Marketing Memo: Mega-Food Marketer Kellogg Co. is Launching a Line of Hip, Urban Streetwear as a Way To Earn Some 'Street Cred' From Younger Consumers

Mega-food company and breakfast cereal brand king Kellogg Co. isn't historically known as a hip and edgy brand marketer.

In fact, for decades since it's founding as the conservative food company from Battle Creek, Michigan which specializes in iconic breakfast cereal brands like Kellogg's Corn Flakes, Frosty Flakes, Fruit Loops and Rice Krispies, along with 22 other varieties, it has been a generally conservative and mainstream food product marketer.

However, Kellogg Co. did start moving into the natural foods segment a few years ago. First it acquired the natural foods brands Worthington and Loma Linda, which it still owns. Both are all natural brands of canned and frozen all-natural, vegetarian healthy foods products. Kellogg's has expanded both brands to include additional varieties of both canned vegetarian items and healthy frozen entrees.

A little later Kellogg's acquired the Morningstar Farms brand of healthy and vegetarian frozen and refrigerated entrees, side dishes and breakfast items, which it has grown considerably in the last few years.

The mega-food marketer then followed these acquisitions up by buying the Kashi natural foods brand, which at the time was primarily a line of all-natural and organic cereals with a couple other items like cereal bars under the Kashi brand name.

Kellogg's currently markets six different varieties of Kashi brand cereal, ranging from the original Golean variety to the newer Heart-to-Heart heart-healthy line. There also are energy and breakfast bars and snacks under the Kashi brand, as well as frozen foods items.

Most recently, the $11 billion a year food company acquired two strong natural foods brands: natural and organic Bare Naked Granola, a line of granola-based cereals and Garden Burger, the healthy soy-based line of burgers and related items. Both acquisitions fit perfectly with Kellogg's core natural and organic foods business, which is breakfast cereals and related items and healthy and vegetarian-based meals and breakfast foods.

In many ways the Battle Creek food and cereal maker and marketers' move into the natural foods sector shouldn't be a surprise. Not only is it a smart marketer that has spotted the huge potential of the natural and organic categories, but Kellogg's actually has its roots in making and selling healthy cereal such as All Bran and the original Kellogg's Corn Flakes, which contained no sugar or other artificial sweeteners.

Of course, it then got into sugar-sweet cereals like all of the other major cereal marketers because frankly that was--and to a large degree still is--hot. The company's best-selling cereal brands remain its sugar-filled cereals such as Frost Flakes, Fruit Loops, Frosted Mini Wheats, Apple Jacks and others.

However, even with its key brands the company has been coming out with reduced sugar varieties, as well as bulking up the cereals with more whole grains and fiber in recognition of the healthy eating trend.

Kellogg Co. also is a major maker and marketer of crackers and cookies, including mainstream brands like Keebler, Sunshine and Austin, specialty brands like Carrs and Famous Amos, and natural brands under the Kashi label.

The company also markets high sugar content snack items like Kellogg's Pop Tarts and Kellogg's Rice Krispy Treats, but also offers health snack items like Kashi granola and cereal bars and Stretch Island Fruit Leathers, which is another natural foods company it acquired.

Lastly, Kellogg's has extended its brands into a mainstream line of products it calls its specialty channel offerings. These items include Kellogg's Graham Cracker Pie Crust, Keebler Ice Cream Cones and a handful of other items.

Kellogg's gets hip with new line of urban streetwear

The purpose of the brief history above of Kellogg Co., from conservative mainstream food product and breakfast cereal marketer to a more diversified food company which is increasingly looking to the natural and organic foods categories for new growth and sales, is simply to show an evolution in the development of the mega food company, including growth in the natural channel via acquisitions.

With that diversification, as well as general changes in the culture and spirit of the times over the years, Kellogg's has decided it needs to create a bit more edgy and hip image for its brands.

As a way to do this, the company has launched a line of Kellogg-branded "urban design" apparel in partnership with the popular urban clothing design company Under the Hood. "Under the Hood" is one of the hottest new lines of clothing to hit the market, and has an urban streetwear, hip-hop style to its designs.

The Kellogg's-branded items in the line include: Kellogg's Corn Flakes-logo hip T-Shirts and pants; Fruit Loops-branded pants with the famous Fruit Loops' parrot logo on the pants' pockets, along with Fruit Loop T-shirts; Tony the Tiger Kellogg's Frosted Flakes emblazoned T-shirts, jackets and sweat pants; Honey Smacks cereal Jeans and Shirts; Jackets, pants and shirts featuring the famous Keebler Elves and other branded clothing items. Items also include shoes and "hoodies," the trendy and popular light jackets worn by young men and woman.

The Kellogg's-branded urban wear apparel line created and produced by Under the Hood is designed to appeal to young, hip kids and young adults. And, since that is the super-popular "Under the Hood" clothing companies target market--the line should do very well.

The hip street wear also is designed to strengthen sales of Kellogg's cereal and other food products among the younger demographic, as well as to help create a more hip and edgy image withing this target market for the brands.

Since the urban-style and hip hop scene which goes with it appeals to young people of all races, along with the fact that suburban youth love it as much as urban residents, the Kellogg's-branded apparel should reach a wide target audience.

The idea is to mesh a person's lifestyle with what one eats. It's sociographics mixed with psychographics, along with identity marketing.

We expect the hip streetwear line to do well because of the association with Under the Hood, which is such a hot clothing company and line right now many of its items are back ordered by consumers.

We also expect to see lots of cross-marketing by Kellogg's of its cereals and the branded urban streetwear clothing items. For example, offers on the back of cereal and snack foods item packages, in-store point-of-sale displays, giveaways and media advertising in hip publications targeted to the same demographic as Under the Hood's clothes are.

In terms of the quality of the Kellogg's-branded streetwear from Under the Hood, we recently talked to a 16 year old who bought a Tony the Tiger T-shirt, Jacket and pair of black sweat pants with Tony embossed on all three items of clothing. His comment when we asked how he liked the three items of Kellogg's-branded streetwear? He said, mimicking Tony the Tiger..."There Grrreat!

Retail Marketing & Public Relations Memo: Was Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neigborhood Market 'Listening' to Our April 2 Memo?

NSFM Editors Note: Below is a Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market corporate press release distributed by PR Newswire. It just landed in our email box a couple minutes ago (April 8, 2008)

We suggest you read the press release which we've reproduced in its entirerty below. Then read our piece, "Retail Marketing & Public Relations Memo: What Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 'Should' Be Doing Now," which we wrote six days ago on April 2, 2008, and have reproduced directly below the Tesco Fresh & Easy corporate press release. First the Fresh & Easy press release below:

Fresh & Easy to Give Away Free 'Bag For Life' For Earth Day

Grocer offers free reusable bags on April 22nd

EL SEGUNDO, Calif., April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- In celebration of Earth Day, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market today announced its 61 stores will bag groceries with free reusable "bags for life" for customers on April 22nd. The company encourages customers to reuse these bags and lessen their impact on the environment.

(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080408/AQTU198.)

Fresh & Easy offers its customers two different types of reusable bags, including a $2.50 canvas bag and a plastic reusable "bag for life," which retails for $.20. The "bag for life" is larger and more durable than standard grocery bag and, if damaged, Fresh & Easy will replace the bag for free, forever. These bags are made with recycled material and are 100% recyclable.

"We want to make it easier for our customers to make more environmentally friendly decisions," said Tim Mason, Fresh & Easy CEO. "If everyone in the neighborhood shops with reusable bags, we can really make a difference."

Fresh & Easy has made a considerable effort to be a good neighbor and steward of the environment. For example, the company only sells energy efficient light bulbs, uses LED lighting in external signs and freezer cases, offers plastic, aluminum and glass recycling, and provides preferred parking for hybrid vehicles.

More broadly, Fresh & Easy has committed to build LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified buildings and voluntarily joined the California Climate Action Registry to disclose its greenhouse gas emissions. At its distribution center in Riverside the company invested $13 million in a solar roof installation, which is one of California's largest
at 500,000 sq. ft.

More information regarding Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market can be
found at http://www.freshandeasy.com/.

###

Below is our April 2, 2008 piece. Please pay special attention to the text highlighted in green.

Retail Marketing & Public Relations Memo: What Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market 'Should' Be Doing Now.
By Natural~Specialty Foods Memo: April 2, 2008

Last week, Tesco Neighborhood Market chief marketing officer Simon Uwins posted in his corporate blog on the Fresh & Easy website that the small-format, convenience-oriented neighborhood grocery chain was taking a "pause" in its new store opening blitz, which has found Fresh & Easy opening 59 grocery stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada since November, 2007. [Read about the Fresh & Easy new store "pause" or "breather" here.]

Blogs such as Fresh & Easy Buzz were the first to report on Uwins' announcement, followed by a number of UK newspapers. The U.S. business press picked-up the story starting on Monday.

And yesterday and today numerous major newspapers and news services like the Associated Press the Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle and many others are running stories on the retailer's three month new store opening "pause." Blogs of all sorts are writing about the three month new store opening moratorium and store sales' underperformance issue as well.

Most of these news stories and features (and likely those to come the rest of this week) aren't positive for Tesco's Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market retail venture in the USA. The new store opening "pause" is the story news peg in all of the pieces, along with reports like those we offered months ago that the 59 Fresh & Easy grocery markets opened to date are seriously underperforming in sales as compared to Tesco's internal sales targets.

Uwins and company should have better prepared for this fact, which any experienced U.S. marketer or PR professional should have known would happen. It can happen to anybody though.

The reason any professional with experience with the U.S. business press should have known how the news cycle would have played out is because of the nature of today's media. First, because the newspaper business in the U.S. is doing so poorly, newsroom budgets and staffing has been lean for the last five years or so. As a result, today's U.S. business and popular press is a reactive rather than investigative enterprise in the main.

Business reporters at America's newspapers--with some exceptions of course--tend to report and write stories based on press releases issued by corporations, or based often times on news reports they find in blogs and other alternative media sources.

For example, the business section reporters who are reporting on the Fresh & Easy "pause" yesterday and today didn't read it on Mr. Uwins' corporate blog--even though it was there for blogs like Fresh & Easy Buzz to find, which reported it last Saturday. Rather, they either discovered the news from that blog, or from the British newspapers which started reporting the story on Sunday and Monday.

As a result though, Mr. Uwins' corporate blog post--which we think was a good idea but not complete as we will explain shortly--offered a news peg for the U.S. business press to generate stories about Fresh & Easy, which hadn't been much in the news in the last month. Since the "news" is that Fresh & Easy is taking this new store opening breather, originally reported by the grocery chain's marketing chief, and that the stores have been underperforming for sometime, based on numerous reports, put the two together and you've got the news peg the publications' went with; and rightly so--it's what is news, especially in the absence of any follow-up prepared by Fresh & Easy.

Mr. Uwins and the Tesco Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market team should have been prepared for this news cycle however--and even used it to the grocery chains marketing advantage. And, based on the responses from a Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market spokesman to the reporters in many of these stories, there hasn't been much preparation. His quotes to date have been on the order of: 'Things are going well, the stores aren't underperforming, we don't know where this data (the sales estimates) is coming from.'

Not good. Too boilerplate. Non-responsive. Sounds too much like spin. It's not the spokesman's fault either. He can only go with what he's provided with. It's not an easy roll.

What Uwins and company should have done before publishing the "pause" news in the corporate blog (a communication we agree with) was to be ready for the media before the post was made.

What do we mean by ready?

We suggest Uwins and company should have had three stories (news pegs) prepared and locked-and-loaded for the post "pause" announcement. Remember, today's business press, and even many bloggers, are a reactive lot in most ways.

We would have prepared three "news pegs" in the following areas:

First, we would have had one concrete change to be implemented in the Fresh & Easy stores. For example, a common complaint (which happens to be true) about the stores is that they aren't localized and customized enough to the demographics and character of the neighborhoods they are located in. We would have used this post-pause announcement period to announce a major initiative in which Fresh & Easy plans to start in May bringing in a substantial number of more local food and grocery products into its stores. Neighborhood-oriented merchandising.

For example, bringing in more Southern California-produced fresh produce and specialty products for its stores in that region. There are tons of such goods produced and marketed in the region. Additionally, how about a similar initiative for the Arizona Fresh & Easy grocery stores? An announcement that the grocer will stock many more Southwestern-style food and grocery products, produced in Arizona and New Mexico, in its stores. There are lots of those available as well.

Lastly, for both regions, and Nevada, an announcement that the small-format "neighborhood" grocery chain would be increasing the amount and variety of ethnic foods it merchandises in all 59 stores--Hispanic, Asian and other ethnic foods--based on the specific demographics of a given neighborhood. It's needed.

Such an announcement, say yesterday, would have generated lots of press, which in many cases would mean positive stories along with the more negative new store opening "pause" pieces. In some cases, such an announcement (local foods are big news in the U.S. right now) would have cut-short the "pause" story news cycle for the new "local foods initiative" cycle of stories.

But, if we were in charge we wouldn't have stopped there in our pre-publishing of the "pause" strategy, for the post-pause news cycle period.

April 22, just two weeks away, is Earth Day. Numerous grocery retailers, manufacturers and marketers are planning major Earth Day green marketing or green retailing promotions and activities for the day which celebrates the earth, conservation and environmental stewardship.

We haven't heard of any plans for Earth Day from Tesco's Fresh & Easy.

Our second, "locked-and-loaded" post-pause corporate blog post news peg would have been tied to Earth Day. For example, why not an announcement from Fresh & Easy that it plans to give away thousands of free, reusable, canvass grocery tote bags at its 59 stores on Earth Day.

Further, that as part of this give-away promotion, it will give one dollar for every free tote bag it gives away to shoppers to local environmental groups and charities in its market areas.

Green or environmental news from retailers is big news right now.

Or, the grocery chain could even go bolder. It could follow in the footsteps of Whole Foods Market, Inc.--which beginning on April 22 (Earth Day) will no longer offer single-use, free plastic grocery bags in its 270-plus stores in the U.S., Canada and England.

Fresh & Easy could announce it's decided to offer only paper grocery bags produced from 100% post-consumer recycled paper, along with reusable grocery tote bags in its U.S. stores. In fact, such an announcement would be even more powerful if it was done in conjunction with the free reusable tote bag scheme suggested earlier.

Either way, just doing one or both, we guarantee there would be a significant batch of news stories generated on the announcement in the U.S. media. [Just Google or Yahoo Search Whole Foods plastic grocery bags to get a flavor for what we are suggesting in terms of news coverage. Also, just wait until a few days before Earth Day for the Whole Foods plastic bag self-ban stories to come flowing in.]

Just as we mentioned above about the "local foods initiative" story, one or both of these Earth Day news pegs would result in considerable positive news coverage, along with the more negative "pause" and store sales underperformance stories currently all over the pages of newspaper business sections and in online editions. Further, just as with the "local food" news peg--and even more so because both that announcement and the Earth day one would be timed to be released fairly shortly apart--the "pause" and sales underperformance story news cycle would be shortened in our analysis, experience and opinion.

Lastly, we would have one more bullet in our "pre-pause" corporate blog post/"post-pause" post-publication strategic media arsenal. We might or we might not use it right away depending on the results of our above news pegs, by the way.

This third and last strategy would be to have Fresh & Easy CEO Tim Mason and his new, soon to be number two man, U.S.-born Jeff Adams who currently is the CEO of Tesco's Tesco Lotus retail division in Thailand, issue a joint-statement saying the retailer recognizes there are some sales underperformance and other format, operations, marketing and merchandising problems with the Fresh & Easy stores, which is why as CEO Mr. Mason ordered the new store opening "pause." [Mason hasn't issued a statement or said a word on the "pause" to date. Not a good communications strategy. Further, believe it or not, the press loves it when a CEO comes out and walks-the-walk and takes charge. It hurts a little at first. But starts to feel real good soon after.]

Further, in the statement, we would have CEO Mason state that in part this is why Adams, a U.S. native, has joined the senior executive team. That he's coming in, from his highly successful run as CEO of Tesco-Lotus, to provide a fresh mind (one that was formed in the U.S.) and a new set of eyes as Fresh & Easy enters a new phase, after the amazing task of opening 59 of the small-format basic grocery and fresh foods markets in a mere 150 or so days.

Further, in the statement Adams would offer his two-cents worth, not to mention talking about how happy he is to be returning to the USA, land of his birth, to be involved with what might just be one of the most interesting grocery grocery retailing ventures in the U.S. in the last five decades, which it is. This isn't spin, it's all factual--and real.

There's an old saying in politics and political campaigning: 'If you have a problem...hang a lantern on it.' We all know the converse: most corporations and politicians (and others) get in trouble not because they address an issue or mistake head-on, but rather because they deny it or even attempt to cover it up. Like its often said about Richard Nixon's Watergate fiasco: 'It wasn't the third-rate burglary that lost Nixon the Presidency; it was the cover-up.'

We aren't suggesting Tesco is covering anything up about Fresh & Easy. Nor are we naive enough to think or suggest any corporation should fully disclose its operational difficulties (first it has to know them though) completely if it chooses not to.

What we are suggesting though is two-fold: First, as we write this, Tesco's Fresh & Easy appears to have absolutely no strategy for dealing with the mostly negative stories that are appearing mostly in the business sections of U.S. and UK newspapers this week. As we have outlined above, there exists a strategy for doing so; one that should have been in place already.

Second, Fresh & Easy has not just an image problem, but a real retail format, operations, marketing and merchandising one as well. But these aren't end of the world problems. They're "fixable," especially by one of the world's most innovative and successful retailers, which Tesco is. However, to fix these problems, those in charge first have to discover them; and do so despite personal pride or hubris. The suggestions we offer are part of hanging that lantern on these problems, as well as thinking strategically when it comes to marketing and media relations.

The story, of course, is still developing. Stay tuned. By the way, with some fast-moving and nimble work, Fresh & Easy could still launch a campaign like we describe above before the week is out.

###

NSFM Editor's Note: We think Fresh & Easy's Earth Day-themed resusable "bags for life" giveaway is a decent first step towrds the comprehensive program we outlined above in our April 2 piece--if it's followed up rapidly with more action.

Although the "freebie" Earth Day reusable carrier bags aren't the canvass type (or even the type we describe below which Fresh & Easy should sell in addition to the two types of reusable carrier bags it already sells), but rather the cheap, 20 cent bags--it's still something--and far better than no giveaway at all.

Further, the fact Fresh & Easy will replace these free "bags for life" (hence their name) as part of the promotion is fantastic. An excellent concept in our opinion. Why? It offers a good deal for consumers, as well as suggesting in a small way Fresh & Easy wants you to be our customer "for life." Lots of little things designed to create primary shoppers can add up to a "big thing"-- eventually gaining more primary shoppers.

[Note to Fresh & Easy: Supermarket chains all over the U.S.--and Wal-Mart and target too--are selling very attractive reusable carrier bags made out of a light cloth material for 99 cents or one dollar each. Check out Wal-Mart's current advertising circular, for example. There is a picture of its dollar reusable shopping bag in the promo flier

In terms of the type of plan and program we laid out for Fresh & Easy in our April 2 piece, there's much more for the retailer to do to make it an overall comprehensive plan. Good starts become better with the next step.

By the way, we aren't suggesting causality between our April 2, 2008 piece and tonight's (April 8) press release from Tesco's Fresh & Easy. We were trained in the scientific method far to well to think that "correlation equals causality."

Monday Marketing Memo: Creative Campaigns

Tattoo Marketing: Food, grocery marketers and retailers can get a skin in this new game

An article in Friday's (November 30) Chicago Tribune (Corporate marketing schemes go skin deep) about how companies of all kinds are using tattoos as marketing vehicles, got us thinking about how food marketing companies and retailers could use body art to market their products and promote their stores.

First, a little about the Tribune piece. The article sights a Pew Research Center poll that says 36% of 18- to 25- year-olds have at least one tattoo, and two out of every five Americans aged 26 to 40 has one or more tattoos. That's a pretty high overall percentage of the general population in that age bracket--and 18- to- 40 is a pretty good demographic for marketers.

Tattoos originally were a sign of social nonconformity to a certain extent. Getting one was thought to make a person a bit more edgier than the average person. Once the mainstay of members of the military and biker gang members, tattoos have become near mainstream today. Soccer moms have them, as do teens, numerous business executives, academics, blue collar workers and others from nearly every social class and economic level. Tattoos are even called "body art" or "ink" more often today than they're called tattoos, reflecting the prevailing few that done tastefully they're socially exceptable.

This "mainstreaming" of tattoos has recently resulted in their adoption and use by marketers who sell everything from wine and energy drinks to shoes and tires, as a marketing and advertising medium. It appears the late Marshall Mcluhan was dead on when he said "The medium is the message." In the case of tattoo marketing and advertising, the medium couldn't be more human.

It's not just tattoo art directly on a person's body that marketers are using to advertise and promote their products and services. Creative companies also are using things like temporary tattoos as marketing tools to get their messages across in a imaginative, fun and interesting ways.

Convenience store retailer 7-Eleven has even created a tattoo-inspired energy drink called "Inked." Its target market are consumers who either have tattoos, want one, or like to think of themselves as what the chain calls "the tattoo type." That's edgy, hip, different, in other words. Among the many venues 7-Eleven plans to market the energy drink at are tattoo conventions and motorcycle rallies. (We suggest 7-Eleven get tattoo parlors and motorcycle dealerships to stock the drink for sale as well. We can see Inked" energy drink coolers, like those in health clubs for water and fresh juices, in these types of shops as we write this sentence.)

"We wanted to create a drink that appealed to men and woman, and the tattoo culture has really become popular with both genders," Michele Little, 7-Eleven's manager of non-carbonated beverages told the Chicago Tribune in explaining the genesis of the new private label energy drink brand. "The rite of tattoo passage isn't only limited to the young, but also to those who think and act young," Little added. (The "rite of tattoo passage." The phrase has a ring to it. Perhaps it should be added to the marketing lexicon.) She's right, as the tattoo demographics cited at the beginning of this piece demonstrate.

Marketers are finding that tattoo marketing is one of the many ways to sidestep the clutter of media advertising. "Marketers use tattoos both as a cultural icon and as the method to deliver the message," Kevin Lane Keller, a professor at Dartmouth College's Tuck School of Business who has studied the marketing strategy, told the Tribune. It's an attempt to do something different in a fresh way."

The Chicago Tribune piece sights Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and auto maker Volvo as two companies currently using tattoos in advertising and promotional campaigns.

For example, Goodyear offers a free set of tires to anybody who will get the company's flying D-logo tattooed somewhere on their body, according to the Tribune story. Thus far 98 people have taken the tire company up on its offer.

Volvo is taking a more elaborate approach with its tattoo marketing campaign. The car-maker has created a fictional character ("Tattoo man") who's tattoos spell out the coordinates of an undersea location of $50,000 in gold coins along with the keys to a new car. Linda Gangeri, Volvo's advertising manager, told the Tribune the "Tattoo Man" campaign is a way to get people to think about Volvo in a new way.

The use of temporary tattoos is becoming a popular marketing and promotional tool as well. Safeway Stores recently conducted a fresh produce for kids in-store promotion in which they gave away free fruit and vegetable temporary tattoos to kids shopping with their parents.

Fresh produce companies like Sunkist and others are providing temporary tattoos of fruits and vegetables to schools and other venues as a hip way to encourage kids to eat their fresh produce. And, according to the Tribune story, packaged goods company General Mills is selling Fruit Roll-Ups with tattoo-shaped cutouts that let children make temporary tongue tattoos.

We think tattoo marketing and advertising, in it's various forms, has the potential to be a low-cost and effective element of the marketing program mix for natural and specialty foods' manufacturers, marketers and retailers.

The chief reason we see it as having potential has primarily to do with the buzz, word-of-mouth advertising, and media attention marketers can get from what can be a relatively low-budget marketing element of an overall campaign. Word-of-mouth advertising has proven to be one of the most effective forms of advertising, as has viral marketing, it's online cousin. Further, marketers can generate a huge volume of press coverage do to the still fresh and unique aspect of using tattoos in their various forms as a marketing vehicle.

We don't think food marketers and retailers can get much marketing mileage out of programs similar to Good Year Tire's, in which the company offers consumer's something for free in return for getting their logo tattooed someplace on their body. This is more bark than bite--but it does generate media attention. We're writing about it. We also can imagine the potential legal liabilities if say an infection were to occur while a person is getting the Goodyear logo tattooed on their body. Additionally, what if a person decides to have it removed? Do they have to give the free tires back to Goodyear.

However, we do like the idea of a retailer, for example, picking a day in which all its stores offer shoppers 5% off their total grocery order in return for letting the clerk put a temporary tattoo of the grocer's logo on the back of their hand. These temporary tattoos last for two or three days, just enough time to create plenty of buzz and word-of-mouth advertising when people at the office, gym, mall or other venue ask the tattooed shopper "what's up" with the Whole Foods' or Safeway logo on the back of their hand. The 5% discount also helps build good will with customers--and might even get a few new ones in the door if its advertised ahead of time.

Another interesting use of temporary tattoos would be for packaged goods and fresh fruit and vegetable marketers to incorporate them into product promotions. For example, organic foods' for kids is an emerging market. Kids love playing with temporary tattoos and stickers of all kinds. Organic produce marketers could create characters, such a "Mini Carrot Man" or "Cedric the Celery Stalk," for example, and make temporary tattoos depicting these characters. The tattoo characters could then be included as a premium on packages of fresh fruits and vegetables and used in other promotional ways.

In a similar vain, organic packaged cereal manufacturers could create a character such as "Granola Man," a male, all-natural version of Dora the Explorer perhaps, and design a variety of temporary tattoos of the organic super hero. "Organic Granola Man" could have superpowers bestowed on him by virtue of the fact he eats brand X organic granola. The temporary tattoos could be placed inside each box of cereal and given out free to kids during in-store demos, among other uses. The only limit is the marketers imagination.

In terms of more elaborate forms of tattoo marketing, we think Volvo's campaign described earlier in this piece is a good one. As a brand, Volvo has traditionally been positioned as the "safe" car for middle-aged married couples with kids. The automaker wants to broaden its customer base to include more younger, single consumers. Their tattoo treasure hunt campaign featuring a hidden message somewhere on the body of "Tattoo Man," and the winning prize of $50,000 and a free car, shows a major effort by the automaker to try something new and risky as a way to reposition their brand. It reaches out to younger customers while at the same time not offending it's base.

Staid food brands could take a lesson from this campaign, especially for those marketers who want to broaden the demographic base of consumers who purchase their brands. The natural foods brand Health Valley is a good example. It's been around for decades and has a loyal following. However, it's also thought of as a brand for older people in the minds of natural foods consumers. It isn't hip. It's "your mother's" natural and organic foods brand.

A marketing campaign similar to Volvo's (no need to give away as big of a grand prize) could go a long way towards creating the type of buzz among younger consumers that's needed to make the brand more appealing to a larger demographic. In other words, a semi-edgy marketing campaign ("It's your brand now as well as your mother's") using some form of tattoo marketing, could create awareness among an entire new segment of natural foods consumers for the brand.

Tattoo marketing is just one of the many elements creative marketers and retailers are beginning to use to reach out beyond the clutter of media marketing and promotion to create buzz in the marketplace. It's also an attempt to reach younger consumers, who rather than spending the majority of their free time watching television or reading newspapers, are online or hanging out at cafes.

These younger consumers have found alternative ways to socialize, both online--MySpace and Facebook for example--and face-to-face--in mixed sex groups often rather than one-on-one dating. As a result, reaching them takes more effort on the part of marketers. Concepts like tattoo marketing speak their language and demonstrate that marketers are talking to them--not over them. It's a brave new world. Brave new marketers are needed to navigate it.