THROUGH THE FOOD, DRUG AND MASS TRADES
Tropicana
Tests Marketing Tool
By
Vahe Katros
BRADENTON,
Fla. - Tropicana, a pioneer in the use of sales force
automation, is testing a new Internet-based customer marketing
software tool called PromoWare.
The
juice maker here began a beta test with an undisclosed
group within its field sales force last month.
"We
will test PromoWare in order for our field sales force
to demonstrate its usefulness. After the test, we will
review plans for a larger national rollout," said
Alesia New, manager of consumer promotions.
Tropicana
wants to be a leader in account-specific marketing, according
to New. PromoWare is part of a larger effort called Tropicana
Pace or Profitable Account Co. marketing Events. These
tactical co-marketing programs include sweepstakes, in-store
demos, cause-related marketing efforts, TV and radio spots,
and in-ad coupons.
"PromoWare
organizes various Pace implementations into one seamless
toolbox and helps the field salesperson select the best
tactics for each brand strategy," said Bill McKinney,
chief technology officer at Stamford, Conn. based Customer
Marketing Group, the developer and marketer of PromoWare.
"Our
tool then guides the salesperson through the process of
integrating live examples of the promotions, such as ad
slicks, and TV commercials, into a unique presentation
for each buyer. The process makes more efficient use of
planning time and improves the effectiveness of face-to-face
selling time," he said.
PromoWare
is part of a larger trend in the use of co-marketing,
according to Greg Murtagh, president of Customer Marketing
Group.
"Retailers
don't want manufacturers to come to them with a 'one-size-fits-all'
nationwide program," he said. "They want a calendar
of custom-built programs that leverage their equities
as well as the manufacturers' brands."
PromoWare
runs on a laptop and uses an Internet browser, such as
Netscape's Navigator, to access Tropicana's mix of advertising
and promotion creatives.
"Customer
Marketing Group has set up a service facility to convert
all these materials into digital content," said Murtagh.
"In the case of Tropicana, we are making all their
co-marketing tools available to the field in an easy to
use 'digital toolbox' of options designed to accomplish
brand and company objectives."
The
multimedia files are at first loaded onto the laptop using
a CD-ROM. But as changes are made to any of the materials,
they are updated over the Internet.
"This
method replaces the variety of heavy binders used today,"
said McKinney. "We believe that if the materials
are easy to access, they will be used more often and more
effectively. This benefits everyone - our manufacturer
clients, their agencies, their retail partners and ultimately
the consumer."
According
to McKinney, PromoWare is designed to support the flow
of activities that are typical in the promotional design
process.
"The
Tropicana sales persons will first be presented with a
screen that will prompt them to enter the desired promotional
objective, such as increasing store traffic or trading
consumers up into larger product sizes. The salesperson
is then presented with the latest, customer-specific set
of advertising materials. The system provides additional
information such as promotional lead times and cost per
store.
"Once
the option is selected, the sales person can then engage
in an interactive development of a customer-specific marketing
program." he said.
