RALPHS PROMOTES FOOD MAGAZINE

WENDY TOTH

COMPTON, Calif. - Ralphs Grocery Co. here, a division of Kroger Co., Cincinnati, will launch a promotional program in partnership with Martha Stewart's Everyday Food magazine later this month.

The program, called "Savor Every Moment," will provide shoppers with a discount from their final bill as a purchase incentive for buying an issue of Everyday Food magazine along with products from participating sponsors.

Ralphs' sponsors include: Buitoni, NestlT Chocolatier, Spectrum Organic Olive Oil, Reddi-wip and Hefty OneZip, according to Martha Stewart Living OmniMedia, New York, publisher of Everyday Food. Ralphs did not respond to SN's calls.

"We reinforce the retailer as a well-rounded destination for great seasonal meal solutions and provide them with powerful branding association with our magazine," Wendy Mure, brand development director, Everyday Food, told SN.

"There is a progressive mind-set here that you don't typically find in a lot of retail magazine merchandising," said Bill Bishop, president of the Willard Bishop consultancy in Barrington, Ill. "Now the retailer has a direct connection into the editorial capabilities of a magazine, and those capabilities are unique and represent a different form of media that is being brought to bear."

Marketing for the program will include print ads in the October issue of Everyday Food, mention on Everyday Food segments on Martha Stewart Sirius Radio, ads in Ralphs' circular, in-store magazine displays, header signs on magazine checkout pockets, shelf talkers and displays from partner products, Mure said.

"The real breakthrough is somebody in magazines got excited about something retail account-specific and the retailer has got an event with a hot topic and a new promotional partner," Bishop said.

The promotion will include a free brochure filled with custom-developed and photographed recipes for each of the sponsors with how-to content from the magazine, Martha Stewart Living OmniMedia spokeswoman Katie Goldberg told SN.

Through a third-party product demonstrations company, Martha Stewart Living OmniMedia is also providing the retailer in-store demos and sampling to extend its Everyday Food brand beyond the magazine pages, Anne Balaban, senior vice president and publisher, Everyday Food, told SN.

Last year during a similar promotion with Ralphs and Meijer, Grand Rapids, Mich., Everyday Food magazine saw a 38% lift in sales, Balaban told SN.

Meijer ran the promotion this year as well. It began Sept. 24 and ended yesterday.