A COLORFUL PLAN FOR EASTER

JOHN KAROLEFSKI

Barq's next big promotion, the National Easter Coloring Contest, guarantees maximum customer interaction.

Take-one pads on the display in 10,000 supermarkets will feature an Easter scene ready for coloring. Participants -- limited to children under 12 -- bring their completed entries back to the store for display.

"This helps us to merchandise the store, and creates a reason for consumers to come in and take a look at little Johnny's or little Sally's artwork that's on display," says Richard Hill, vice president of marketing. "It encourages their friends to enter and compete, thus making that grocery store the focus of a lot of Easter activity in the community, where otherwise there would not be."

The store manager determines the first-, second- and third-place winners, and awards prizes from Barq's. He then sends the winners to Barq's for a national contest. Grand prize is a $5,000 personal computer and accessories.

"The store managers absolutely love this approach because it's simple for them to execute," says Hill. "It provides real value because it gives them something to give to the consumers. They present it. They make it possible."

He acknowledges that the promotion isn't geared toward Barq's target customer -- the 12- to 24-year-old male.

"We weren't doing anything for future Barq's drinkers at a period of time when their brand loyalties are starting to form in a big way," Hill explains.

"Easter does tend to be more a kid's holiday than a teen-ager's holiday, but it recycles itself. If you get kids under 12, then you're going to have parents that are 25 to 35. That's a good place for us to be, too," he says. "We want everybody with lips to drink Barq's until it comes out of their ears."