CHICAGO -- It will be sweet music for 21 companies here tomorrow at the 30th annual Food Marketing Institute/Woman's Day Advertising Merit Awards ceremony.
n 20 categories for print and broadcast advertising. "Last year we said it wasn't an Academy Award, but we were pretty happy about it," said Don Ramey, president of Price Plus, Aberdeen, Wash., a winner for the second straight year. "This year we went for the Grammy with something that sings," he said, referring to his company's "Every Bing is Beautiful" ad.
Jeff Thompson, director of advertising for Randalls, Houston, said an artist on his staff deserved the credit.
"The thing that makes me feel good was that we were able to win with an ad from our own department," he said. "It's great that we have artists on staff who are that creative. It says a lot for the type of staff we're trying to build here. I was real proud that my artist really kind of took that from the beginning and tried to do something unique with it," he said of Randalls' winning ad, which featured a back-to-school theme.
Claire D'Amour, vice president of consumer affairs at Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass., also cited her chain's advertising department.
"It's always rewarding, especially for the advertising department because of all the work they put in every day of the year composing these ads. We do all of our composition and production in-house, so it's particularly exciting."
Newspaper -- Black & White Merchandising
Food Pavilion, Seattle
Penny Thomas, creative director, Associated Grocers, Seattle
"That was run as a series of teaser ads leading up to a grand opening. Essentially what we wanted to do was to underscore their image as 'The Freshest Place in Washington.' So we thought, what better way than to show a graphic, mouth-watering image and really grab people and then have a brief bit of copy that tells them where they could find this wonderful stuff."
Newspaper -- Four-Color Merchandising
Price Plus, Aberdeen, Wash.
Don Ramey, president
"We had a wonderful illustration of two gigantic Washington bing cherries. Our headline was, 'Every Bing Is Beautiful,' accented by a couple of musical notes. We tried to create a print ad that would literally sing to the customer."
Newspaper -- Price Promotion
Big Y Foods, Springfield, Mass.
Claire D'Amour, vice president of consumer affairs
"The 10-cents sale ad is primarily used to promote our produce department, what we call our World Class Produce. It's a major component of our World Class Markets. It's a way of stimulating customer trial. We sprinkle things from other departments in the ad to entice the customer to shop the entire store. There's a certain magic to the dime; it has a value connotation. So much of what we do is a stock-up kind of thing. The 10-cent ad also attracts a smaller household, someone who doesn't need 5 pounds of potatoes."
Newspaper -- General Merchandise/HBC
Randalls Food Markets, Houston
Jeff Thompson, director of advertising
"We ran a double-truck with all the different back-to-school items. What was unique was that we did the prices in a type font that looked like the type was written in crayons. What I thought was pretty neat was that my artist drew the coupons as apples. It really kind of made it stand out."
Newspaper -- Direct Mail Fliers
West Point Market, Akron, Ohio
Annette Sarich, customer service coordinator
"The flier was from the gift merchant at West Point Market. We sent it out to all our local customers. We had a lot of people coming in and asking about it. It did well for us."
Newspaper -- Supplements
Cub Foods, Stillwater, Minn.
Ray West, advertising manager
"We've done a series of specialty inserts to supplement our advertising supplements. This deal was a pie box. We actually inserted a flat pie box in the newspaper. Customers could bring the pie box in and get a terrific deal on the pie. From what I recall, they just went gang busters on the pies."
Newspaper -- Public Service
Fleming Cos., Rainbow Foods Division, Hopkins, Minn.
Harry Steen, director of advertising
"In addition to efforts to get existing customers to spend a little more, Rainbow Foods is also focusing on attracting new customers -- specifically new residents. The design reflects the need for the piece to function both as a sales tool when presented to prospective neighborhood businesses, and as an image piece when mailed to new residents."
Newspaper -- Nutrition
Wegmans Food Markets, Rochester, N.Y.
Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image
Byerly's, Edina, Minn.
Tracy Wiese, advertising and communications manager
"Our intention was to present Byerly's as the resource to answer the question, 'what's for dinner?' We also wanted people to see that they could enjoy themselves while shopping at Byerly's."
Television -- Price Promotion (S-10 FMI10)
Edwards Super Food Stores, Windsor Locks, Conn.
Tonya Lyon, spokeswoman
"The commercial is a good way for customers to see that products are products, and they certainly taste better when they cost less. We have a number of commercial spots that focus on price. Although that one is the most powerful, because you can relate to the person eating the Cheerios. It's not a part of a greater series in which we're focusing on individual items, but it is something we're looking to expand into, doing more of those comarketed commercials."
Radio -- Price Promotion
Price Chopper, Schenectady, N.Y.
Barbara Page, public relations manager
"The title is 'Good till July Fourth.' We run it in April, but we have 'good till' programs, that means we reduce a number of items in price until a certain date. It's a store manager and one of the store clerks talking during this spot. At the end, the music is 'Stars and Stripes,' tying it to the Fourth of July."
Radio -- Customer Service/Store Image
Bristol Farms, Torrance, Calif.
Jodi Taylor, director of marketing and advertising
"The campaign was called 'Exploration and Journey.' It talked about how Bristol Farms scours the world for all the different and unusual specialty foods we carry. It was done with exotic music that matched the different countries that we visited to buy the items we buy for the stores."
Certificate of Merit Winners
Certificates of merit are awarded to recognize the best of the remaining entrants throughout the 21 categories
Newspaper -- Black & White Merchandising Kroger, Cincinnati; Price Chopper, Schenectady, N.Y.
Newspaper -- Four-Color Merchandising Sak-N-Save, Reno, Nev.
Newspaper -- Price Promotion Spartan Stores, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Fleming, Rainbow division, Hopkins, Minn.
Newspaper -- General Merchandise/HBC Fleming, LaCrosse division, LaCrosse, Wis.; Central Markets, Poulsbo, Wash. Kroger, Cincinnati
Newspaper -- Direct Mail Fliers Food City, Greenville, Tenn.
Newspaper -- Supplements Zagara's, Marlton, N.J.; Big Y Markets, Springfield, Mass.
Newspaper -- Nutrition Longo Bros. Fruit Markets, Mississauga, Ontario; Price Chopper Supermarkets, Schenectady, N.Y.; J. Sainsbury, London
Newspaper -- Public Service Edwards Super Food Stores, Windsor Locks, Conn.; Foodland Super Market, Honolulu
Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image Zagara's, Marlton, N.J.; J. Sainsbury, London
Magazine Advertising Fleming, Rainbow Foods division, Hopkins, Minn.; J. Sainsbury, London
International Newspaper -- Price Promotion Coles Supermarkets, Melbourne, Australia; Al Azizia-Panda United, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
International Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image The MarketPlace, Hamilton, Bermuda; Coles Supermarkets, Melbourne, Australia
Radio -- Price Promotion Fleming Cos., Oklahoma City; Star Markets, Honolulu
Radio -- Customer Service/Store Image D&W Food Centers, Grand Rapids, Mich.; Shaw's Supermarkets, East Bridgewater, Mass.
International Radio -- Price Promotion Coles Supermarkets, Melbourne, Australia; Fiesta Mart, Houston
International Radio -- Customer Service/Store Image Al Azizia-Panda United, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; Cole Supermarkets, Melbourne, Australia
Television -- Price Promotion Bruno's, Birmingham, Ala.; Abco Foods, Phoenix
Television -- Customer Service/Store Image Shaw's Supermarket's, East Bridgewater, Mass.
International Television -- Price Promotion Fiesta Mart, Houston
International Television -- Customer Service/Store Image HiLo Food Stores, Port of Spain, Trinidad; Al Azizia-Panda United, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
INTERNATIONAL AWARD WINNERS
** Magazine Advertising Woolworths Supermarkets, Sydney, Australia
International Newspaper -- Price Promotion Woolworths (NZ) Ltd., Auckland, New Zealand
International Newspaper -- Customer Service/Store Image Al Azizia-Panda United, Ind., Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
International Radio -- Price Promotion Coles Supermarkets, Melbourne, Australia
International Radio -- Customer Service/Store Image HiLo Food Stores, Port of Spain, Trinidad
** Television -- Customer Service/Store Image (Tie) J. Sainsbury plc, London; Shoprite Checkers, Cape Town, South Africa
