Checkers & NASCAR Unveil Co-Branded Burgers At Grocery Stores
Checkers Drive-In Restaurants has joined Birchwood Foods and NASCAR to unveil its new officially licensed NASCAR Frozen Burgers to grocery stores.
“As NASCAR continues to expand its licensing efforts in the food marketplace, Checkers/Rally’s is reinforcing its position as the Official Burger and Drive-Thru Restaurant of NASCAR and carrying the position and the brand over to grocery store outlets,” said Mark Dyer, V.P. of Licensing and Consumer Products at NASCAR.
Checkers/Rally’s NASCAR Frozen Burgers will hit grocery store freezer cases in early spring, first launching in select North and South Carolina-based retailers. Additional locations are planned to follow in early summer 2006.
Bennigan's Introduces Express Concept
Bennigan’s Grill and Tavern has opened its first Bennigan’s Express restaurant in the Diversia Fun Center in Monterrey, Mexico. The Express concept is a smaller version of a traditional Bennigan’s and features a condensed menu for customers on-the-go.
Vince Runco, President Worldwide Franchising for Bennigan’s, said, “Diversia attracts a mix of families and singles looking to enjoy a day of fun and games, and Bennigan's is a restaurant that mixes good food and a lively environment. The flexibility of the Express concept allows us to fit within the space limitations without sacrificing the Bennigan’s experience.”
Starbucks To Participate In Marketing Of Liongate’s Film, ‘Akeelah And The Bee’
Starbucks Entertainment has formed a partnership with Liongate and 2929 Entertainment to participate in all aspects of the marketing of their new film, “Akeelah and the Bee.”
Through an innovative marketing campaign, Starbucks will engage its store customers. This includes offering a large number of Starbucks baristas the opportunity to screen the film prior to its release. Starbucks will also launch an in-store promotion to allow millions of Starbucks customers to experience the fun and inspirational feeling of the movie, including opportunities for sneak previews for its customers and a Wi-Fi network promotion.
“Our customers can look forward to us introducing them to the movie in a fun, experiential way-not the way movies have traditionally been marketed by other quick service restaurants. Just as we have demonstrated with music, we believe that Starbucks can ultimately change the rules of the game for film marketing,” said Howard Schultz, Starbucks Chairman.
RTKL Predicts Hottest Retail Concepts
The domestic retail industry will spend 2006 looking abroad for fresh ideas and approaches to capturing the hearts and wallets of shoppers. U.S. retail design firm RTKL offers the following predictions:
Importing Retail Concepts-Today’s hottest retail design approaches comes from abroad, where retail developers are more willing to push for edgier designs, riskier developments and new ideas.
Death of the Food Court-As a ‘foodie culture’ emerges here in the U.S., 2006 won’t be about how quickly we can get a burger; it will be about food's richer role in our lives. Expect U.S. developers to build more ‘slow-food’ environments.
Electronics Environments for Women-The latest electronic gadgets, from iPods to HDTV’s, are just as alluring to women as they are to men; but many women are turned off by the in-your-face approach of most electronics stores. It’s time for electronics retailers to wise up about the female consumer and create environments that are welcoming, comfortable and non-threatening.
Extreme Makeover-Expect retailers to offer more “life changing amenities.” These might include anything from cooking classes, yoga, personal shopping/consultations to off-site salons and spas.
Hanging Out With A Brand-Retailers are realizing that people hanging out in their stores-even if they aren’t buying-isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Expect to see more companies designing retail environments that create an aura that breeds fierce loyalty because the pressure to buy is assuaged by membership in the club.
Coca-Cola Cinnabon Coffee Drink Debuts
Coca-Cola Consolidated is introducing three Cinnabon coffee drink flavors based on the super-premium Cinnabon sweet roll brand. Coffee lovers will be able to enjoy Cinnabon coffees in Cinnamon Vanilla Latte, Caramel Nut Latte and Espresso & Cream flavors at convenience stores, grocery stores and restaurants.
Coca-Cola Consolidated has partnered with New York-based Brain Twist Inc. to enter the growing ready to drink coffee beverage category.
Dunkin' Donuts Lifesize Coffee Cups Placed At Logan Airport
Airline passengers at Boston’s Logan Airport recently have been greeted by several life-size Dunkin' Donuts coffee cups located near terminal ticket counters. The cups have become conversation pieces and visitors have been taking photos by the pink and orange logo, which has a strong association with the New England region.
To create these eye-catching icons, Dunkin' Donuts partnered with Hill, Holliday and Airport Marketing Income (AMI). Designed by Hill, Holliday, each cup is constructed using a wooden frame and wrapped in fiberglass. Two of the cups stand alone, anchored by 800 lb. concrete bases. Dunkin' Donuts also has a 117’ graphic at Logan.
Mall Food Courts To Feature Video Screens
Ceiling-mounted video screens have been placed in mall food courts across metro New York and Los Angeles, installed by the Clear Channel Digital Mall Network, a joint venture between Clear Channel Malls and Digital Advertising Network (DAN Media), a Montreal, Canada-based provider of large-format, digital screen networks.
The large-format, full-motion, multi-format video screens feature content from Yahoo! and 30-second commercials. A network involving 200 malls in the top 20 markets is planned.
For more information, contact Donna Baker, President, Clear Channel Malls, (Tel) 281-414-1573.
PanoramaT SensifierT Virtual Environment
Clearr Corporation introduces its PanoramaT SensifierT, a virtual environment created by combining the elements of sight, smell and sound into one attractive display unit. It started with a convex-face backlit display with added sight and sound modules. Interfacing is another option which allows viewers to activate the scent and/or sound functions. There are over 33,000 scents giving the Panorama T. SensifierT applications in countless retail, P.O.P., tradeshow and corporate environments. For more information contact Clearr Corporation, 6325 Sandburg Road, Minneapolis, MN 55427.
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