The Beef is in Its P-O-P

Although its best-selling product is Slim Jim meat snacks, GoodMark Inc. is anything but slim in its efforts at the point-of-purchase. Through the company's persistent in-store marketing campaigns (even more so than its TV ads or radio spots), the recognizable re-and-yellow Slim Jim brand has become a mainstay in may convenience stores across the country, and its other products, Pemmican beef jerky, Penrose pickled sausage products and Andy Capp's snacks, have also become top-of-mind for consumers in their respective categories.From the BeginningThe Slim Jim brand was created by The Cherry Levis Co. in 1950. Seventeen years later, it was sold to General Mills. When General Mills decided to sell the company in 1982, some GoodMark executives bought it in a lever-aged buyout and in 1985, GoodMark Foods went public. The company was then purchased by ConAgra in 1998 and now functions as an interdependent operating division that reports to the Grocery Products Division of ConAgra through Golden Valley Foods.Divide and ConquerMarketing executives at Raleigh, N.C.-based GoodMark have long understood the power of P-O-P and have built the company's brand identities by providing consistent messages aimed at each of the product's target markets on a year-round basis. According to Jeff Slater, vice president of marketing, "The key to success at the point-of-purchase is that it is integrated into a comprehensive strategy and objective for each brand so that we aren't just throwing something out there. It's connected to the brand identity, either a promotion or themed idea, and it's certainly well-thought-out - we really do our homework. Also, I think we work well as a team and that helps."That team includes Tina Larson, manager of marketing services and promotions; Robin Atkins, project manager of marketing services for Pemmican and Penrose (Big Mama and Tijuana Mama brands); and Samantha Ward, project manager of marketing services for Slim Jim and Andy Capp's. Shannon Wright is the senior brand manager and is in charge of all of the company's meat snack businesses. Working with her are Nicole Junod, brand manager for Slim Jim; Jaime Weinstein, assistant brand manager for Slim Jim and Penrose; and Brian Perruccio, assistant brand manager for Pemmican. Phyllis Smith is the brand manager for Andy Capp's. Steve Klawiter, packaging development manager, is also involved with every P-O-P project.Teamwork seems to be the name of the game at GoodMark. "Every year we put together a promotional calendar on which we establish what we're going to be executing throughout the year for each brand," says Larson. "We sit down and decide what makes sense for all of our promotions based on the time of year. The brand managers and the teams relating to all of the brands get together and talk about when we would like to run a promotion so we can make sure that they aren't overlapping with another brand. Otherwise, we have the issue of our salesforce trying to promote two items at the same time. It is definitely a team effort when we come up with this calendar." Larson notes that the brand managers "are ultimately responsible for all the decisions relating to the brands as far as the final designs. Samantha and Robin are responsible for working with the brand manager on the ideas, coming up with the creative and working with Steve to get the structures developed so that they [the designs] can work through the plant without any problems. They then go back to the brand managers to present the ideas and are responsible for the execution of them."To keep everyone on the same page, Larson says, "We have several meetings a year when the sales and marketing departments get together. We talk about the programs and the calendar and determine if we're doing too much or not enough and what programs are working the best We work as a team to create these programs to make sure that everything is a success."The field sales team also plays an important role, says Slater. "We have periodic meetings with everyone from the field when we'll sit and review the plans. Their feedback is very important. Oftentimes they have the best ideas from concepts and things that they have been thinking about that will fit with what we're looking for. There's no pride of ownership here and I think that's a key factor."A Consistent MessageEven though each family of products under the GoodMark logo carries its own identity, the marketing team approaches each promotion with the same goal: "Basically what we're trying to communicate through our P-O-P is that we are truly in touch with our target audience," says Larson. "We understand how they think and what their needs are. When we create promotions and specific point-of-sale, we want to make sure that we relate to who we're targeting and that they get it. If they get it, then they know we get it.""Between products there are age differences and tone differences," adds Slater. "Each display has to fit the personality of the brand, but that has to be balanced with the practical issues that exist at each store -- it's a combination of those two things. It has to communicate the key brand message, but it has to do it in a way that fits with the store or location that you're selling it to."For the Slim Jim brand, the target market is males between the ages of 12 and 17. "Whatever promotional ideas we come up with are tied around these teens," says Larson. Because the teen segment is constantly changing, the company is always looking for the new things that teens are interested in. "Right now, we're involved in a CD music promotion where customers buy three Slim Jims and then get a free CD that is a compilation of up-and-coming music from hip hop, rap and hard-core rock groups. It's the first time we've combined all three genres of music together on one CD. It's also the first time that we've required the consumer to make a purchase to get something free."Slim Jim promotes its products to teens through its associations with World Championship Wrestling - Randy Savage is its spokesperson - various extreme sports activities, and MTV. The company is currently running a 2001 MTV spring break promotion.The company's Pemmican brand of natural style beef jerky is targeted to consumers between the ages of 18 and 34, Pemmican is promoted as a low-fat meat snack that is popular with consumers who are looking for an alternative snack to chips or sweets. It also comes in a turkey jerky flavor. This brand runs promotions around the George Strait Country Music Festival and ESPN's Big League Challenge. "With Pemmican, we are trying to communicate to the consumer what they are actually getting when they go into the store -- and we're also trying to grab their attention," says Atkins.The Penrose brand of pickled sausages includes Big Mama, Tijuana Mama and Firecracker varieties. The majority of this brand's distribution is in the southeast United States. "As with all of our brands, we're trying to differentiate between them," adds Atkins. "When a consumer goes to get a Tijuana Mama, we're trying to communicate that it's 300% hotter. We're always trying to communicate the different attributes of the brands."Andy Capp's Hot Fries, Cheddar Fries and Salsa Fries have a strong following among high school and college students. "With this brand," says Ward, "our promotions are going along with what Andy is all about. Trying to hit the target markets for the specific brands and appealing to them is one of the main goals."Another main goal in every P-O-P campaign is brand awareness. "Slim Jim is a name that consumers are familiar with -- it's out there and is recognizable to just about everybody," says Ward. "Even when they're talking about generic meat snacks, a lot of them refer to Slim Jim, so it's important to get that brand awareness out there as well." The main thrust of each promotion, adds Atkins, is the particular event that it is surrounding. "Our P-O-P is out there a lot of the time simply to communicate our involvement with different sponsorships and the sweepstakes that are going along with a particular promotion."A Constant PushThe P-O-P that GoodMark creates is designed to be in and out of stores almost as quickly as the products themselves. The company runs between six and eight promotions per year for each brand, so the amount of P-O-P that is produced is astounding. According to Slater; "if you include special packs, the number would be in the hundreds of thousands. There are more than 100,000 convenience stores, so when we do a sweepstakes like our current 'Beauty and Beef,' we will put 100,000 pieces in the marketplace." Most of the displays are corrugated and Slater says that the company has streamlined the process so that existing structures can be used again, depending on the needs of a particular promotion."With Slim Jim, we have six or seven different display vehicles that we use, including canisters and handy pack displays, which are placed in supermarkets and mass merchants," says Larson. "We also have specific displays that are targeted for convenience stores and every once in awhile, we'll do a special pack, which may mean a Slim Jim jug or Slim Jim guy mug or tins, all holding super Slims or giant Slims " She says that in regards to the national promotional programs, the company determines which displays will be targeted for supermarkets, which for c-stores and which for mass merchants. For the club stores, however; it's done on a special needs basis. "They do not tie into national programs because most of what we produce for them is specific to their needs," she says. "There are a few items that they carry every day that include promo graphics, which are incorporated."When the time comes to create a new design for a program or special promotion, the team often comes up with initial ideas, but all creative is farmed out. "We probably have 10 different resources that we can utilize," says Larson. "We may have a promotional idea that we want to execute and we'll think of a certain vendor as the right choice to do a creative on this project." GoodMark currently works with The Vision Vault, Raleigh, N.C.; The Creative Couch, Los Angeles; North Castle Partners, Stamford, Conn.; Alliance (a Rock-Tenn Co.), Winston-Salem, N.C.; Signal Design, Raleigh, N.C.; Richard French and Associates, Raleigh, N.C.; Triangle Display Group, Philadelphia; Dee Paper Co., Philadelphia; and Kristie Plaga and Cynthia Stalcup, also of Raleigh."Even when we are giving it over to outside creative, we are very good at ideating and coming up with concepts, thoughts and ideas," says Slater. "But even when we do that, we go to them to actually execute the concept."Most programs take six or more months to be executed, adds Larson. "Normally with creative, it takes us anywhere from four to six weeks and then another six weeks to produce the packaging," she says. "We allow about a month for packout and building up inventory in the plant and then we have actual distribution." All of the company's displays are prepacked at its three manufacturing facilities in Garner, N.C., San Jose, Calif., and Folcroft, Pa.What's AheadAs is the case with many consumer product marketers today, GoodMark is realizing the strong trend toward customization. "There is so much competition out there," says Larson. "Shelf space is so limited and everybody is fighting for it. A lot of times just to get that additional secondary shelf presence, we have to create a customized program for our customers and timing gets shorter and shorter." The number of programs, as a result, is on the rise. "I'd say we are doing many more promotions now," she says. "Not any more on national scale, but as far as retailer-specific promotions for 7-Eleven or Sam's or Wal-Mart, we are doing many, may more.""We're also able to go into many more areas of the store," says Klawiter. Traditionally, GoodMark's products have been in the store's meat snacks section, but that's expanding. "Wal-Mart has a front-end program where they have meat snacks pegged, which has been a huge success for them," adds Larson. "That is a great success story for us because it reinforces why meat snacks need to be up front -- because they are such an impulse buy."The brands are always looking for secondary placement, Ward adds. "With having a special pack of some sort, the retailer might have us in caddies in a rack area, but they might also have available counter space if we have a specific promotional item like a jug or a mug that's holding the product. We definitely look into different avenues for secondary placement as well as our normal locations." With the Slim Jim brand, Ward says the company is currently trying to get placement in the candy section of supermarkets. "We know that people are looking at the candy section while they're checking out and we think that along with candy, they might be interested in something more salty. We're looking into doing some things to try to push in it that direction."Along with new locations, the company keeps an eye out for new materials as well, says Larson. "Corrugated is very affordable and we can pretty much control the timing. We are always looking for something different, though, and because we want our special packs to get secondary placement, we have to be on the cutting edge.""I think there's a quality issue with our displays," adds Slater. "We want to be represented with a quality. Very often, we'll find that there are cost savings in cheapening the quality of our displays, but we're not looking to do that. We want to position ourselves as being a high-quality snack and we want to create displays that are consistent with the image of the brand."The future of in-store merchandising is bright for GoodMark, says Slater. "We have always done a good job in the c-store industry and we've been increasing and improving the quality and quantity of our displays and the integration of the displays and promotions. In the last five or six years, we've extended that to mass merchants, warehouse clubs and other channels of distribution," he says. "The amount of P-O-P will only increase and we'll only get better and better at doing stronger brand identification in-store. It's critical for us and we're working with a number of different companies and designers for new ideas. We'll stay in the classes of trade that we're in, we'll just deepen the involvement and improve and increase the quantity of merchandising concepts that we'll bring to the stores."

The Beef is in Its P-O-P

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