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Home > Blogs > The Cycle
The Cycle

Marketing in a recession (or depression)

Posted April 20, 2009

From the :

In the late nineteen-twenties, two companies—Kellogg and Post—dominated the market for packaged cereal. It was still a relatively new market: ready-to-eat cereal had been around for decades, but Americans didn’t see it as a real alternative to oatmeal or cream of wheat until the twenties. So, when the Depression hit, no one knew what would happen to consumer demand. Post did the predictable thing: it reined in expenses and cut back on advertising. But Kellogg doubled its ad budget, moved aggressively into radio advertising, and heavily pushed its new cereal, Rice Krispies. (Snap, Crackle, and Pop first appeared in the thirties.) By 1933, even as the economy cratered, Kellogg’s profits had risen almost thirty per cent and it had become what it remains today: the industry’s dominant player.

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Filed under: Consumer, Food and Beverage

Tags:Kellogg, Post

Gershon Kekst rubs elbows with Martha Stewart

Posted April 8, 2009

Vanity Fair did a piece about the heavy-hitters who frequent The Four Seasons, which turns 50 years old. Martha Stewart, Tom Brokaw, and Liz Smith are among those featured in a photo taken in the restaurant’s Grill Room. Standing on top, fourth from the right, is PR’s own Gershon Kekst. Click for video as well.

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Tags:Four Seasons, Gershon Kekst, Vanity Fair

Cloned cow milk marketing site, Ben & Jerry’s prank

Posted April 1, 2009

Ben & Jerry’s announced today it was behind the unsettling corporate site, Cyclone Dairy, a company marketing milk from 100% cloned cows. Part April Fool’s Day prank, part educational campaign, the fake site, which went up about two weeks ago, was created to drive awareness about the use of cloned animals in the food supply and advocate Congress create a national registry and tracking system. AOR Cone supported the initiative.

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Filed under: Consumer, Food and Beverage, Healthcare, Public Affairs

Tags:Clones, Cone, Milk

Skittles’ new Web site showcases social media

Posted March 2, 2009

Skittles recently unveiled a new Web site, putting its social media efforts into hyperdrive. The brand candy, positively remembered for its digital Bebo effort, now provides direct links to various branded social media programs, including a Twitter results page, Flickr, YouTube videos, and a Facebook page. This initiative is being considered a “brave” shift for the candy as these brand communications are ceded to consumers, sans filter.

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Filed under: Branding, Consumer, Corporate Reputation, Food and Beverage, New Media, Social Media, Web sites

Tags:Bebo, Skittles, , Web site

Tropicana drops package redesign due to consumer complaints

Posted February 23, 2009

PepsiCo is scrapping a redesign of its Tropicana packaging because of consumer complaints, the company The New York Times.

The redesign, which kicked off in January, also included a new advertising campaign, which will continue as planned “although future elements of the campaign” will be updated.

The brand plans to contact the consumers who called or wrote to the company about the changes to explain what Tropicana is doing, going forward.

Other companies, like and Johnson & Johnson, have faced situations where consumer complaints, some fueled by the visibility that social media provides, have caused companies to make immediate changes, says the Times.

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Filed under: Advertising, Consumer, Food and Beverage, Social Media

Tags:, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, Tropicana

Surveys show recall awareness is high, but brand confusion persists

Posted February 13, 2009

Consumers are well aware of the salmonella outbreak, but many are confused about what products have been recalled, says two surveys from Harvard University and Burson-Marsteller.

The Burson survey, which comes on the heels of its work with Peanut Corporation of America, the peanut butter manufacturer at the center of the salmonella investigation, notes that 93% of US consumers have heard about the recalls.

Harvard’s survey showed that 1 in 4 people think that national peanut butter brands are involved in the recall but only half are worried about the other foods - snacks bars, baked goods, ice cream - that have been recalled.

“There is a difference in consumer perception,” says Bill Zucker, MD and Midwest market leader for Burson-Marsteller. The Burson survey also showed that companies with a strong brand name will fare better in recall situations.

For communicators, the question should be: “Am I ready to communicate in that situation?” says Zucker.

The firm has announced, along with the food safety survey, that it has a one-day onsite checkup plan for companies that want to evaluate their crisis communications plans, in the case of a potential recall. It is providing proactive outreach to food trades and wire services about the plan.

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Tags:Burson-Marsteller, Harvard University, Peanut Corporation of America

Posted February 5, 2009

The number of peanut butter products recalled because of the salmonella outbreak has to nearly 900 since the outbreak was first reported in early January.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which traced the outbreak back to the Peanut Corporation of America, a plant that distributed peanut butter products to institutions and for use in processed foods, has said it’s one of the “largest recalls in memory,” according to USA Today.

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Tags:Centers for Disease Control, Food and Drug Administration, Peanut Corporation of America

PepsiCo relies on bloggers to set Super Bowl ad slots

Posted January 27, 2009

Five days and counting, PepsiCo hasn’t slated all of the Super Bowl LVIII ads it plans to air. The soda giant is relying on blogosphere buzz to determine which ads will best align with consumer interests. This news, along with a showing of the airing Monsters vs. Aliens ad, was unveiled at a press conference, held by the conglomerate, today. The company also said Gatorade’s “G” ads, which generated questions from media and bloggers, will move forward from the Super Bowl with clearer branding tactics.

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Tags:ads, bloggers, Gatorade, PepsiCo, SoBe, Super Bowl

Chili’s offers a job to Drew Carey

Posted January 9, 2009

The Washington Post recently asked Drew Carey, the host of Who’s Line is it Anyway? and The Price is Right, what he would be doing if he wasn’t in acting and his reply was: “Probably managing a restaurant… I’d be at a Chili’s near you. I’d be the boss that everybody liked.”

Chili’s jumped on the mention, releasing a statement on January 9 offering Carey a job, a donation to a charity of his choice, and a $100 Chili’s gift card to “get a firsthand taste of Chili’s familiar favorites with a twist.”

“I’d like to invite you to fulfill your long-held desire by managing one of our Chili’s Grill & Bar restaurants for a few hours,” said Todd Diener, president of Chili’s in an open letter to Carey. “I hope you seriously consider this offer to bring your fun-loving personality to the Chili’s family. I’m confident our team members will help fulfill your dream to be ‘the boss that everybody liked.’”

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Tags:Drew Carey, Washington Post

Anheuser-Busch, In-Bev merger moves forward

Posted November 13, 2008

After months of talk, Anheuser-Busch took some of its final steps to merge with the Belgian company, InBev, yesterday, after a majority of the US brewers’ shareholders approved the sale. While AB shareholders are set to cashout at $70 per share with the establishment of the , questions arise concerning how the new company will effectively market AB’s brand portfolio, like Budweiser, which was once leveraged as family owned and quintessentially American. Reportedly, InBev will seek to further globalize the marketing strategy of Budweiser and Bud Light.

The eventuality of the sale became evident to PRWeek, last month, after an e-mail was received from SaveBudweiser.com, a Web site protesting the globalization of the brand, in which the owners announced their decision to auction off the domain name and provide the earnings to military relief organizations.

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Tags:Anheuser-Busch, Bud Light, Budweiser, InBev, merger, SaveBudweiser.com

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The Cycle

For both journalists and communicators, the news cycle never ends. At The Cycle, PRWeek’s editorial team offers commentary and viewpoints on how the latest marketing, business, political, and cultural news impact the PR industry.

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