General Mills

As the dollar store channel grows, so do the opportunities for brand marketers to work with retailers on effective merchandising programs--if they don't mind selling their product on the cheap.

Highlights of recent and upcoming P-O-P promotions by more than 40 top companies

Client: General Mills Inc., Minneapolis
Product Promoted: Granola bars
Comments: Placed outdoors at various Vail, Colo., ski resorts, this barrel merchandiser was designed to withstand extreme cold temperatures and wet conditions. The dump bins offered granola bar samples to increase brand awareness and penetration. Openings on the sides allow the units to double as waste receptacles.
Introduction: February 2001
Size of Run: 50
Construction/Materials: Plastic with clear, PETG hinged lid

Client: General Mills, Minneapolis
Comments: This display offering free samples of Nature Valley granola bars was designed to increase brand awareness at PGA tour shops nationwide. The displays were expected to move three cases of product per week, but they actually averaged 20 per week.
P-O-P Company: The Packaging House Inc., Chicago

The marketing team at GoodMark Foods knows that a consistent marketing message -- and lots of P-O-P -- is what keeps the company's products moving off store shelves.

Patent: 5,806,689
Issued: Sept. 15, 1998
Inventors: Gary L. Mays, Edina, Minn.; M. Scott Bryson, Brookfield; Allen E. Johnson, Hartford, both of Wis.
Assignee: General Mills Inc., Minneapolis
A shelving system includes an upper shelf exclusively supported by and at differing vertical spacings from a lower shelf that can be removably attached to an outside support of a refrigerator case. Each of the shelves includes support panels for removable securement of the trays and upright walls for retaining different types of containers.