Cable & Wireless Launches Web Site
s Global Card Services here has launched a dedicated Internet Web site for mass-market retailers interested in developing a private-label phone-card retail program. The Web site offers buyers in these retail channels "a close look at the power of prepaid calling cards and the added impact of private label," said GCS president Alan Stiffler.
The new Web site also provides information about Cable & Wireless' other phone-card programs, Speak to the World and SureTel. These programs "enable a retailer who's not in the phone-card business to get going fast, or they can help those already in the business to expand the value and appeal of their offering," said Stiffler.
Film Manufacturers Target Teens
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Major film manufacturers are targeting their products to the teen audience, which has become a lucrative and growing segment of the overall film and photo market.
Eastman Kodak here is launching a marketing campaign that targets girls ages 9 to 15 for its single-use Max cameras. The company wants to target young teen-agers, said to be the biggest buyers of disposable cameras. A Kodak study shows that teen girls are more likely than boys to own a camera, by 75% to 49%.
Teen girls consider taking pictures as popular as dating, the independent study indicates. The manufacturer will spend about $75 million over five years to capitalize on the teen market, through TV, radio, print and Internet advertising. The campaign is slated to kick off in mid-August, in time for back-to-school shopping. Kodak ads are expected to appear on such teen-oriented TV shows as "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and "Dawson's Creek."
Polaroid, Cambridge, Mass., has also made a recent push to reach teens and young adults with its new instant cameras. And Konica of Japan is aiming its new black and white film, which is popular in high-school photography classes, at the teen market.
In a move to widen interest in taking photos among teens, Fuji Photo Film, Elmsford, N.Y., gives fourth-grade and fifth-grade classroom teachers free curriculum materials, including free disposable cameras and a course guide that combines photography with other classroom subjects.
Ralston to Spin Off Eveready Battery
ST. LOUIS -- Ralston Purina has announced it intends to separate its Eveready Battery subsidiary in a tax-free spinoff to shareholders. Completion of the spinoff, expected to be effective in seven to 10 months, is contingent upon a favorable ruling from the Internal Revenue Service and final approval by Ralston Purina directors.
Also, J. Patrick Mulcahy, who remains director of Ralston and chairman and chief executive officer of Eveready, has resigned as co-chief executive officer and co-president of Ralston in order to focus on Eveready's business in preparation for the spinoff. W. Patrick McGinnis, who previously served with Mulcahy as co-CEO and co-president of Ralston, has been elected CEO and president of Ralston.
