• Brandweek, Tuesday, March 6, 2007 12 PM

Pinnacle Foods hopes to reverse 30 years of brand erosion for its Lenders bagels by throwing $30 million in marketing support behind the line. New packaging will make a nostalgia play, as will a radio campaign asking listeners to "Imagine you're a bagel. Wouldn't you rather be a Lender's bagel?" A whole wheat/whole grain muffin line set for this July will give the frozen bagel line a healthier spin.

The marketing activity comes as sales for the line are down 9.8% to $54.8 million, while fresh bagels are stable with sales up 1.3% to $441 million for the year ending Jan. 22, per IRI. Lender's has managed to remain the leading brand in frozen with little marketing.

Pinnacle--a Cherry Hill, N.J., company whose portfolio includes Duncan Hines, Vlasic pickles and Swanson frozen dinners--was recently sold to The Blackstone Group. The $2 billion deal with the New York investment firm is expected to close mid-year.

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