Masterfoods is using guerilla marketing tactics to energize the image of its Snickers brand among the 16- to 29-year-old market in Germany. The strategy called for the effort to be centered in an event--a competition dubbed "Snickers Wildkartrs" that offered participants an opportunity to race karts under the Reichstag in Berlin. The campaign was handled by MediaCom and included guerrilla activity emphasizing the underground nature of the contest. These included promotional teams climbing out of manhole covers to distribute information while billboards were altered so that it looked as if they were rising out of the ground. In areas dense with young adults, promotional teams stuck Post-It notes on postboxes and doors. The tactics apparently worked. Almost 10,000 people attended the event and more than 50 percent of them came as a result of word of mouth. Traffic on the Snickers site increased by 50 percent and more than 42,000 people registered for the 470 racing places. Read the whole story...

One of the oldest trademarks in the world, dating back to 1875, is getting dressed up for the New Year. The brand is Bass, first brewed in 1777, which will henceforth be known as Bass Pale Ale beginning in January. Plans also call for the brew's familiar red triangle logo to be edged in gold and be seen in advertising, packaging, POP, merchandise, wearables, glassware and online. Marketed here by InBev USA, Bass was granted England's first trademark in 1875 and the red triangle lays some claim to being the world's first registered trademark. Victor Melendez, InBev's director of European brands, said the moves are designed to keep the brand up to date. "The Bass Pale Ale drinker is one who is focused on accomplishment in all aspects of his life," he said. "With that forward movement, it's important to keep a great brand like Bass progressive and in tune with its core drinker." Read the whole story...

New ConAgra President-CEO Gary Rodkin is wasting no time reorganizing the food products company, and one of his first steps will be to hire a new chief marketing officer. The company is actively seeking a CMO for its retail foods unit, which remains intact following a restructuring that consolidated its foodservice and food ingredients divisions to form ConAgra Foods Commercial. For the past few years, the retail unit's marketing has been handled by Atlanta-based consultant Sergio Zyman, but that's about to change. "Marketing and sales are at the heart of our business," said Rodkin, who took over at ConAgra on Oct. 1. "I want direct oversight of these functions to make sure we maximize our impact with both customers and consumers. Improving execution in sales and marketing is essential to our success." ConAgra reports its fiscal 2006 second-quarter results today, but earlier predicted an earnings shortfall for the quarter, due to lower volumes, especially at ConAgra Retail, and higher operating costs. Read the whole story...

The platinum industry is targeting engaged couples with a new marketing strategy based on research that showed the romantic concept of choosing a soul mate has changed. The new effort carries the tagline "Your Love Has Just Gone Platinum" and seeks to convince the soon-to-be-wed that platinum is more desirable than diamonds, the traditional form of wedding jewelry. The campaign is being spearheaded by Platinum Guild International, the U. S. marketing arm of the platinum industry following focus group research in suburban New Jersey, San Francisco, and Chicago. "What we found is that today's engaged-age couple really has a very practical and realistic attitude toward marriage and love," said Michelle Peranteau, marketing manager for Platinum Guild International. "Surprisingly, what was absent was a romantic notion of love." So the group invented a slogan that it felt described how young adults see marriage: as an upgrade to their current relationship. "The biggest revelation we found was that people generally lived together before marriage, so the decision to get engaged is made long before the proposal is actually made," Ms. Peranteau said. "It's really about why they decided to take their relationship to the next level." Read the whole story...

Good news for e-mail marketers. A new study shows that just about anytime is a good time for e-mail and that consumers accept it as a viable marketing tool. The study was conducted by DoubleClick and also revealed that people easily move back and forth between their work and personal e-mails. Fifty-seven percent said they view their work e-mail during the day while 55 percent view their work e-mail at home in the evening, the study showed, and 54 percent said they read their work e-mail at home over the weekend. Forty-eight percent check their personal e-mail at least occasionally during working hours, with 21 percent admitting they check all the time. "This year's study shows that e-mail is firmly entrenched as a critical communications tool for the majority of consumers," Eric Kirby, general manager of DoubleClick Email Solutions, said. "For marketers, this presents enormous opportunities, while at the same time requiring a significant degree of sophistication to communicate and interact with consumers on their terms in a mutually beneficial manner." E-mail also continues to be a viable direct marketing tactic. Seventy-eight percent said they made a purchase as a result of an e-mail, 59 percent redeemed an e-mail coupon in a store, and almost one-third have clicked on an e-mail and made an immediate purchase. Read the whole story...

Longtime Super Bowl advertiser Frito-Lay is taking a pass on the big game this year, contending that despite all the hype, running a spot on the game doesn't really pay off. "I have a little calendar page that says: 'Lay's runs Super Bowl ad. Awareness increases by .000004.' So although it gives you enormous bragging rights, the facts are, at the end of the day, it's a very expensive proposition that doesn't give you a terrific payback," said Irene Rosenfeld, the company's CEO. "We've chosen to spend our money elsewhere this year." The move is a telling one, since the snack marketer has only missed being in the game three times since 1993. Super Bowl spots are expected to fetch $2.4 million this year, the same rate as last year, which many view as another indication that the game's attraction as an ad vehicle is waning. Visa and McDonald's are also reportedly opting opt out of Super Bowl XL, which is set to air Feb. 5 on ABC. Those firms, and others, may switch their ad dollars to February's Winter Olympics. Read the whole story...