PLANTERS, FERRARA SPROUT PACK OF CHOCOLATE-COVERED PEANUTS

PAT NATSCHKE LENIUS

CHICAGO -- A single-serve package of chocolate-covered peanuts that will launch this fall is the latest result of a licensing agreement between Planters Co./Nabisco Foods Group and Ferrara Pan Candy. Planters chocolate-covered peanuts, which debuted a year ago, have since been extended to a 7-ounce pegboard bag, 3.35-ounce box, 1.5-ounce-vendor package, 2.3-pound club pack and also into boxes, canisters and jars. Both partners saw potential benefits to the licensing agreement. Ferrara Pan had inroads in theater concessions, offering a new arena of exposure to Planters. The product was initially launched as a concession-stand item in theaters. For Ferrara Pan, having a well-recognized name like Planters on any candy item gave the company "another foot in the door" with candy buyers for supermarket chains, said Lorraine Wedow, director of marketing for Ferrara, based in Forest Park, Ill. Wedow explained the agreement at a brand extension licensing conference here sponsored by International Business Communications, Southborough, Mass. She was joined by Sylvia Lee, account executive at Nancy Bailey & Associates, Coral Gables, Fla., the licensing agency that represents Planters, Winston-Salem, N.C.

Under the licensing agreement, Ferrara Pan makes the product, and its sales force and brokers sell it. Ferrara is also responsible for the advertising.

"Our marketing strategy is Ferrara Pan, not Planters," Wedow said.

Lee said, "We tell Ferrara Pan to go ahead and do it. We know they are committed. Licensors can put a clause in the contract stating marketing budget on objectives. "From our experience, that should be set up front. One of the important aspects of the proposal is to make sure [your partner] has a cohesive marketing plan with trade advertising and point of purchase," she said.