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LOS ANGELES – Unified Western Grocers is selling a lot more ice cream to its member retailers this summer, thanks to a unique promotion with Good Humor-Breyers, a unit of Unilever.
The promotion, "Los Ciento-Un Días del Paletero" ("One Hundred One Days of the Ice Cream Man"), targets Hispanic shoppers in the Los Angeles metropolitan area with a multi-level marketing effort that is promoting Good Humor, Breyers, Popsicle and Klondike brand products in more than 300 Southern California independent retail grocery stores. According to Norm Bowers, manufacturing division sales manager, Unified Western Grocers, the promotion has tripled the company's ice cream sales compared to a similar period in 2001. He added that warmer-than-normal temperatures in the Los Angeles area could spike sales to even higher levels.
"One of the reasons this promotion is so successful is because it is so unique," said Bowers. "We are building brand awareness among Hispanics for premium ice cream products. I don't believe that has ever been done before."
Central to the promotion is a specially-designed ice cream truck that makes three appearances at participating retailers each day. At each stop, bilingual product demonstrators distribute free ice cream samples, coupons, stickers and other promotional materials to visitors who approach the truck. Announcements about the truck's visit are also made on the store's public address system.
There is also extensive marketing support for the promotion. Retailer visits by the truck are promoted in advance with advertising spots on KSCA-FM, the number one-rated radio station in Los Angeles. In addition to its immense popularity among Hispanics, the radio station was selected because its frequency on the dial – 101.9 FM – directly coincides with the primary Memorial Day to Labor Day ice cream selling season, which just so happens to be101 days. The truck and workers also symbolize "El Paletero," the legendary ice cream man whose truck bells and music have attracted children for decades throughout city and suburban neighborhoods.
"This promotion works because it represents the very essence of Hispanic marketing – it's grass roots based," said Chris del Rey, president, Del Rey Marketing, the firm that coordinated the marketing and media aspects of the promotion. "Without the truck and the sampling activity, most Hispanics probably wouldn't pay much attention to what we're doing. You've got to get out there and deal with people on a personal basis."
At Good Humor-Breyers, Dave Norby, director of sales, western region, said that execution on the part of the promotional partners – Unified, its retail members, Advantage Sales and Marketing (food broker) and Good Humor-Breyers – was critical to the early success of the promotion.
"From distribution to pricing to store sets, everyone worked hard to make sure that this promotion had every chance to succeed," said Norby. "Hispanic marketing is a key focus of Good Humor-Breyers and we are very excited by the sales trends we have seen in this promotion to date."
Unified Western Grocers, Inc. is a retailer-owned grocery distributor that supplies independent retailers throughout the Western United States. Unified and its subsidiaries, which generated approximately $3 billion in sales during the 2001 fiscal year, offer independent retailers all the resources they need to compete in the supermarket industry.
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"El Paletero" (The Ice Cream Man) visits three independent supermarkets every day through September in this colorfully-painted truck.
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At each retail store, bilingual demonstrators distribute free ice cream samples and other promotional materials to children and other visitors.
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