Creative positioning: brand marketers try increasingly diverse and inventive tactics to make their new products connect with consumers.

THE GREEN MOVEMENT SHOWS SIGNS OF BEING A CONSUMER TREND THAT WILL STICK, with hundreds of organic, recycled and better-for-you-and-the-earth-too products being introduced each year. But the field's gotten so crowded that shoppers can't see the trees for the forest. These days it takes more than an "earth-friendly" starburst on the label to make a new brand stand out on the shelf.

That's why Marcal Paper Mills turned to the Natural Marketing Institute, the Green Gauge Report and an MBA class from Rutgers University when designing its line of Sunrise 100% Premium Recycled paper towels, bathroom tissue and napkins that's now making its way to store shelves.

Sunrise is made from recycled paper and the pulp isn't bleached with chlorine. That's also true for the regular Marcal brand, but Sunrise has a greater percentage of post-consumer content--up to 80%, compared to up to 70% on regular Marcal--which is more expensive to clean and

process than recycled paper from industrial sources. It's being touted as a premium brand, as opposed to the value-oriented Marcal.

"We spent about a year examining this project, and we did a nine-month study with the Rutgers MBA class," Peter Marcalus, senior vice president, trade development, at Elmwood Park, N.J.-based Marcal, tells Grocery Headquarters. "The Rutgers class did a very exhaustive, intensive study on the green tissue shopper. We had them going into stores in New Jersey and New York City doing intercepts in the paper aisle, asking shoppers about their feeling about green brands, green fiber brands and certain key words they thought were important."

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The result was that in addition to the depiction of an evergreen forest, the Sunrise label is filled with environmental facts. Buying Sunrise, consumers are told, helps save 6,000 trees a day, along with 22 million gallons of water and 140,000 gallons of oil, while avoiding two million pounds of air pollution.

FOCUSING THE MESSAGE

The effort that went into positioning Sunrise exemplifies the approach that many packaged goods manufacturers are now taking to make sure their new products find a home in an ever more segmented consumer base. Whether a launch is focused on the environment, convenience, health and wellness, ethnic or other trend, suppliers are going to great lengths to make sure it sends a clear message to the right shoppers.

Marcal's research found the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval was important, so the company sought and received it. "We also found out that shoppers want to know the product really works. That's why you'll see on our package that the product is absorbent, strong, hypoallergenic and lint-free," says Marcalus. "When people go to the supermarket they want convenience, and I think more and more you're going to find an integration of environmentally friendly and sustainable and green and organic products in the main areas of the store," he adds.

Organic remains one of the big trends in consumer packaged goods, along with ethnic foods and convenience, says Ted Taft, managing director at Meridian Consulting in Wilton, Conn. "Organic is exploding," he says, "especially in categories that people consume a lot, like milk. Organic peanut butter isn't really a big idea because you don't eat it that often. But people consume milk every day."

Apparently the marketing experts at Anheuser-Busch took that thought to heart when developing its new organic beers--Stone Mill Pale Ale, Wild Hop Lager and Redbridge Lager. St. Louis-based Anheuser-Busch partnered with Vestcom AdTags to promote the brews in the store. The shelf-edge tags use full-color digital technology to combine a brand's product image and advertising message with a retailer's price and bar code.

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"By engaging consumers at the moment of decision, Anheuser-Busch is able to effectively communicate with shoppers that they now have healthier options when it comes to beer," says Tim McKenzie, president and COO of Little Rock, Ark.-based Vestcom. "According to various trade groups, over 90% of buying decisions today are dictated by health-related information, so educating shoppers where they make their purchase decisions is critical to raising awareness and ultimately lifting sales."

SHELVES TRANSFORMED

Brand marketers are placing a greater emphasis on point-of-purchase advertising, McKenzie says. "POP designed to educate a shopper also showcases a company's power points, that is, their unique selling attributes, and transforms store shelves from relatively static price areas into the new response media."

Betting that consumers are concerned about the environment, Unilever developed All Small & Mighty, a liquid laundry detergent that is triple concentrated. The product uses 50% less plastic in the packaging and 70% less water than standard detergents. "The mini-bottles fit into smaller cartons, which saves corrugate, and it takes less energy to ship these smaller bottles because of the smaller boxes," says Helayna Minsk, marketing director, All, at Englewood Cliffs, N.J.-based Unilever.

Consumers benefit because the bottles are lighter to carry, retailers because smaller bottles allow for more balance of inventory, Minsk says.

Innovation is key to new product success, and manufacturers are not shy about spending on it to find the next big hit.

"We invest over $2 billion annually in innovation," says Steve Sholtes, industry affairs manager for Procter & Gamble Co., headquartered in Cincinnati. "This enables many forms of consumer research and allows us to connect with over 10 million consumers. The deep understanding of consumer habits, needs and trends we have drives our product development and our communication strategy as we reach out to consumers."

Some of that $2 billion went into the development of Pringles Selects, which were introduced in January and mark Pringles' entrance into the premium chips category. Packaged in gusseted bags instead of the brand's trademark canisters, Pringles Selects are more adult-focused, with gourmet flavors that include Parmesan Garlic, Szechuan Barbecue, Sundried Tomato and Cinnamon Sweet Potato.

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"These represent Pringles' journey to becoming a mega-brand," Sholtes says. It's part of P & G's effort to build the salty snack, detergent and other categories that it competes in.

To be successful, today's marketers need to go beyond Marketing 101's Four Ps of product, price, promotion and placement, consultant Taft says. "What's really exciting is that people are bringing in perspectives that are often bigger than just their brands and categories," he says. "People are looking to do things at the department level."

CPG manufacturers need to create a greater sense of integration with buyers, according to Glenn Llopis, principal of Clenn Llopis & Associates in Irvine, Calif. "The days of just selling across the desk with a PowerPoint presentation are over," he says. "Today if manufacturers want to get proper price and brand positioning, it's imperative they take a more integrated approach to market with the buyer."

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INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE

"It's about creating greater interactive ways of promoting products and optimizing the consumer experience for those products and brands, not only in the store but after the consumer has taken that product into their home," Llopis continues. "Consumers are having much more to say about what they expect from brand owners and the products that deliver under those brands, but it is time for the brand owners to start creating that much more of an interactive experience in the store."

To continue to be relevant, the CPG industry is reshaping itself to target what Llopis calls the "digital natives," the Gen X and Gen Y groups whose influence is being felt at the store level. "Digital natives are clearly influenced by what they see on television, and their learnings have been influenced through online communities that they have formed through MySpace accounts and others," Llopis says. "That's the way these digital natives view the world, and henceforth the CPG items they buy are based on what is hot and trendy because that is how they are being conditioned."

That was the thinking Dial Corp. used when it teamed with The Apprentice this past season and had Donald Trump's candidates create marketing programs for both its Soft Scrub Deep Clean Foaming Cleanser and Renuzit Super Odor Neutralizer.

"With the show you get 60 minutes, and a good chunk of that focuses on your product," says Brian Shook, vice president, general manager, Home Care, at Scottsdale, Ariz.-based Dial, a Henkel company. "By doing two episodes, we ended up getting the finale episode as well, which almost ended up being three because we were on air again where they recapped the prior week."

The idea to get on the show came up in 2006 when 2007's launch plans were being set. "We were comparing our new product launches against opportunities to really get the message in front of the consumer, and also to take into account what is going on in the media market in general, and how fragmented everything has become," Shook says.

"We were embracing the 360 marketing approach of having multiple touch points for the consumer. As you go down that route, there has to be a centerpiece that has a common feel for the touch points. So working with Aim Promotions, the promotional agency that works with producer Mark Burnett, The Apprentice opportunity came up," he says.

Motherhood, child's play, and 5 A Day are the touch points for Hidden Valley Ranch's new campaign showing children running after what looks like an ice cream truck that dispenses broccoli cones dipped in the company's dressing. Print advertising depicts vegetables as traditional "kid-approved" treats, like the three perfect broccoli "cupcakes" atop a cake stand, with Hidden Valley Original Ranch dressing replacing the buttercream frosting.

A MACRO TREND

"Like everyone else, we're seeing this macro trend with moms and the increasing concern on healthy eating and trying to get kids to eat more vegetables," says Lisa Partnoy, marketing manager of Hidden Valley Ranch dressings at Oakland, Calif.-based HV Food Products Co., a subsidiary of Clorox Co.

Hidden Valley conducted a test with two third-grade classes in which children were given plain vegetables and Ranch and Creamy Italian dressings. "We wanted to see if we could prove our case, which was that kids love eating vegetables with Ranch dressing," Partnoy says. "The study shows that when you pair Ranch with vegetables, kids eat 23% more vegetables than without Ranch, which is just incredible."

That's fine and dandy in the classroom, but how does it help margin-pressed retailers? "Now Ranch is being positioned not just as a salad dressing, but as a dip," Partnoy says. "This increases the retailer's market basket."

THE LOCAL INFLUENCE

Hidden Valley might further capitalize on its campaign by touting the locally grown aspects of the produce. According to Laurence Knight, president of Fletcher Knight, a Greenwich, Conn.-based marketing innovation company, from a trends perspective, local ranks right up there with taste, convenience, price, the green movement, and health and wellness.

"Consumers want this connection of where their food is from," he says. "It doesn't have to be from their backyard, but if consumers feel that it is a bland, non-specific location and they don't understand why it is from that place, it is losing its relevance. Today, consumers are understanding and wanting that local, artisan and handcrafted. That is highly relevant for any grocer who is thinking about buying categories and what's on trend and what can actually add premium value."

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General Mills is bringing premium value to the cereal aisle with the Curves brand of ready-to-eat cereal and snack bars that is launching this month. Created through a partnership with the Curves chain of women's fitness centers, the cereals--in Whole Grain Crunch and Honey Crunch--and the Chocolate Peanut and Strawberries & Cream snack bars are designed for women looking to lose weight or maintain their weight.

"Curves is all about strengthening women, and the launch is geared towards talking to women who are not only interested in taking weight off but keeping it off, and really thinking about life beyond a two-week challenge," says John Haugen, vice president, health & wellness, at Minneapolis-based General Mills, alluding to the popular diet plan touted by competitor Kellogg's Special K.

"Curves is a great organization and the name enjoys very broad consumer awareness," Haugen says. "Curves really helps provide the right way of thinking for consumers who are serious about managing their weight."

General Mills parlayed the strength of Curves and its more than four million members by offering the snack bars for sale in May at the 8,0000 Curves fitness centers. "That's a great group to help us get the word out and generate that early trial and excitement behind the launch," Haugen says. "You'll see us working very collaboratively with them, plus we'll have all the other traditional elements of a launch plan, too."

RELATED ARTICLE: STORE BRAND STAR SEARCH

From Ty Pennington sheets at Sears to Michael Graves toasters at Target, celebrities have done wonders boosting private Label sales in department stores. So why can't they spin that same magic over in the grocery aisles of the supermarket?

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That's the thinking behind the Private Label Manufacturers Association's plan to add a licensing and celebrity section at its annual convention, which will be held Nov. 11-13 at the Rosemont Convention Center just outside of Chicago. Details are still being worked out, but the private label industry is definitely rolling out the red carpet for celebrities.

"We're seeing more retailers reaching out to celebrities as a way to strengthen their brands," says Brian Sharoff, president of the New York-based PLMA. "We know on the nonfoods side, successful retailers like Target are using celebrity names to give cachet and celebrity to product categories, and now we're starting to see it on the grocery side with Disney and Kroger." The Disney Magic Selections line of snack, grocery, beverage and personal care products is available exclusively at Kroger stores.

In Great Britain, Jamie Oliver, the Naked Chef, who has been a spokesman for Sainsbury supermarkets, is developing his own private label line. "There's going to be a lot more of this coming down the road, which is why we're talking about it," Sharoff says.

RELATED ARTICLE: MAKE A WISH

Here's a marketing idea that really takes the cake: Hit a brand loyalty home run by reaching out to consumers with free products on their birthdays.

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Bob Woolward says his Web site, www.TheBirthdayRegister.com, gives brand marketers an easy way to do that.

Consumers simply log on to the free site, register their birthday and choose five gifts from 10 categories, such as Restaurants & Food. There they can select a type of restaurant, say a steakhouse, and two weeks before their birthday they'll receive a gift certificate for free dinner at, for example, Outback Steakhouse.

"We offer real substantial gifts and we won't allow a restaurant to do something like a free dessert," says Woolward, president of the San Antonio-based site. "The idea is that most of the times the patron is going to be a regular customer of another restaurant."

In April, more than 18,000 consumers visited the site, 9,000 of whom registered their birthdays. The average age was 34, and 70% were women.

Now Woolward is seeking to build a relationship with the supermarket industry.

"In the future we're hoping to have a free trip to the grocery store for your birthday," Woolward says. "The idea is to have Pillsbury, Nabisco and all of these different food manufacturers give a free sample or product away. It's the same principle--get a free birthday gift in the hands of someone to try a competitor's product."