Most Clicked POPAI SmartBrief Stories
1. Bloom to offer smart shopping carts
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 17, 2008
Bloom is piloting a Concierge touch-screen shopping cart system in a store in South Carolina starting next year. The system attaches to shopping carts and offers the ability to scan items. It also offers tips on finding products, in-store specials and recipes. Supermarket News (11/14)
2. With little fanfare, Reckitt Benckiser outperforms the big names
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 17, 2008
Reckitt Benckiser is the most successful major packaged-goods company of the past five years in sales and profit growth, outperforming L'Oréal, Unilever and Procter & Gamble. The company, with brands that include Lysol and French's mustard, spent nearly 90% of its media dollars on TV last year. Advertising Age (11/17)
3. MediaVest names shopper-marketing chief
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 14, 2008
Media agency MediaVest has hired its first head of shopper marketing, a signal of the increased importance of marketing at-retail. Danielle Bottari previously was an executive at out-of-home company Max Custom Media. Mediaweek (11/13)
4. Times Square drugstore plays host to ad network
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 20, 2008
Digital displays on the office tower at 1 Times Square in Manhattan and on the Walgreen drugstore on the ground floor are being used as a one-stop ad network, with ads sold by Walgreen and ABC New Media Services. Charter sponsors for the high-profile outdoor display, set to launch today, include Colgate-Palmolive, Kraft Foods, Johnson & Johnson and L'Oréal. New York Times, The (11/19)
5. The "Net Generation" is ad-resistant, author says
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 18, 2008
The generation of Americans ages 11 to 31 -- the Net Generation, according to author Don Tapscott -- is growing up immersed in the digital environment. According to Tapscott, this group has a fundamentally different relationship with advertising than do previous generations. BusinessWeek (11/17)
6. InBev purchase of Anheuser-Busch official
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 19, 2008
InBev has completed its purchase of U.S. brewer Anheuser-Busch to create the world's largest brewer, known as of Tuesday as Anheuser-Busch InBev. The combined company will brew about a quarter of the world's beer and generate about $36 billion in annual sales. International Herald Tribune (11/19) USA TODAY (11/18)
7. Pepsi names TBWA new lead U.S. shop after decades with BBDO
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 18, 2008
PepsiCo announced that U.S. creative duties for its flagship Pepsi-Cola brand will shift from BBDO Worldwide to the Los Angeles office of TBWA/Chiat/Day. BBDO Worldwide has worked on the Pepsi account since 1960, producing campaigns for Pepsi or Diet Pepsi that often were celebrity-driven, featuring stars such as Ray Charles, Michael Jackson and Britney Spears. BBDO will continue to work on several other of PepsiCo's beverage brands, including Mountain Dew and Aquafina water. Both BBDO and TBWA are Omnicom Group agencies. Wall Street Journal, The (subscription required) (11/18) New York Times, The (11/17) Advertising Age (11/17)
8. Marketers aim to tout value without diminishing image
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 17, 2008
Marketers are focusing on value to woo cash-strapped consumers, but they are being careful not to diminish the brand names for the long term. "What if we're only down in the economy for a year, and folks go right back to trading up? Then a company throws away years of hard work positioning its brand as a premium," one expert notes. USA TODAY (11/17)
9. Private-label sales hit $80 billion annually
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 17, 2008
Sales of private-label products jumped to $80 billion this year, up from $73 billion in 2007, according to research. Store-brand labels are increasingly high-end, with eye-catching packaging and premium ingredients. Houston Chronicle (11/15)
10. Customer satisfaction grows in CPG segment, drops overall
POPAI SmartBrief | Nov 19, 2008
University of Michigan's American Customer Satisfaction Index reported a drop in customer satisfaction, though satisfaction in personal-care and cleaning products remained high and food edged up 3%. Companies with "superior" scores include Clorox, Unilever, Colgate-Palmolive, Heinz, Quaker Oats and Mars. Advertising Age (11/18)
