Summer Trading

ST. LOUIS-BASED

Anheuser-Busch, Inc. this summer takes a break from supermodels and million-dollar prizes with Thirst for Summer, a three-stage effort rolling out this month.

“We’re shifting dollars around a little this time,” after 2000 and 2001 efforts featured Sports Illustrated swimsuit “spokesmodels” and huge prize pools, says Dan McHugh, A-B’s director of retail sales promotion. “The consumer is still involved, but we’re really focusing on the merchandising and trying to take care of the retailer.”

Shoppers get a recipe booklet containing self-liquidating offers for hats, volleyballs, and shirts, along with coupons for $1 off barbecue-related products from Clorox Co., Johnsonville Sausage, Kingsford Products Co., Snyders of Hanover, and Solo Cup Co.

The campaign features three creative flights: “Taste It” runs May through June for Memorial Day, “Celebrate It” June through mid-August for July 4, and “Savor It” July through September for Labor Day. The windows each include a consumer sweeps offering trips to (in order) Jamaica, British Virgin Islands, and Hawaii. Consumers enter via tear-pads or at bud.com and budlight.com.

More extensive trade incentives and account-specific programs (from sweeps to P-O-P displays) will “get us into areas of the store we wouldn’t normally be in,” says McHugh. P-O-P displays include picnic tables and grills, fake docks, and lifeguard chairs. A pair of St. Louis agencies handle: A-B division Busch Creative Services takes care of the first and third flights, Momentum the second.

Redmond, WA-based Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox this month uncorks a six-week campaign called Title Wave that gives radio stations in 10 markets Xbox-bedecked Cadillac Escalades emblazoned with their call letters and tricked out with gaming and sound systems. The SUVs will be used for remote activity, then awarded as grand prizes in sweeps also dangling Xbox consoles and game packs. (A sweeps on xbox.com will deliver another three Escalades.) TV spots via McCann-Erickson, New York City, will support, as will radio sweeps in 20 other markets and partnerships with Viacom, Inc.’s MTV and World Wrestling Federation Entertainment still being finalized at press time. GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, handles.

Elsewhere, Xbox inked a deal to sponsor The Pop Disaster summer tour headlined by Blink 182 and Green Day, and signed a multi-year pact as top sponsor of NOPI, an Atlanta-based drag racing/customized car association.

Loews Cineplex Entertainment, New York City, last month launched an eight-week Spring Blast instant-win game designed to boost spring ticket sales. Through the end of May, consumers begin the process by entering codes found on ticket stubs at enjoytheshow.com (or by going straight to the site to obtain a code). They then receive a second code they bring to theaters to see if they’ve won by matching the numbers with those found on lobby displays. Top prizes include a trip to NASA for the next space shuttle launch and tours of Universal Studios Orlando. Marinelli Communications, New York City, assists Loews with the effort. The theater chain is also offering free popcorn refills every Thursday to patrons who buy 170-ounce buckets — which are carrying images from Cingular’s tie in with Spider-Man through May.

Mrs. Fields Famous Brands’ Original Cookies, Salt Lake City, has launched a new marketing alliance with Los Angeles-based NBC Entertainment’s Days of Our Lives that puts the brand into the daytime soap’s plot with verbal mentions and product placement. An April-through-February Winning is Sweet…So are the Days of Our Lives recipe contest delivers a walk-on role in the soap and a SKU for the winning submission. Five percent of proceeds from the new product’s sales will be donated to White Plains, NY-based Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (which also gets scripted mention). P-O-P displays in 450 Mrs. Fields retail stores support, as do links on soapcity.com. Brown & Dutch Public Relations, Malibu, CA, put the deal together for Mrs. Fields; Allison & Partners, Santa Monica, CA, executes.

Cingular, Atlanta, last week launched its largest entertainment tie-in to date in support of Sony Pictures’ Spider-Man, which premieres May 3. Through June 15, a sweeps at cingular.com/spidersweeps dangles two Dodge Vipers detailed with Spider-Man imagery. A two-team mobile tour starring the tricked-out Vipers will visit 79 cities through June 1. Radio spots in local markets will promote tour stops, where visitors can pose for pictures inside the car. BBDO South, Atlanta, handles advertising; Project Support Team, Danbury, CT, serves as sweeps administrator. The tour is handled in-house.

Minneapolis-based Target Corp. spruced up its image this spring as national sponsor of the Great American Cleanup. Organized by nonprofit Keep America Beautiful, Stamford, CT, the Cleanup runs through May in all 50 states. Target will host its own employee involvement day May 18. “Our employees love to do these kinds of things,” says Cheryl Thompson, Target’s volunteer specialist. “We’re pleased to be able to support the program and add this extra component.” Other Cleanup sponsors include PepsiCo, MTV, The Home Depot, Bridgestone/Firestone Trust Fund, and America Online. Clarion Marketing and Communications, Greenwich, CT, handles for Keep America Beautiful.

Boston-based New Balance Athletic Shoe is sending Hoop Troops to 10 markets as a part of a 27-week grassroots program. The tour visits public basketball courts and retail outlets in 10 markets to sample New Balance sneakers. The program tips off June 17 and runs through December. Boston-based Student Advantage handles. New Balance also sponsors the National Basketball Association’s national Hoop-It-Up Tour.

Subway Restaurants taps into AOL Time Warner’s Justice League for a four-week kids’ meal offer. The Milford, CT-based sandwich chain will give away seven premiums from May 20 to June 20. New York City-based b. little & Co. handles the premiums, Westport, CT-based Ryan Partnership P-O-P materials. The 60-year-old property from DC Comics, New York City, has been experiencing a revival since DC sister Cartoon Network launched a new animated series last fall. DC Comics is currently developing a tie-in with Omaha, NE-based ConAgra Foods to put characters on packages of fruit snacks, according to Joel Ehrlich, DC Comics’ senior vp-advertising and promotion.

Golden, CO-based Molson USA kicked off its summer event schedule last month by hosting the Molson Chiller Beach Party in Miami with tons of snow on the beach (made from ice shavings imported from Canada). Local radio stations and retailers helped give away tickets. A July Snowlinks Party in Las Vegas lets winners of a current sweeps play snow golf. Later, the annual SnowJam music and extreme sports festival expands to two-day events in four markets: Albany and Buffalo, NY, Detroit, and Boston. Consumers likewise win tickets via national radio and retail sweeps. “We are very focused on delivering promotions that wow the consumer with events that go above and beyond the traditional,” says Geoff Molson, director of field marketing for the brand. Integer Group, Lakewood, CO, and Encore Strategic Marketing, Toronto, worked with Molson’s in-house team on the efforts.

Star Crossed

Minneapolis-based General Mills will use the force of premiums as centerpiece of its tie-in with the May 16 release of Star Wars Episode II — Attack of the Clones from Lucasfilm, Nicasio, CA.

A limited-edition Episode II cereal SKU will feature corn puffs and seven marshmallow shapes; two collector’s edition boxes will feature holographic images and on-pack games. Specially marked packages of Honey Nut Cheerios, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Reese’s Puffs, and Cocoa Puffs will include five different “lightsaber” pens, while Corn Chex and Rice Chex boxes carry temporary tattoos and an SLO for a cereal bowl and cup.

Meanwhile, tubes of Go-Gurt become glow-in-the-dark lightsabers once the yogurt is consumed. (There are 16 different versions.) A Jedi Berry Blast Fruit Rolls SKU dangles six lenticular cards, while Fruit by the Foot and Fruit Roll-Ups units sold through wholesale clubs will feature metal backpack tags, Jedi trivia games, and bookmarks.

Lastly, the Mills adds Episode II imagery to the paint scheme on Cheerios’ NASCAR No. 43 Dodge. Fans choose which of three designs will be used at starwars.cheeriosracing.com; Cheerios, Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Nut Chex, and Golden Grahams will carry a mail-in offer for die-cast versions of the cars.