JEWEL-OSCO, HUGGIES JOIN IN COURTING HOOP DREAMS

RICHARD TURCSIK

CHICAGO -- A diaper promotion has taken center court at Jewel-Osco stores in this market.

The retailer has teamed with Kimberly-Clark to promote a Huggies Diapers "Quick Change" contest at a Chicago Bulls basketball game. The mail-in promotion is awarding nine winners four tickets to a Chicago Bulls/Indiana Pacers game in April. During halftime, the adult contestants will have to perform a series of tasks including dribbling a basketball, putting on a Bulls uniform and making baskets. Prizes consist of up to $300, and all finalists receive a Bulls uniform.

The event was merchandised through four-color, full-page newspaper ads that ran earlier this month, as well as in-store point-of-purchase materials.

Officials at Melrose Park, Ill.-based Jewel Food Stores did not return phone calls, but an official at Kimberly-Clark's regional headquarters here said Kimberly-Clark has high hopes for the promotion.

"As hot as the Bulls are this year, I think this will be a very popular event for us. We're anticipating a real good response and a lot of entries for chances to win and get down there and compete," said Craig Kochen, regional marketing director of the North Central Region of Kimberly-Clark.

"This is the first year we've done the promotion with the Quick Change. It is a little bit different for us to have the dads or the moms compete during the halftime promotion, rather than the little kids, as we've done with diaper derbies and

other events," Kochen explained.

"We've had a good relationship with the Bulls here for a few years, and it creates a lot of excitement for us in the stores. The moms and dads love to show off their kids, brag about them and have fun at the same time," he said.

The Huggies Quick Change contest is being merchandised in conjunction with the Free-Bee, a nationwide mail-in rebate coupon offer in which consumers receive coupons for Kimberly-Clark products with the purchase of specified Kimberly-Clark items. The promotion covers Huggies diapers, Depend incontinence pads, Kleenex facial and toilet tissue and Poise, Kotex and New Freedom feminine protection items.

For example, if a consumer buys any two Huggies, Pull-Ups or Goodnites diaper products, he or she receives a coupon for a free 80-count package of Huggies Baby Wipes. Huggies and Pull-Ups were featured at Jewel-Osco for the special price of two packages for $13.50 earlier this month.

"In Jewel-Osco we merchandised Free-Bee with in-store demonstrations where we set up a table with a representative selection of our products and gave out coupon booklets featuring the products to shoppers," Kochen said.

Kochen said Jewel was promoting Free-Bee and the Quick Change contest through in-store displays, especially in the larger Jewel-Osco combination store units.