Channel Watch: Report from NACS Show 2005

The following article provides an outline of new products, marketing campaigns and merchandising programs unveiled at the National Association of Convenience Stores 2005 NACS Show, held in November in Las Vegas.NACS/Coca-Cola Leadership Council released a research report titled, "Convenience Teens: Building Loyalty with the Next Generation." See Related Articles to read the report.Anheuser-Busch Budweiser in February will run a program in conjunction with the 2006 Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue, offering free posters of swimsuit model Molly Sims in stores and coupons for $1 off the issue on 12-packs. Sims' likeness will grace co-branded standees, banners, case cards, table tents and cooler decals. (The now-legendary issue of Time Warner's magazine often gains shipper placement in c-stores.)Also on A-B's schedule is Bud Bowl 2006, the latest version of the evergreen promotion that first launched in 1989 and has run nearly annually since. This year's concept centers on the Bud Bowl Party Zone, which accommodates cross-merchandising displays through now-standard partnerships with related products. The 2006 partner list includes Kellogg (Cheez-It and Town House), Clorox (Kingsford, KC Masterpiece) Johnsonville Sausage, Hormel Foods, McIlhenny Co. (Tabasco) Diamond Foods (Emerald of California) and Jack Link's Snacks.The January-February program will feature coupons and a sweepstakes giving away a Sub-Zero home refrigerator for off-premise accounts. On-premise accounts can activate a sweeps offering the contents of a Bud Bowl Locker. P-O-P options range from a lobby spectacular featuring goal posts, rollout fields, beanbag chairs, branded helmets and assorted signage to a cooler kit with standees, ceiling banners and clings. On-premise offerings include standees, themed buckets, banners, ceiling danglers and jerseys.The company also is offering packaging-focused countertop bins, cooler door shelves and stickers for Tilt, an energy malt beverage that launched in August 2005. The product is being marketed as a "pre-game" beverage that helps males 21-27 "transition from work to play." The product is available exclusively in 16-ounce cans.Elsewhere, new products include:Michelob Ultra Amber, which rolled out in October 2005 and will be supported by print, outdoor, radio and Internet advertising and such P-O-P materials as light boxes and customizable signs.Bistro, a beer (grains) and wine (grapes) hybrid currently in test market and supported by wire racks, butcher block table displays and neck hangers. Natty Up, a caffeine-infused beer currently in test and backed by a range of premiums, along with bins and cooler door suction racks.9th Street Market, "beer with a hint of fruit" for females 21-49. The brand currently is in test market backed by outdoor, radio, local print and wooden-trellis displays.Wild Blue blueberry lager targeted at 21- to 34-year-old micro brew fans. Case cards, cooler stickers, neck hangers and flyers support in test markets.A-B also is pitching P-O-P for its aluminum bottles, which are now available nationally for the Budweiser, Bud Light, Budweiser Select, Michelob and Anheuser World Lager brands.BestSweet Inc.The makers of XLR 8 energy chews touted a $4.8 million marketing plan centered on a licensing deal with NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. The schedule includes print, online and in-store radio advertising (the last via MRN and PRN networks), an 18-event promotional tour and a sweepstakes dangling a chance to meet Earnhardt. The product began shipping in October 2005 and is available at 7-Eleven, Circle K, White Hen and Speedway SuperAmerica, along with drug, mass, supermarket and specialty outlets. P-O-P includes counter trays and sidekicks.Cafe Del MarThe company is distributing Frappio, an "espresso energy latte" that improves mental concentration and alertness and also reduces hunger. The product will launch with special pricing, print ads in newspapers and magazines, quarterly promotions and cooler clings.Chomp Inc.Trumpeting non-attributed research that 75% of c-store shoppers own or buy for pets, the company is offering counter displays and racks with interchangeable promotional headers for Sniffers, Pit'r Pat and Yip Yap "candy."Del Laboratories introduced Orajel toothache, mouth sore and teething pain single-use swabs. The products will receive more than $10 million in marketing support in 2006, including TV spots, print ads, direct mail and promotions.Elite FXThe Boynton Beach, FL, company is busy negotiating a national rollout for Celsius, a thermogenic soft drink that aids in exercising by burning calories. Launched in March 2005, the product performed well in Circle K, Tom Thumb and independent c-stores in Florida. Neck hangers and other P-O-P, as well as packaging, are designed to educate shoppers about the product's capabilities. The company initially had an easy time getting single-serve bottles into cooler sets, but ceo Steve Haley expects a greater need for secondary displays as distribution expands to include case sales in supermarkets, mass merchants and drugstores. An additional 12,000 stores could be added in first-quarter 2006, Haley said.Chevron Chevron, San Ramon, CA, is in the process of converting many of its 380 full-service c-stores to a branded format called ExtraMile, category manager Tony Bandiera explained during a panel discussion at the show. Changes include expansion of tobacco fixtures from six to eight or nine feet to position stores as true destinations for the category; updated equipment and signage for coffee bars and beverage fountains; and all new gondolas. Other standard features are a Food-to-Go department, a Better Choices section for healthy snacks, and an upfront cooler for water and energy drinks dubbed HydraZone. The ExtraMile concept officially launched in the Seattle market in October 2005, but many of the 43 stores in the area first opened in the spring. Between 100 and 150 units will be reformatted in 2006, Bandiera said. The concept is flexible enough to suit stores from 500 to 3,500 square feet in size.Seattle was chosen as the pilot city because there is no dominant c-store chain in the market, according to a company release.Washington ExtraMile stores currently are hosting the second flight of a Football FANtasy Sweepstakes. The first flight awarded 25 VIP trips to the Seattle Seahawks' Dec. 11 home game. Activities included a pre-game tailgate party supplied by ExtraMile partners Johnsonville Brats, Coca-Cola and Budweiser. The second flight runs through December and will give away one trip for four to the NFL Pro Bowl in Hawaii on Feb. 12, 2006. Coca-Cola The soda giant said it will launch Black Cherry Vanilla Coke and Diet Black Cherry Vanilla Coke in January, the first time it has rolled out regular and diet SKUs for a brand simultaneously. The products replace Vanilla Coke and Diet Vanilla Coke, which are going on "hiatus."The company also discussed plans to launch energy drinks Vault and Vault Zero nationally in February, having tested the soft drink/energy drink hybrids in seven Southern states and Michigan. Other planned launches in the energy category include Advance by Powerade, Tab Energy, Full Throttle and Dasani Sensations.Coke also will continue to employ combo offers with outside companies, such as ConAgra's Pemmican beef jerky, to increase volume in the channel.ConAgra Foods The company trumpeted a major marketing campaign for Slim Jim highlighted by the brand's first TV advertising in three years. Creative (from Crispin Porter + Bogusky, Miami) depicts a gruff, male "Fairy Snapmother" who goads teens into undertaking risky endeavors. Targeting males 12-24, the spots ran on targeted stations (MTV, Spike) in September-October and will return in January. Print and Internet ads support.In-store activity (executed by ConAgra merchandisers STS) breaks this month. Available displays include dump bins, countertops, shippers and power wings. An instant-win sweeps will offer a chance to win items from the Snapmother's garage such as MP3 players and snowboards. In March, P-O-P and packaging for Slim Jim will communicate a sweeps delivering a chance to "party like a star" with all-access passes to special events. In April, the brand will offer NASCAR-themed coolers that can serve as counter displays before becoming a premium. A May promotion will require entrants to text-message their responses to on-pack questions positing, "Would you rather ... ?" Grand prize is an "ultimate Snap moment experience."ConAgra also is offering new 48-count shippers for David sunflower seeds for use during non-promotional periods. They'll first be available at the end of February. The company also distributed sell sheets for Crunch 'n Munch urging retailers to merchandise the popcorn brand on clip strips. The collateral cites Information Resources Inc. data finding that brand sales leap 800% with feature and display support.Digiview EntertainmentThe two-year-old company has been able to reduce production costs on DVDs (and, more recently, music CDs) enough to allow retailers to sell them for $1. Content from its 4,000-title library (recently expanded to include Spanish-language material) features proprietary properties and public-domain works.Dunellen, NJ-based Digiview has been supplying Wal-Mart for about 18 months with displays deployed near checkout or other impulse areas. Chief executive Michael Omansky says they're now branching out into other departments such as seasonal and toys.A program conducted at 900 Kmart stores in October 2005 offered the DVDs as "10 for $10" and sold 60,000 units in the first two days, according to Omansky. The product line also has been tested in West Coast 7-Eleven stores, he said.General MillsAmong the new products touted were Chocolate Chex Mix, which rolled out in October 2005 with clip strips for merchandising, and Progresso Soup Microwave Bowls, which start shipping in early January.GlaxoSmithKlineThe OTC maker's new offerings include Tums Smoothies Take-Out Packs in 12-count cartons, rolling out mid-March, and Tagamet indigestion tablets in new bonus packaging (two extra tablets), also launching in March. Support for Tagamet will include shelf talkers, Catalina checkout coupons, in-pack coupons and three national FSIs (in January, July and November).Hershey Foods Hershey is offering shippers for its 2006 limited-edition lineup, which includes "Extreme Chocolate" SKUs in January-February, king-size twosomes (Hershey's and Heath, Hershey's and Reese's Pieces) in May-June, and gourmet coffee-flavored Hershey's and Kit Kats in September-October.JT International The tobacco marketer promoted a new brand design, packaging and P-O-P materials for Mild Seven cigarettes, a popular Japanese brand marketed in the U.S. mainly to Asian-Americans and tourists (and thus distributed primarily on the West Coast).KelloggMajor promotions include:Bring Home the Gold sweepstakes, January-February 2006. An umbrella promotion for breakfast items will give away one $5,000 shopping spree and 200 $25 shopping sprees at The Home Depot, along with 100 sets of collectable U.S. Olympic pins. P-O-P materials, available in English or Spanish, include shippers, counter cards, wobblers, rack headers and tearpads. Kellogg's Mug Club, March-April. Shoppers mail in five proofs of purchase from eligible products to receive an 11-ounce Tony the Tiger mug. English or Spanish P-O-P includes counter cards, wobblers, rack headers and tearpads.Kellogg Will Have You Seeing Stars, May-August. Shoppers receive a gift card good for one free rental at Blockbuster with the purchase of any five three-ounce snack SKUs. English or Spanish P-O-P options include shippers, counter cards, wobblers, rack headers and tearpads.New products: Rice Krispies Treats Split Stix (due in first quarter); Fudge Shoppe Filled Cookies (second quarter).Kraft Foods The company pitched a redesigned Favorites to Go multi-category merchandiser that is 36 inches wide, 54 inches high and 19 inches deep, and can accommodate a sidekick attachment.Nabisco offered Oreo and Nutter Butter ChocoStix, which ship in 12-pack trays. The sell sheet suggests secondary merchandising on cooler vaults using previously issued 18-inch suction racks (co-branded with the "Got milk?" logo).Planters pitched 72-count shippers/sidekicks for new Planters Deluxe Nuts in tube packaging. The product's sell sheet references a 2002 study from Meyers Research Center that found 49% of salty snack purchase decisions are made within the store.Masterfoods USAThe highlight of Masterfoods USA's 2006 promotional calendar is a June tie-in to Walt Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean 2: Dead Man's Chest. In a style similar to the company's 2005 effort with Star Wars Episode III, the multi-brand program (M&M's, Skittles, Twix) will include themed products (white chocolate "Pirate Pearls"), packaging and P-O-P graphics (including M&M's spokescharacters dressed as pirates). It also features a "Win the Treasure" in-pack instant-win game. Elsewhere, September will again bring a National Football League tie-in for Snickers with dedicated shippers. Other highlights include the launch of Skittles bubble gum in January.Nestle The company unveiled plans for a series of Limited Edition Nesquik MilkShakes in single-serve bottles. The first SKU, Cookies 'n Milk, debuts in February 2006 and will stay in market for up to one year to build awareness for the concept. After that, other varieties will rotate in under the same UPC every six months. The strategy lets Nestle "provide a longer-term SKU solution that enables Nesquik to continue to bring new flavors without requiring more shelf space or slotting," according to company information. To accommodate the changes, P-O-P will be "flavor neutral."Nestle Purina PetCare pushed displays (shippers, standard ready displays and clip strips) for Beggin' Strips, Beneful, Aquari-Yum, T-Bonz and other pet treat brands, citing ACNielsen data showing that treat sales are growing three times faster than the total pet care category.According to ACNielsen figures, pet care sales dropped nearly 12% (to $5.8 billion) in the supermarket channel, but increased nearly 12% (to $5.6 billion) at mass merchants and almost 23% (to $2.9 billion) at supercenters.Among new products, PowerBar Triple Threat will be marketed as a product that "fuels like a PowerBar. Tastes Like a Candy Bar." The target is 18- to 34-year-old college-educated males, in households with annual incomes above $40,000. And Nescafe Taster's Choice stick packaging (holding .07 ounces of coffee grinds) will begin testing at the end of January.Ocean Spray The co-op trumpeted a plan to spend $10 million in national TV and print advertising for Craisins beginning in November 2005 and continuing through 2006.PepsiCoSoBe will start the new year with the first label redesign in the brand's 10-year history. The goal is to "enhance on-shelf billboard effect" and reinforce the brand's all-natural positioning. Typeface for the SoBe logo will nearly double in size. P-O-P communicating the packaging change will be distributed.Gatorade will launch two line extensions, Gatorade Rain and Propel Calcium. The former gets $20 million in advertising, including TV spots from Element 79, beginning in March. That agency also will produce spots for Propel Calcium, due in the spring.PepsiCo also is offering a "Crunch and Quench" bundling of Doritos and Mountain Dew involving pump toppers, cooler clings and adjacent displays, and continues to push the tactic of co-promotions bundling snacks with fresh sandwiches.Procter & Gamble The company heralded the c-store rollout of Tide to Go instant stain remover. P&G is encouraging merchandising on counters and clip strips in such "stain zones" as the coffee bar. The product, which rolled out to grocery, mass and club outlets in May 2005, is getting $20 million in marketing support in its first 18 months.Thanasi FoodsThe company touted Jim Beam Premium Beef Jerky, which moved into the top 30 products in its category (of the 300-plus tracked by ACNielsen) after nine months of distribution in 2005. Thanasi is making a blended shipper for beef jerky and sunflower seeds available in March 2006. The product is on shelves at BP, Sheetz, 7-Eleven, Circle K, Speedway SuperAmerica, Loaf 'N Jug, Basha's and other chains. Promotional plans for 2006 include co-merchandising with Coca-Cola's Full Throttle energy drink.Unilever Lipton introduced premium tea bags in green tea, spiced chai, peppermint, chamomile and orange & spice flavors. Merchandising options include counter racks and chests. A "multi-million dollar retail advertising and marketing campaign" is promised.Wyeth Consumer Healthcare Among new merchandising programs is a "Stars & Stripes Replica Display" (see image at right) for Chapstick. The item will ship in May 2006, in time for summer.SUPPLIERSDot Foods The wholesaler and some of its CPG clients continued promoting the Multi-Vendor Endcap, a merchandising program introduced in 2003 (See NACS Show Report 2003 in Related Articles) that boasts products from Kraft/Nabisco, Hershey, General Mills, P&G and other companies contending with Frito-Lay's direct-store domination in the channel. In addition to the original large unit, the program now includes two smaller sizes: 38 inches wide by 14 inches deep by 66 inches high, and 51 inches wide by 17.5 inches deep by 54 inches high. Unit costs start at $210.37 for the former and $217.70 for the latter on an order of 500.Dresser Wayne The company announced a partnership through which EK3 Technologies, London, Ontario, will create advanced graphics, photography and full-motion video for Dresser Wayne's iX Media tool, which delivers promotional information at the fuel pump via 10.4-inch color VGA screens and built-in speakers. (Austin, TX-based Dresser also makes the pumps.) Web-based software lets retailers customize the content for their own stores.ScentAir Technologies The company highlighted its ScentWave system, which offers more than 1,000 scents to enhance store environments. The units can operate on their own or through a store's HVAC system. Delhaize America's bloom stores do the latter to pump different scents to various departments.Visual Marketing Inc.The P-O-P manufacturer is marketing the Visual Tobacco Solutions System, a modular unit that can be freestanding when grid walls and slatwalls are not available. Features include spring-loaded pushers and flexible signage options. "As companies have cut back on the merchandising they provide to retailers, we had a demand to make these systems available directly ... to c-store chains and individual retailers," says Visual Marketing ceo Larry Zock. (The company had previously manufactured the system for R.J. Reynolds.)

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