Advertising Age - August 8, 2011

NABISCO: MCGARRYBOWEN,
CP&B, EURO, BEING MILKA: CP&B
OREO :
DRAFTFCB
LU: EURORSCG

KRAFT NORTH AMERICA will own four largely U.S.-focused brands that compete, to varying degrees, in commodity categories:

MAXWELL HOUSE:
MCGARRYBOWEN
KRAFT CHEESES,
DINNERS AND
DRESSINGS:
CRISPIN;
MCGARRYBOWEN
PHILADELPHIA
CREAM CHEESES:
MCGARRYBOWEN
OSCAR MAYER
MEATS:
MCGARRYBOWEN
JACOBS:
JWT

CADBURY:
FALLON
TANG:
OGILVY
TRIDENT: JWT
(*IN REVIEW)

Could Kraft split be a
blueprint for blue chips?

KRAFT from p. 1

keters, looking to drive value in fast-growing emerging countries.

Firstly, the split says something about how difficult it is for a mod-ern-day, giant-sized marketer to act nimbly and respond to changing market conditions.

“Kraft sort of realized that their [grocery-] food-product businesses have just become such a combination of big and commoditized [brands] that they can’t deliver what they’ve promised Wall Street, and when you can’t deliver what you promised, well, change the game,” said marketing consultant David Diamond.

Kraft, in particular, has had
trouble merging the Cadbury cul-
ture into its established businesses,
according to people familiar with
the company. Kraft made its name
marketing to moms with brands
such as Oscar Mayer and Jell-O.
But selling the gum and candy in
Cadbury’s portfolio requires acting
quickly to respond to the changing
tastes of teenagers. Cadbury was
“put into this almost old-school,
slow-growth machine that is a real
disconnect from the way these cat-
egories behave,” said one former
Kraft employee.

A prepaid card good for ...
one full-size frozen pizza?

goods marketers distributed fewer coupons in the first half of 2011 than they did a year ago, breaking a three-year run of rising distribution. Pulling back on couponing amid rising commodity prices undoubtedly fueled part of that, but some marketers have been wary of couponing making consumers more price-sensitive and bargain-driven. Unlike coupons, samples get consumers to try products without training them SAMPLING from p. 3

to look for price deals.

Mr. Lockwood said Young America is in talks with several marketers on the tactic but hasn’t signed any up yet.

Using the prepaid cards does appear to offer several advantages over coupons or traditional direct-to-consumer sampling, said Cindy Johnson, a former P&G sampling-promotion executive and now principal of Cincinnati-based research firm Sampling Effectiveness Advisors.

“A lot of consumers complain about the sample size not being big enough for them to notice the difference,” she said, particularly with hair-care or skin-care products that may only be enough for one or two uses. So full-size samples can be preferable, even if more expensive, and she has seen instances of manufacturers distributing full-size samples, generally through retailers, as was the case with a P&G “Future Friendly” program in Walmart stores in April.

“The con is that the brand ends up paying the retailer price vs. the manufactured price,” she said, which can be considerably higher.

Marketer-led reviews
have shops crying foul

AGENCY SQUEEZE from p. 1

cies and educate clients on how to fairly and respectfully treat potential future partners.

“What we see with some client-led reviews is the original amateur hour,” said Tom Finneran, exec VP-agency management services at the 4A’s. Often, clients are leading their own reviews as part of procurement departments’ remit to help choose which agencies a company works with. “People will take [request-for-pro-posal] forms that they use to [buy] corrugated cardboard and use that same RFP to conduct an agency search, maybe tacking in a few additional agency questions.” He recalls one RFP last year that had 281 questions, about 10 of which were marketing related.

Agencies are also still smarting from a series of recent open-call reviews—or as ad folks not-so-affectionately dub them, cattle calls. There was the Voss water review that began with a press release, the Current TV review that was launched over Twitter, and Said Mr.

Finneran: “Say what
you will about search
consultants … but at
least they understand
the business, and
understand the
importance of having
a reasonable list and process and
winnowing it down.”
In the current Best Buy review,
the marketer’s procurement
department issued the RFP docu-
ment. Other accounts up for grabs
that aren’t using a consultant
include Chobani yogurt and the
U.S. Corp. for Travel Promotion.

“As more clients are managing their own reviews, they are less aware of the time needed to fulfill crucial milestones in a review,” said Ken Robinson, principal at

TOM FINNERAN:

Some client-led reviews are plain “amateur hour,” says 4A’s exec.

Ark Advisors in New York.
“That’s why they might ask for a
response in three days. … We had
a client that wanted final presen-
tations to be done December 26,
and we told them that wasn’t
appropriate.”
And, he added, “if a client is
leading the review themselves,
chances are they aren’t going to
think to offer a stipend.”
“I can see the frustration with
consultants seen as being a buffer
[between the agency and client]
… but sometimes you could argue
face time—if you’re not getting
paid for the work—isn’t good
either,” said Lauren Crampsie,
chief marketing officer at Ogilvy.

The complaints have spurred the 4A’s to approach the ANA about the issue, and now the groups are working together to develop best-practice guidelines for agency search.

they use to [buy] corrugated cardboard and use that same RFP to conduct an agency search.”

“We are doing that because
there is an acknowledgement—by
both advertisers and agencies—
that search practices aren’t being
conducted as efficiently as they
should be,” said Mr. Finneran.
And [lack of] efficiency isn’t just
costly to agencies, it’s also costly to
advertisers because their manage-
ment will become distracted if
pitches aren’t conducted well and
it adds to agency cost.”
The guidelines are set to be
issued in the fall.

There’s a perfect ad for everyone.

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