CHICAGO -- Tom Thumb, Dallas, and Coles Supermarkets, Melbourne, Australia, each will be presented two first-place trophies at the 29th-annual Food Marketing Institute/Woman's Day Advertising Merit Awards competition ceremony.
Tom Thumb was cited in the Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image and Magazine Advertising categories.
"It's nice to see some of the creative talents and things you do get recognized," said Renee Broca, Tom Thumb's director of advertising.
Runner-up recognition went to an additional 40 entries across all categories.
Winners in large and small companies alike were elated at winning their awards.
"It's not the Oscars and it's not the Emmys, but it's as close as we could ever hope to get in our industry," said Don Ramey, president of Price Plus, Aberdeen, Wash., winner of an award in the Newspaper -- Price Promotion category. "It's particularly gratifying from our perspective because we're a one-store operator. It's wonderful that we can compete in terms of our ads. It's gratifying to get the validation of FMI and Woman's Day," Ramey said.
"Obviously, it feels good to win; but increasing sales is what we're after," said Mark Harsha, director of advertising at Fleming Cos., Oklahoma City, which won in the Newspaper -- Black & White Advertising category. "This doesn't hurt," he added.
Tom Thumb
Dallas
Renee Broca director of advertising
"Tom Thumb sponsors the Junior Stars Kids Club for the Dallas Stars hockey team. This was part of our lateral series in support of that effort. It ran in the program and yearbook." Magazine Advertising
Cub Foods
Stillwater, Minn.
Lori Swanson, marketing director
"Cub's always been a leader in trying different kinds of advertising to get our consumers excited and kind of involved in our marketing plan. When we developed the Crayola promotion, it was specifically designed to let customers know that we're in the back-to-school business. The piece is a sheet of paper with a crayon box mounted to it. What we're telling consumers to do is to bring this in and fill it with your choice of 16 Crayola crayons free."
Newspaper -- Supplements
Fleming Cos.Oklahoma City
Mark Harsha director of advertising
"The different twist on this one was that it had a coupon in it. So we were trying to stimulate trial; get people to come in the store to redeem the coupon, as well as to track the success of the advertising vehicle. That one worked real well for us."
Newspaper -- Black & White Advertising
Vincent's Market
Birmingham, Ala.
Catherine Byrd spokeswoman
"That ad was designed around Valentine's Day, with an emphasis on the floral department. The text in the ad read, 'With everything from floral delivery to romantic catered dinners for two, a Valentine's Day gift from Vincent's is always warmly received. Because when it comes to showing your love, actions speak louder than words.' " Newspaper -- Direct-Mail Fliers
Safeway
Oakland, Calif.
Debra Lambert spokeswoman
"The goal of the ad was to show the top quality of Safeway's floral department. Roses are the cornerstone to any floral business. Top quality of roses is like top quality of your produce items. The whole idea was that we wanted to give the true reflection behind the quality of flowers at Safeway."
Newspaper -- Four-Color Merchandising
Carr Gottstein Foods Co.
Anchorage, Alaska
Greg Carr VP, marketing
"It's a new direction. That's a decision to change the way we deliver the holiday [Thanksgiving] for the first time in the history of the company. That's why it's a little flamboyant. That's why it's sort of in-your-face. To our loyal customers -- a half a million a week -- it was, 'Look at this. It's a different deal.' I'm in the business to sell things. I've seen some competitors over the years say, 'Come get a free bird.' Well, if you're in the retail business, you've got to sell something first. Then you can reward the customer."
Newspaper -- Price Promotion (Tie)
Price Plus
Aberdeen, Wash.
Don Ramey president
"The beauty of this ad, and the other ones being produced for us, is that they really stand out. They're distinct from our competition's ads and it really makes a statement about the quality of the store, as opposed to simply promoting the item."
Newspaper -- Price Promotion (Tie)
INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNERS
International Newspaper -- Price Promotion
Coles Supermarkets
Melbourne, Australia
International Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image Coles Supermarkets
Melbourne, Australia
International Radio -- Price Promotion Mr. Special Supermarkets
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
International Radio -- Customer Service/Store Image
Cold Storage Singapore International Television -- Price Promotion
Fiesta Mart
Houston
International Television -- Customer Service/Store Image (Tie)
HiLo Food Stores
Port of Spain, Trinidad
Mr. Special Supermarkets
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico
Supervalu
Pittsburgh division, New Stanton, Pa.
Thomas Algeri advertising manager
"It's a campaign called the 'S.E.E.D.' program. It stands for Students Extra Educational Development. It's actually a series of programs, with different facets geared toward different age groups." Magazines, discount cards, school assembly programs, and a scholarship program are just some of the features of the program. "The whole thing is done just for Shop 'n Save. It's all original. It's very atypical for a supermarket. It doesn't have coupons on all the pages. It's not that way. Very small at the bottom of every page it says, 'This program is sponsored by the independent owners of Shop 'n Save.' The logo is downplayed and I think that's why we're getting so much publicity in the area. By downplaying the logo, we're getting more than if I'd have just blasted it all over the place."
Newspaper -- Public Service
Tom Thumb
Dallas
Renee Broca director of advertising
"It's called the Feature Page. We use it for nonprofit organizations. It's advertising about those organizations; fund-raising opportunities, different things like that Tom Thumb is somehow linked to. We put it all together on a full-page ad."
Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image
Price Chopper Supermarkets
Schenectady, N.Y.
Joanne Gage VP, consumer services
"It was a joint effort between our consumer services and advertising departments. It was designed to help consumers interpret the new food labels. The piece broke in March. The labels weren't required until May, but products started to come out with them early on, so we wanted to get it out there so people could understand all the information that was on there."
Newspaper -- Nutrition
Haggen Inc.
Bellingham, Wash.
Carol Anderson director of advertising
"The ad had a picture of our private-label items and said: 'For those of you who want to feel better.' Then for 'those of you who don't' it had a picture of Kleenex. We were looking to promote our private label."
Newspaper -- General Merchandise/HBC
Mega Foods
Tacoma, Wash.
Michael McGowan president
"This promotion was done in conjunction with some billboards and direct-mail pieces on the conversion of Mega Foods from a markdown price program to an EDLP program. Taking a humorous approach, the spot featured the voices of two males, one seemingly being lowered into a well by the other. We involved vendors by producing the spots with a doughnut. Each of the eight versions included price comparisons on a different grocery product."
Radio -- Price Promotion
Big Y Foods
Springfield, Mass.
Dave Marti director of advertising
"The ad is a consumer awareness ad using a New England fisherman explaining why Big Y seafood stands head and shoulders above everyone else's seafood. It uses humor to explain how Big Y's seafood is inspected. The goal was to educate consumers of the safety standards we implement to ensure only the best-quality seafood reaches our customers."
Radio -- Customer Service/Store Image
P&C Food Markets
Syracuse, N.Y.
Sue Hosey spokeswoman
"We opened two new, large stores that were very different in decor package and in some of the offerings that we put in them. The commercial really tried to let people know all the things that were available, so it ran through all the services. The whole thing tied in with a new ad campaign we had started; 'Everything you need, just the way you like it.' So it encompassed that as well. I think it conveyed convenience and an exciting new shopping experience."
Television -- Customer Service/Store Image
Food World
Birmingham, Ala.
Catherine Byrd spokeswoman
"Mission Impossible was a comparison-shop piece with our customers shopping our stores and our competitors' stores."
Television -- Price Promotion (Tie)
Ralphs Grocery Co.
Compton, Calif.
Julie Weeks spokeswoman
"This is the television spot that focused on our Multi Buys. In Multi Buys, when you buy the club-store quantity, you get the club-store price. This particular spot was an educational piece to show shoppers just how much savings they can achieve with Ralphs' Multi Buys. It actually showed the savings at the checkstand as the items were scanned, citing a couple of examples."
