EDITOR’S NOTE: Scoring in Center Store
With fall comes football, and more center store categories than ever -- even some of Procter & Gamble’s nonfood divisions -- are cashing in on the excitement generated by the upcoming Super Bowl with high-powered promotions offering money-saving coupons, recipes, health tips, trips to see the Big Game and even, in the case of Frito-Lay brand Doritos’ consumer-created ad contest, which gives winning entries exposure during the telecast of the event, fame and fortune. Meanwhile, retailers like Roundy’s are coming up with such innovative football-themed initiatives as a cereal to mark the Green Bay Packers’ 90th anniversary.
Beyond the world of sports, however, there’s plenty of innovative marketing going on in grocery. Oldways continues its outreach to Hispanic consumers with the advent of Latino Nutrition Month and, with a little help from McCormick, is highlighting spices as the latest addition to the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, while Infant nutrition experts Abbott and Beech-Nut have banded together to help new parents cope through an information-sharing arrangement on their respective Web sites.
All this marketing creativity makes one wonder how the Nutrient-Rich Foods Index -- yet another system by which consumers are expected to figure out how to eat for optimal wellness -- will be promoted when it finally makes its official debut in the near future. Consumer research is currently underway to determine the best way for shoppers to apply the scientifically vetted program to their everyday eating habits. We’ll just have to wait and see.
As far as existing campaigns are concerned, though, with such compelling promos taking the field this season, grocers and consumer packaged goods companies alike are sure to reach their profit goals.
Beyond the world of sports, however, there’s plenty of innovative marketing going on in grocery. Oldways continues its outreach to Hispanic consumers with the advent of Latino Nutrition Month and, with a little help from McCormick, is highlighting spices as the latest addition to the Mediterranean Diet Pyramid, while Infant nutrition experts Abbott and Beech-Nut have banded together to help new parents cope through an information-sharing arrangement on their respective Web sites.
All this marketing creativity makes one wonder how the Nutrient-Rich Foods Index -- yet another system by which consumers are expected to figure out how to eat for optimal wellness -- will be promoted when it finally makes its official debut in the near future. Consumer research is currently underway to determine the best way for shoppers to apply the scientifically vetted program to their everyday eating habits. We’ll just have to wait and see.
As far as existing campaigns are concerned, though, with such compelling promos taking the field this season, grocers and consumer packaged goods companies alike are sure to reach their profit goals.