Business in the Burbs » Advertising and marketing

MasterCard to remain sponsor of European soccer

Jay Loomis — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:01:09 +0000

MasterCard Inc., the Purchase-based credit card giant, said that it will continue as an official sponsor of the Champions League for European soccer. The three-year sponsorship will last through the end of the 2011-12 soccer season, the company added. Financial terms of the sponsorship were not disclosed.

PepsiCo Inc. announces marketing deal with the Yankees

Jay Loomis — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 19:31:02 +0000

PepsiCo Inc. said that it has signed an agreement with the New York Yankees to designate its soda as the official soft drink at the baseball team’s new stadium and its Gatorade brand as the official sports drink.

Under the multi-year deal, Pepsi branding will appear on stadium signs, fountain soda cups, and cup holders attached to the field level seats. In addition, Gatorade “hydration stations” will be placed in the dugouts and the bullpens used by the Bronx Bombers and their opponents. Vendors will sell a variety of PepsiCo beverages, including Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Gatorade, Mountain Dew, Sierra Mist, Lipton Tea and Tropicana Lemonade.

“The Yankees arguably are the most recognizable baseball club in the world and we are thrilled to join them in embarking on a new era,” Dave Burwick, senior vice president of PepsiCo North America Beverages, said in a written statement.

The deal with the Yankees gives Purchase-based PepsiCo the beverage rights for both major league baseball teams in the region. On March 30, PepsiCo announced a marketing partnership with the rival New York Mets that also makes its brands the official beverages at that team’s new stadium.

Absolut vodka ad sets milestones

Jay Loomis — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 22:30:37 +0000

Pernod Ricard USA, the Purchase-based wine and spirts company, said that its television ad for Absolut vodka during Sunday’s Grammy Awards show established broadcasting milestones. The commercial was the first time that a spirits brand had advertised on Grammys, one of the most-watched television events of the year for CBS, according to Pernod Ricard. It also was the first time a spirits brand ad has appeared on CBS prime-time programming in some major markets.

Tennis association hires sponsorship agency

Jay Loomis — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 20:15:35 +0000

Amplify Sports and Entertainment LLC of New York has been named the sponsorship agency for the United States Tennis Association Community Tennis Division, the White Plains-based national governing body for the sport of tennis. Amplify will help develop new partnerships with major companies for the association’s grassroots programs that are designed to promote the sport.

New Tropicana ad campaign launched

Jay Loomis — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:48:18 +0000

PepsiCo Inc. is looking to boost sales for one of its biggest brands through a new marketing and advertising campaign for its Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice.

The Purchase-based company said that the revamped branding effort will include new packaging to alert shoppers that the juice is squeezed from fresh oranges and includes no added sugar or preservatives.

Each juice carton also will include a cap designed to look like a freshly squeezed orange.

“Tropicana is looking forward to helping people re-discover the functional and emotional ’squeeze’ they get from drinking an 8-ounce glass of Tropicana Pure Premium Orange Juice every morning,” Neil Campbell, president of Tropicana, said in a written statement.

Tropicana’s national campaign launched Wednesday with print and outdoor ads in eight key markets around the country, starting with New York and Chicago.

PepsiCo tackles Coke in Super Bowl ad deal

Jay Loomis — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 23:05:35 +0000

PepsiCo Inc.’s playbook as it prepares for its traditional advertising blitz during next year’s Super Bowl and the fight for cola supremacy against rival Coca-Cola Co. follows a simple strategy—- Arrange an advertising deal that keeps your opponent off the playing field.

The Purchase-based company confirmed yesterday that it has locked up exclusive rights to advertise soft drinks and other non-alcoholic beverages during the first half of next year’s big game. The deal will keep Coke ads on the sidelines through the halftime show. PepsiCo said that the exclusivity deal was arranged by OMD, a media buying agency.

While some analysts have speculated that one of the worst U.S. recessions since World War II could cool interest among major companies in advertising on the Super Bowl, the game remains a major part of PepsiCo’s advertising strategy of building “water-cooler” buzz among pigskin fans and casual onlookers alike.

“It is very important,” said Nicole Bradley, a company spokeswoman. “There is a huge audience. We can’t afford not to be there. People are as interested in the commercials as they are the game.”

Last season’s 17-14 cliffhanger victory for the New York Giants over the New England Patriots drew an average audience of 97.5 million viewers. It was the second most-watched show in American television history.

This season’s game on Feb. 1 in Tampa, Fla., comes at the same time that PepsiCo is launching new packaging and logos for its soft drinks. The company will announce the details of its ads when the game gets closer, Bradley added.

Last season, the company’s Super Sunday lineup included singer Justin Timberlake promoting Pepsi Stuff, race car driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. getting a charge out of AMP Energy drink and Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter launching Gatorade’s G2. In another ad that had no sound, a group of deaf PepsiCo employees communicated in sign language.

PepsiCo chooses new ad agency

Jay Loomis — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 22:20:09 +0000

PepsiCo Inc. has chosen TBWA Chiat Day as the new advertising agency for its flagship Pepsi brand in the United States. TBWA Chiat Day, based in Los Angeles, is part of the Omnicom group of ad agencies. “We decided to appoint TBWA Chiat Day to refresh Pepsi’s communications across multiple consumer touch points and to reinvigorate Pepsi’s legacy of leading-edge advertising,” Dave Burwick, chief marketing officer for PepsiCo North America Beverages, said in a written statement.

The Pepsi ad account has previously been handled by BBDO Worldwide, also part of Omnicom.

“We are happy to continue our relationship with BBDO on several core businesses such as Pepsi Max, Mountain Dew, AMP Energy and the North American Coffee Partnership,” Burwick said. “This move does not affect their responsibility for Pepsi and other brands outside the United States.”

In another move, Pepsi named Arnell as its design agency for brand identity and packaging innovation.

New Mountain Dew drink picked by consumers

Julie Moran Alterio — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 16:22:32 +0000

Mountain Dew Voltage, a product of Purchase-based Pepsi-Cola North America, has been picked by consumers as the newest flavor extension for the brand. Flavored with raspberry citrus and ginseng, the soft drink will come to store shelves in January. The public was invited to participate in an “election” to decide between three potential new Mountain Dew flavors – with Voltage winning out over Mountain Dew Revolution and Mountain Dew Supernova. The three sodas were available in stores for a limited time this summer. More than 350,000 votes were cast online, with Voltage getting 42 percent of votes.

Tennis star Blake enters deal with Heineken USA

Julie Moran Alterio — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:10:27 +0000

Heineken USA, the White Plains-based beer importer that has helped support the U.S. Open tennis tournament for 17 years, said yesterday that it has formed a new relationship with tennis star and Yonkers-native James Blake, who just finished fourth at the Olympics. Blake will host a charity event and appear on U.S. Open ads and Heineken Premium Light in-store signs. At the charity event at the World Financial Center on Friday, Heineken will present Blake with a $10,000 donation to the Thomas Blake Sr. Memorial Cancer Research Fund at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Heineken is also sponsoring Heineken Premium Light Hat Night for fans on Aug. 30. The U.S. Open will be held from Monday through Sept. 7.

Snack company markets to presidential race

Julie Moran Alterio — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:08:43 +0000

A snack food company based in Tuckahoe is hoping for a major boost as the presidential election gets closer. LesserEvil, founded by Bronxville resident Michael A. Sands with the idea of a healthy snack food that’s a “lesser evil” than chips and such, is starting a new “Vote the LesserEvil ‘08” campaign. The company will offer its snacks at cost to election boards in all 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The company is also donating snacks to polling stations in its hometown. Tuckahoe Mayor John Fitzpatrick said the company is adding some fun to the election by donating the snacks, which are lower in fat and calories than traditional snacks.

Sands quipped, “Whether picking a snack or a president, we believe the ‘LesserEvil’ is always the greater choice. Who knows, munching on some LesserEvil Kettle Corn may even help those undecided voters make up their minds.”

The company is embarking on a grass-roots campaign to raise awareness of its product, including a blog, door-to-door sampling, lawn signs, buttons and T-shirts. The company’s employees also plan to stage rallies at the three presidential debate sites.