Equity Marketing sold a $25 million piece of its operation to Crown Capital Group, an investment firm based in New York City. The premium supplier and promotions agency said it will use the cash to “fund new growth initiatives” including acquisitions.

Procter & Gamble, Anheuser-Busch, and Frito-Lay agreed to sponsor “In-Store Advertising Becomes a Measured Medium,” an in-depth survey to be conducted jointly by Point-of-Purchase Advertising International and the Advertising Research Foundation. The study will measure in-store advertising execution across a wide range of brands, categories, and retail outlets to determine the incremental sales lifts and consumer impact associated with the efforts. Scheduled to launch shortly, the initiative will be conducted in 15-plus product categories in 250 supermarket outlets.

Purchase, NY-based Pepsi-Cola Co.’s sponsorship spree (April PROMO) continued with a multi-year deal to make Lipton the “Official Iced Tea of the PGA Tour.” The soda maker also signed golfer Justin Leonard to an endorsement deal for Lipton’s Iced Tea and Lipton Brisk.

Pepsi also gained exclusive pouring rights in Chicago’s United Center basketball and hockey arena and Comisky Park baseball stadium through an agreement that also gives it advertising, sponsorship, and marketing opportunities with the Bulls, Blackhawks, and White Sox professional sports teams.

Niles, IL-based Ha-Lo Industries’ Starbelly.com promotional products division signed a partnership with graphics software maker Corel Corp., Toronto. Customers who visit the CorelCity Web site will be able to create their own graphics for hats, T-shirts, and other merchandise.

Online couponer Planet U Inc., San Francisco, joined forces with rival CouponSurfer.com, Bedford, MA, through a deal in which the two will provide consumers with links to each other’s sites.

Bent Pencil Group, Houston, acquired Peoria, IL-based Multi-Ad Services, Inc. and will combine the operation with its own AdPlex retail marketing services business. Houston-based AdPlex’s annual revenues will surpass $100 million through the acquisition.

Turner Network Television and sister TBS Superstation recruited legendary rocker James Brown to be “Godfather of the NBA Playoffs” to promote the nets’ coverage. Brown will appear to TV spots interacting with various NBA stars. DDB Productions, Chicago, created the spots.

HSR Business to Business, a Cincinnati-based Web shop, purchased PRCommunicators, also Cincinnati. The merger gives HSR, which offers b-to-b clients an extended list of marketing solutions, access to PRCommunicators’ brand-building and public relations initiatives.

Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, NY, extended its worldwide Olympic sponsorship through the 2008 Games. The company is a charter member of the International Olympic Committee’s The Olympic Partnership program, which gives first-tier sponsors rights to teams and activities in 199 nations. Kodak’s involvement in the Olympics goes back to the first modern games in Athens in 1896, when it placed an ad in the official program book.

Specialty packaging company Impac Group, New York City, acquired Atlantic Packaging Corp., Norwich, CT. Atlantic serves the cosmetic, personal care, liquor, toy, pharmaceutical, and sporting goods markets.

Trimfast Group, Inc., Tampa, FL, obtained a license from Marvel Enterprises, Inc., New York City, to produce Spider-Man Children’s Chewable Multi-Vitamin Supplements. The vitamins will be red, shaped like Spider-Man, and packaged in a container resembling the comic-book superhero’s head. TV spots during Saturday morning kids’ blocks will support.