Promo - August 2008 - (Page 11)

The Players ‘By using plush animals, we decided that we could attract attention without alarming consumers.’ —Ron Pruitt warning bells in its New York City rollout in June, nor have the street teams heard any complaints in two subsequent campaigns in Philadelphia and Chicago, says Innova account manager Ryan Flom. “We haven’t had any negative feedback,” he says. “We were trying to grab consumers’ attention quickly, but also to defuse the situation quickly as well. By showing the plush animals grouped around our teams, people are getting the joke immediately. Seeing our team a block or half a block farther on, they’re connecting the dots and getting the promotional idea. We tap into their passion but keep it safe.” Flom says the “lost pet” gambit adds texture to consumers’ exchanges with the Innova street teams. “It opens up the dialogue and gives consumers something to talk about when they encounter our folks, rather than just passively taking in information,” he says. But Nature’s Best thinks that information tells a compelling story. The fiveyear-old brand’s dog and cat lines are both coming off complete re-launches that scrapped the colors and cute veggie and meat shapes to stress pure, highquality ingredients. The brand is now the only pet food clinically proven to be all-natural, Pruitt says. Science Diet is owned by Hill’s Pet Nutrition, a division of Colgate-Palmolive. The Nature’s Best campaign will go to 13 other healthy-lifestyle metro areas before winding up in October. In each, teams working high-traffic commuter locations offer a small sample along with product creative and a trackable discount coupon. “Since this was a complete re-launch, down to everything but the name, we felt it was necessary to get the mass reach that comes from a commuter campaign,” says Flom. “Our target consumer reads ingredient labels, and the Nature’s Best story is clearly told there, with no 26-letter ingredients and nothing produced in a test tube.” Other teams go to fresh-food venues such as the Minneapolis Farmer’s Market, Denver’s Cherry Creek Fresh Market and Cincinnati’s Midsummer at the Meadows gathering, distributing larger 4-lb. or 5-lb. bags of product. The fresh-food locations allow for more time to answer consumer questions and explain the health benefits of the products. (They also increase the chances of encountering samplers willing to lug around a 5-lb. bag of dog food P for an afternoon.) l http://www.rtm.com/

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - August 2008

Promo - August 2008 Contents Editor's Note Turf War Have You Seen Us? Film Fest Print on the Run Always Ready, Always There The Personal Touch Commentary College Bound Shakin' It Up Q&A: The Summer of Slurpee ¡Conectado! Resource Center The Agency Center Customer Care Index of Advertisers

Promo - August 2008

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