Some of the biggest, most famous brands in the OTC medicine category might be up for grabs in the near future. Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer said it would consider spinning off or selling powerhouse products including Listerine, Lubriderm, Sudafed, Visine, Benadryl and Rolaids. "The objective of the review is to unlock the value of the business for Pfizer shareholders at a time when market valuations are attractive for large, high-quality consumer businesses," Pfizer said. The brands reportedly produce about $3.9 billion a year in revenues for Pfizer, whose total sales are in the $50 billion range. By contrast, Pfizer's star performer, …

Don't be surprised if you hear a radio spot for Pizza Hut on your way home from work tonight. The pizza chain is breaking new ground with a national radio promotion and sampling program that includes roadblocking drive-time programming in 50 markets, with a simultaneous one-hour ad buy on 115 radio stations. "The Pizza Hut Free & Cheesy Music Hour" urges listeners to visit Pizza Hut on their drive home for a free slice of Cheesy Bites pizza. Restaurant-goers can also enter a sweepstakes that awards 10 family trips to Walt Disney World. The radio blitz includes all commercial pods …

When marketing to a marketer, the first rule to follow is simple: don't call them on the phone. That's one of the primary conclusions of a new survey from Three Deep Marketing, conducted with help from Marketing Sherpa. In the survey, almost 71 percent of respondents were adamant about not wanting to be pitched on the telephone, and more than 57 percent said they didn't want a face-to-face meeting, either. So how does someone attempting to sell solutions to marketers approach them? Through the Internet, where else? More than 87 percent said they favored a link to a Web site, …

The marketing juggernaut that is iPod has taken yet another giant step forward with a new product that is expected to appeal to music lovers on a tight budget. iPod parent Apple has introduced a new Nano for less than $150, and is also cutting prices on its iPod Shuffle model. The new Nano has a color screen, comes in black or white, and at 1 gigabyte can hold up to 240 songs or 150 photos. It retails for $149 vs. its larger 2GB and 4GB siblings at $199 and $249, respectively. "Now everyone can afford an iPod Nano," said …

A growing number of major companies are using word-of-mouth marketing techniques to help them spread their commercial message to consumers. The discipline has been growing rapidly, and is taking its place alongside more traditional methods as an accepted and effective marketing tool. BuzzMetrics, a leading WOM practitioner, recently hired Gary Stein away from his post as a senior analyst at Jupiter Research. In this Q&A interview, Stein discussed word of mouth marketing and how BuzzMetrics makes it work for its clients. In the interview, Stein says, "I think WOM is a part of a larger evolution in marketing, where brands …

In another example of a marketer turning to the Web for marketing help, General Mills has launched a new site offering short films to promote its Progresso line of soups to women at work. Nine short films, called "soup operas," are available at the site, www.homesweetcube.com, which chronicle the professional lives of six different characters. Each film runs about two minutes and allows viewers to stay with one story line or jump to another. General Mills is opting for a soft-sell approach with the films; the soups are featured in the introduction to the episodes, but they do not figure …

According to Business Week's "Girl Improved" column, a celebrity endorser can do a lot more harm than good for marketers trying to reach young women.  The column is written by the young women from 3iYing--a market and design strategy firm that specializes in marketing to girls ages 15 to 25. They warn that what they call "celebrity-ism" is one of the biggest mistakes being made in the 21st-century girl market. "Celebrity-ism happens when you lose faith in your ability to win a girl on your own merits," they write. "You convince yourself that you need a celebrity to be somebody, …

PepsiCo is expanding its non-carbonated drinks portfolio with a new line of milkshakes to be marketed this summer via a licensing deal with ice-cream maker Ben & Jerry's. The shakes will come in three unidentified flavors and will be available at grocery, convenience stores, and gas stations nationwide. They will be wrapped in what Pepsi calls "proprietary" glass bottles, said company spokesperson Michelle Naughton. The deal is the first of its kind for Vermont-based Ben & Jerry's, and for Pepsi it extends a non-carbonated product lineup that includes milk-based drinks such as Frappuccinos, Starbuck's Double Shots and Quaker Milk Chillers.

Anyone who's ever been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras knows that when the fun is over, a major league cleanup effort is required. So it seems perfectly fitting that the new official sponsor for the first post-Hurricane Katrina Mardi Gras will be none other than Glad trash bags. "Since this is the first major tourist event for people to come back to the region, we want to make sure the city can pull off the event as they want and that it's clean before, during and after," said David Friedler, marketing director for Glad trash bags and also a …

For the first time in 20 years, Visa is changing its slogan and marketing approach in an attempt to become a more integral part of its customers' lives. The company is dropping its longtime slogan, "Visa, it's everywhere you want to be," in favor of a new one: "Life Takes Visa." The slogan will be incorporated into a new ad campaign designed to touch an emotional chord in consumers' minds and become more than just a credit card. "Visa is not about buying a tube of toothpaste for X dollars," said Carisa Bianchi, president of TBWA/Chiat/Day, which created the new …