Dr Pepper Learns How to Speak a Third Language

Soft Drink's Vida23 Targets Bicultural Youth With Spanglish Effort

By Laurel Wentz

Published: June 08, 2009

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Marketers are trying to appeal to the bicultural lifestyle of a growing number of young Hispanics with programs such as Dr Pepper's Vida23, which taps into Hispanic culture's music and mix of languages.

MAKING IT UP: At the Vida23 website, users can download the Spanglish song and create their own mixes.

"They have a broad palette culturally and linguistically," said Alex Lopez Negrete, president-CEO of Lopez Negrete Communications, one of the biggest independent Hispanic agencies. "These kids are living a big, bold life by being bicultural and bilingual."

Mr. Lopez Negrete co-wrote a catchy song in Spanglish with Cucu Diamantes and Andres Levin, founders of fusion band Yerba Buena. The musical track, performed by Ms. Diamantes, helped his agency win the pitch for Dr Pepper's Hispanic business against top Hispanic shops Grupo Gallegos and Vidal Partnership, and is the core of the Vida23 website, music video and spots. (Vida23 refers to life plus the number of flavors in Dr Pepper). Users can download the song and do their own mixes, or turn up at a Vida23 mobile dance club and be snapped by the Pepperazzi.

"One of the challenges is to have a client brave enough to let you mess with the language that way," Mr. Lopez Negrete said.

Dr Pepper is expected to spend between $15 million and $18 million on Hispanic advertising this year.

Mr. Lopez Negrete also co-wrote the song for a 7UP campaign called "Sevenisima." This summer 7Up is running a "7 Dias de Sevenisima" contest. Winners get a week of easy living, with prizes ranging from a family vacation to a house-cleaning service.

Subway's $5 Foot-long Becomes Yardstick for Fast-Food Meal Deals

Everyone knows I love a good sandwich. I just had Subway today as a matter of fact. I saw this today in my inbox and thought I should share.

Chains Fight to Keep Up With Competitor, but Will Consumers Buy It?

By Emily Bryson York Published: June 08, 2009

CHICAGO (AdAge.com) -- If fast food has one truism, it's that success breeds imitators.

Subway handily beat its competition last year with the incredibly
popular $5 foot-long promotion. Doing so, it also crystallized the $5
price point as the one to meet or even beat. The sandwich chain closed
the year with double-digit same-store sales increases, and competitors
went back to the drawing board. Subway, which is the nation's largest
restaurant chain, has since made the $5 promotion permanent for a
handful of subs, and occasionally offers all of its sandwiches at $5
for a limited time.

"It's become the institutionalized yardstick against
which all of the meal specials are going to judged," said Brand Keys
President Robert Passikoff. "They're looking to expand their lines and
their income streams. Doing that allows them to try and migrate the
brands in different directions, and say, 'We have more than just
fill-in-the-blank.'" The degree to which consumers will accept it, he
added, is a moving target that also hinges on the marketer's ability to
execute.

Subway continues to push $5 sandwiches, but with a lot more company. Domino's launched a $5 toasted sub this winter, Quiznos has a $4 sandwich,
and Kraft has introduced frozen sandwiches under $4 from its DiGiorno
and California Pizza Kitchen brands. Pizza Hut launched a $5 calzone
over Memorial Day weekend. Even McDonald's billboards in New York show
a Big Mac, fries and a drink pointing to a full meal at the critical $5
mark.
In some cases, the competition has gotten nasty. Subway sent Domino's a
cease-and-desist letter in response to an ad from Crispin Porter &
Bogusky that says Domino's beat Subway in a national taste test by a 2-to-1 margin. Domino's president David Brandon then burned the letter in a TV spot.

While Subway claims that the ongoing promotion is sustainable for its
system because of its size and subsequent leverage over vendors, how
long smaller competitors can bear up remains to be seen. Some Quiznos
franchisees have roundly criticized low-price promotions that affect
their margins, but the corporation has said the $4 Torpedo was designed
to boost franchisee profit. In most cases, it's too early to say what
products are getting the most traction.

Red Bull Cola Has Much More Than Just Kick, Cocaine Found

RED BULL COLA dosent give you wings, it gets you high!

From Vosizneias.com

Germany
- About a year ago, the makers of Red Bull, the famous caffeine-loadedenergy drink, decided to come out with a soda, unsurprisingly named Red Bull Cola. The shared name implied the same big kick. But could the cola's boost supposedly "100% natural" come from something else?

Officials in Germany worry that they've found the answer cocaine. And now they have prohibited the soda's sale in six states across the country and may recommend a nation-wide ban.

"The [Health Institute in the state of North Rhine Westphalia] examined Red Bull Cola in an elaborate chemical process and found traces of cocaine," Bernhard Kuehnle, head of the food safety department at Germany's federal ministry for consumer protection, told the German press. According to this analysis, the 0.13 micrograms of cocaine per can of the drink does not pose a serious health threat you'd have to drink 12,000 liters of Red Bull Cola for negative affectsto be felt but it was enough to cause concern.

Kuehnle's agency is due to give its final verdict on Wednesday when experts publish their report.

Red Bull has always been upfront about the recipe for its new cola. Its website boasts colorful pictures of coca, cardamom and Kola nuts, along with other key "natural" ingredients. The company insists, however, that coca leaves are used as a flavoring agent only after removing the illegal cocaine alkaloid.

"De-cocainized extract of coca leaf is used worldwide in foods as a natural flavoring," said a Red Bull spokesman in response to the German government's announcement. Though the cocaine alkaloid is one of 10 alkaloids in coca leaves and represents only 0.8% of the chemical make-up of the plant, it's removal is mandated by international anti-narcotics agencies when used outside the Andean region.

In Germany, the Red Bull spokesman insisted that his company's product, along with others containing the coca leaf extract are considered safe in Europe and the U.S. And already, some experts have come to Red Bull's defense.

But no one knows where Red Bull Cola's coca leaves come from or where they are processed. Red Bull did not respond to immediate requests for comment and Rauch Trading AG, the Austria-based food company that actually manufactures Red Bull Cola was quick to say that they are not allowed to speak about the product.

Tropicana Line's Sales Plunge 20% Post-Rebranding - Advertising Age - News

Tropicana Line's Sales Plunge 20% Post-Rebranding

OJ Rivals Posted Double-Digit Increases as Pure Premium Plummeted

By Natalie Zmuda

Published: April 02, 2009

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Tropicana's rebranding debacle did more than create a customer-relations fiasco. It hit the brand in the wallet.

The new Tropicana Pure Premium packaging (right) had been on the market less than two months before the company scrapped the redesign.
The new Tropicana Pure Premium packaging (right) had been on the market less than two months before the company scrapped the redesign.

After its package redesign, sales of the Tropicana Pure Premium line plummeted 20% between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22, costing the brand tens of millions of dollars. On Feb. 23, the company announced it would bow to consumer demand and scrap the new packaging, designed by Peter Arnell. It had been on the market less than two months.

A swift reversal
Now that the numbers are out, it's clear why PepsiCo's Tropicana moved as fast as it did. According to Information Resources Inc., unit sales dropped 20%, while dollar sales decreased 19%, or roughly $33 million, to $137 million between Jan. 1 and Feb. 22. Moreover, several of Tropicana's competitors appear to have benefited from the misstep, notably Minute Maid, Florida's Natural and Tree Ripe. Varieties within each of those brands posted double-digit unit sales increases during the period. Private-label products also saw an increase during the period, in keeping with broader trends in the food and beverage space.
Image
Watch Peter Arnell Explain His Failed Tropicana Package Design

The entire refrigerated-orange-juice category posted flat unit sales and a 5% decline in dollar sales during the period. As the leader in the category, it makes little sense that Tropicana Pure Premium would see such a drastic sales decline while the category remained relatively flat, industry experts said. Through Feb. 22, Tropicana Pure Premium accounted for about a third of sales in the refrigerated-orange-juice category.

Tropicana: no connection
A spokeswoman for Tropicana in an e-mail said, "No dots to connect here." The company did not respond to further requests for comment.

"It surprises me that their performance is so different from the rest of the category," said Gary Hemphill, managing director-chief operating officer at Beverage Marketing Corp. "It's a little tough to draw conclusions over such a short period of time. But I would say that's unusual."

Mr. Hemphill said typically when a beverage brand undergoes a rebranding it signals increased marketing expenditures and leads to improved performance, at least in the short term. "It gets people to look at the brand again and brings some kind of news and excitement around the brand," he added.

Tropicana had certainly sought to create excitement around the Pure Premium rebrand, announcing Jan. 8 a "historic integrated-marketing and advertising campaign ... designed to reinforce the brand and product attributes, rejuvenate the category and help consumers rediscover the health benefits they get from drinking America's iconic orange-juice brand."

'Black eye'
Beverage experts were hard pressed to think of another major brand that had pulled the plug on such a sweeping redesign as swiftly as Tropicana. "It's a black eye when you have to backtrack that quickly," said Bob Goldin, exec VP at Technomic. "There must be [another example] but nothing comes to mind. [Tropicana] is a big brand, and it was a big restage. This is something that I'm sure they were not happy about."

While it's impossible to say whether Tropicana has permanently lost share, as a result of the blunder, competitors are likely taking note. "We think the Minute Maid brand has opportunity for growth, and we're working hard to make that happen," said Ray Crockett, a Coca-Cola spokesman.

McDonald's McCafe Coffee Rocks!

McDonald's Hires Baristas While Starbucks Closes 600 Stores
posted by Kimmy Barker on Sep 29, 2008 12:43:23 AM

Think of the top places you might go when craving a grande-low-fat-milk-sugar-free-syrup-vanilla-latte-hold-the-whip-cream please!

A) Starbucks
B) Barnie's
C) Dunkin’ Donuts
D) …McDonald’s?

The Orlando Business Journal reported last Friday that McDonald’s is adding baristas and coffee bars to 180 Central Florida locations this year.
That’s funny, because I could’ve sworn Starbucks recently decided to close 600 of their coffee shops nationwide. Oh wait, they did! In fact, some of the store closures are happening in Orlando. Orlando Fashion Square Mall, Oviedo Marketplace, and Winter Park Village all have Starbucks businesses that are closing.

The fear of an approaching lesser demand for fancier and more expensive coffees isn’t keeping McDonald’s from growing in new directions. According to the OBJ article, McDonald’s is spending about $18 million to add “McCafe” areas. That’s about a $100,000 investment per store.

The catch is that McDonald’s is offering to sell their fancy coffees for less than their competitors’ prices. The future looks bright for McCafe coffees in Orlando firstly because there are over 50,000 college students enrolled at UCF—many of whom will be begging for a caffeine rush during late night studies come mid-semester.