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Snickers has introduced a major new campaign centered on a make-believe language called Snacklish. The initial launch phase includesoutdoor ads and content on the Snickers Web site as well as Facebook.TV commercials will follow with more content on snickers.com in thespring, including a way to translate regular language into the Snickerslingo.

Snacklish is a humorous way of speaking that revises everyday wordsand phrases for a Snickers-centric world. To underscore their origin,they are printed in the typeface and colors of the Snickers brand logo.

Examples include a Snickers taxi, or snaxi; peanutarium, forplanetarium; and chompensation, for compensation. And the Sigma Nufraternity is transformed into Sigma Nougat, after a Snickers ingredient.

The possibilities are endless. You could someday, perhaps, read aSnacklish version of this article that quotes Caramel Walker, written byChewart Elliott for The Nougat York Times.

Source: The New York Times

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What’s a 21-letter name for delicious? Cheez-It Scrabble Junior.Kellogg’s launched the new variety of the cheesy cracker inJanuary 2009 and is slowly rolling them out nationwide.

While the Cheez-It flavor remains intact, the crackers now look liketraditional Scrabble tiles with letters imprinted in the center.

Why the Junior? Some are speculating that it is meant to connotethe childish fun of playing with your food, while others guess thatit’s because the Qs and Xs are missing, making it easier to spellcommon words.

Snacking is often all about fun, so combining snacks with gamesmakes perfect sense. The key is making it relevant — the productand brand need to be able to support the level of fun (and theactual play, if that’s expected), or consumers will cry foul.

Source: Iconoculture

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Kellogg’s is testing a shorter, greener box for its breakfast cereals.The new packaging holds the same amount of cereal, but uses 8%less material and takes up 5% less shelf space, reducingproduction and shipping costs.

The reductions are being touted to customers as a cupboard-friendly bonus.

Source: Sustainableisgood.com

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Campbell Soup Co. has created a new Web site, called Campbell’sIdeas for Innovation, where scientists, entrepreneurs and inventors caneasily submit their ideas for evaluation.

The consumer packaged goods company wants to generate ideas inthe areas of new products, packaging innovation, product-lineextensions, environmental sustainability, business processes andmarketing, and is also interested in new technologies connected withsodium reduction, vegetable nutrition and healthier fats and oils.

“Campbell has had a solid track record for innovation in the categoriesin which we compete: soup and simple meals, baked snacks, andhealthy beverages,” said Carl Johnson, Campbell’s chief strategyofficer. “We are committed to improving our innovation results, and akey element in this improvement requires us to be open to ideas fromboth inside and outside the company. The Ideas for Innovation Website is one of the ways we are accessing innovation from outsidesources.

Source: Brandweek.com

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Wondering what’s for dinner? General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand haslaunched an iPhone application to help answer that question.

The iPhone application is a mobile version of the Betty Crocker Cookbook.It is free and includes 4,000 tried-and-true recipes.

“General Mills’ strategy is to make our content available in places anddevices where our consumers can benefit from the information,” said MikeBettison, Web site manager at General Mills.

Consumers can type in what type of food they have in their pantry and thetool delivers recipe ideas based on that information.

The mobile cookbook also gives step-by-step instructions and fullnutritional information for every recipe.

Source: MobileMarketer.com

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7-Eleven has launched a new online “experience” to promoteits Slurpee beverages.

The BrainFreeze Laboratory encourages visitors to upload theirpicture to see how drinking a Slurpee beverage will change thecolor of their complexion, and then to send pictures along tofriends.

“We chose to go viral with this campaign because we wantedto drive traffic to Slurpee.com,” said a 7-Eleven spokesperson.

The campaign is expected to run through July, and is beingcross-promoted through banner ads, the Slurpee Web site, andpromotional emails.

Source: OnlineMediaDaily.com

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Mars is prepping its first new candy brand since Twix nearly 20 years ago: a low-calorie chocolate bar dubbed “Fling,” aimed at women. The candy is positioned as“Naughty, but not that naughty.”

Mars representative Ryan Bowling said the concept for Fling was to develop a“permissive indulgence” for women. At 170 calories a bar, and at a recession-friendlyprice point of 79 cents a pack, Fling will retail in stores and online atflingchocolate.com.

Fling comes with (excessively) girly touches, such as a hot-pink foil wrapper andshimmering pink “mica” dust on each candy bar.

A TV spot shows a woman who appears to enter a dressing room occupied by a man,with the two then getting undressed and proceeding to act naughty. But then thecamera pans over the top of the fitting rooms, revealing they are actually in twoseparate dressing rooms, as he struggles with his clothes and she secretly nibbles ona Fling.

Print work for the brand declares “It’s not cheating if you don’t feel guilty,” “Yourboyfriend doesn’t need to know” and “Pleasure yourself.”

Source: Adage.com

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PepsiCo is testing greener vending machines, a move that helps the soft-drink maker reduce its environmental footprint andgives businesses a little relief on their electric bills. The test involving 30 machines in the Washington, D.C., area has justbegun. Pepsi hopes to begin rolling them out worldwide over the next several years.

The new machines use 5.08 kilowatt-hours of energy per day, down about 15% from a nationwide average of 6 kilowatt-hours used by current machines. Current machines already use 44% less energy on average than the machines used sixyears ago.

The new machines also emit about 12% less greenhouse gas, in part by keeping the drinks cool with carbon dioxide insteadof the usual hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), which scientists say contribute to global warming.

The green machines, which have won the praise of Greenpeace, are the latest step PepsiCo is taking to promote its moreenvironmentally friendly ways.

Source: Reuters.com

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The Obamas’ edible garden is the first presidential garden sinceEleanor Roosevelt’s World War II-era victory garden. As the entirecountry is looking at the Obamas as trendsetters, some companiesare picking up on this trend and are already incorporating it intotheir marketing strategies.

For the first time in its 100+ year history Campbell’s Soup ismaking the seeds used for their soup tomatoes available to thepublic for free (with proof of purchase) at a dedicated Web site.Campbell’s is spearheading an initiative to grow more than onebillion tomatoes across the country.

Source: Trendcentral.com

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