Chicago Sun-Times
Kraft is trying a less traditional message with its new campaign for its Athenos line of Mediterranean food. The effort for the brand, which includes hummus, Greek yogurt, feta cheese and pita chips, is via New York-based Droga5. The campaign, with an "Approved by Yiayia" tag line, and Athenos' first-ever television push comprises three spots all cast and filmed in Greece. Katherine Boulukos, a founder of the Greek Museum in New York City, consulted on the campaign, which centers on an opinionated, somewhat acerbic elderly lady, "Yiayia," the Greek word for grandmother. In the ads she comments on different scenarios.
Yahoo Finance
Buyers over 65 are becoming a bigger part of the pie. J.D. Power and Associates reports that last year a quarter of new car buyers was at least that old. That's up from 18% in 2007, 19.5% in 2008, and 21.7% in 2009. The reason for this trend is both that society is aging and older drivers were better able to afford a new vehicle during the recession than were younger consumers.
USA Today
It's official, Ford's new Focus gets 40 mpg, but only the special-edition version of the car, according to newly released Environmental Protection Agency numbers. That means Hyundai Elantra is the only compact in a class that includes Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic and Chevrolet Cruze that will get 40 miles per gallon on the highway with the regular model. The regular Focus will get 28 mpg in city driving, and 38 mpg on the highway.
The New York Times
Southern Comfort's new campaign, timed with Mardi Gras in New Orleans on March 8, embraces both old-school marketing and new media. A social network program on Facebook and Twitter as well as Foursquare mixes with outdoor advertising in the new push. A billboard at the corners of Royal and Canal streets in the French Quarter will be ground zero for Foursquare users. Those who check in at the billboard can enter a sweepstakes to win a trip for four to Mardi Gras 2012. The billboard was created by Arnold Worldwide in Boston.
MSNBC
Imagine if no Elvis impersonators were allowed in Memphis, Harleys in Milwaukee or whiskey in Lynchburg. Whatever the reason, the Girl Scouts can no longer sell their cookies outside the historic Savannah, Ga., home of Juliette Gordon Low, who founded the Girl Scouts. Why? Peddling on a public sidewalk is a violation of city ordinance.
Chief Marketer
The Price Chopper supermarket chain and Dole Food are using mobile devices to get consumers to eat more salad. In September last year, Dole was prepping an mail campaign targeting current and past members of Price Chopper's loyalty program to increase the roster of its Dole Salad Mobile Club. At the same time a marketing firm pitched Price Chopper with a QR code program. A hybrid effort was born, wherein Price Chopper sent out over 40,000 postcards for Dole in November that had both a QR code and a short code for texting. The cars went to people in …
The Boston Globe
Barnes & Noble Inc. has tapped Boston agency Mullen as its creative and media agency of record. The agency will lead a $40 million campaign partly to grab more of the e-reader market, with much of the rebranding campaign focused on the Nook e-reader device. The Nook competes with devices such as the popular Kindle from online retailer Amazon.com.
ClickZ
It has been less than a year since iPad went on sale, and it has bested Apple's laptop business, selling 15 million units in the past year -- 7.33 million of them during this quarter. The interactive marketing business is trying to classify just what kind of platform iPad represents and whether its advertising will work. Since there's nothing to compare iAd to, researchers have taken to reaching for "mobile" as a catchall. Publisher Condé Nast says that's not right, even though iAd is a mobile platform. The first iPad iAd launched in December.
Fast Company
A group of environmentalists this week released a report showing that their efforts are doing no good: the death of coral reefs is accelerating, with 75% of coral reefs in danger of further decay. Celebrity spokespeople and smart PR can raise awareness, but coral reefs don't have big names backing their survival. And they should. The report, Reefs at Risk Revisited, from D.C.-based World Resources Institute, the UN, Conservation International, and other groups says overfishing, coastal development, and pollution--are the most direct and immediate threats to coral reefs. Columnist Jenara Nerenberg suggests the report …
NYSportsJournalism.com
In spite of the foibles, drama and tragi-comedy sideshow that is always a part of the celebrity circus, a new study suggests that print ads using a celebrity endorser produced a 9.4% higher consumer readership than ads without. The Survey of the American Consumer from Starch Advertising Research also found that print ads with an entertainment celebrity garnered 15.1% more readers than those without.