The Big Fat Marketing Blog

I stepped out of the office today to see how marketers can give away free food without Oprah Winfrey’s help.

The event was a sampling session for a new product, Flatbread Melts, launching today from DiGiorno, a Kraft division. And it was a good reminder of how very simple it can be to get a new food item into tasters’ hands for free—with, perhaps, a few caveats and concerns. more

It wa an interesting concept that I hadn’t seen put into action until last weekend: a pop-up Target store along Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, and dedicated to promoting… nothing more specific than the brand itself.

This was reportedly the first Target pop-up to appear in Chicago, but the retailer has apparently used the tactic in other large metro areas. This one was up and running for the three days just prior to Mother’s Day. more

I don’t do this nearly enough, but here’s an interesting take from Dave Knox, a brand manager for an unnamed CPG company, on why old brand marketing approaches don’t work on today’s customers. more

When I told one colleague in the industry recently that Promo was dropping its print magazine and switching to an all-digital format, her reaction caught me by surprise: “Well, Promo had a good run.” more

There are plenty of painful examples of brands inadvertently ticking off consumers with botched promotions, but when you mess with New York Yankee fans you’re really asking for trouble.

A Pepsi promotion to give away 250 pairs of tickets last Thursday to the historic opening day game at the team’s new stadium and to promote its Pepsi Max beverage turned into a disaster.

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Remember “Mr. Mom,” that 1983 Michael Keaton movie about the car executive who turns house-husband after a layoff? His wife takes an ad agency job and gets assigned to the troublesome “Schooner Tuna” account. And after assorted wackiness, she comes up with the perfect ad campaign: a temporary price cut to show that Schooner cares about its customers’ real worries and is, in fact, “the tuna with a heart.”

Brands are now rushing to prove themselves heirs to the Schooner legacy with programs meant to reassure consumers that they’ll be neither buried in debt nor cut off from vital resources if they lose their jobs. In one policy swoop, they’re acting to overcome buyers’ fears and build brand loyalty. more