WINN-DIXIE AD TIES SNACKS, FOOTBALL

LISA SAXTON

ATLANTA -- Winn-Dixie's division here ran a single-vendor themed ad promoting snack foods tied in to the new football season in an ongoing effort to offer brand name grocery items at more competitive prices, said Ken Howle, direct store delivery buyer for the division.

Howle said the advertisement is an example of how the chain currently ties in to a specific season or special event -- in this case, football -- to promote a specific manufacturer's products, most of them at a particular price point.

The ad, which ran late last month, featured popular Nabisco brand products against a backdrop of footballs and autumn leaves.

An 18-ounce package of Halloween Chips Ahoy, a 20-ounce package of Halloween Oreos and a 16-ounce package of Ritz Crackers retailed for $2.47 each. And for $1.68 Winn-Dixie shoppers could wrangle a variety of cookies, while Premium Saltines sported a price tag of 97 cents.

Howle noted this sort of ad has become an effective sales tool for the 93-store division. "We'll do these type of ads from time to time and focus on different manufacturers," he said.

Allen Ward, the Nabisco account manager who worked on the ad, said from the vendor's perspective, "We try to do these types of ads as often as possible. What we try to do is cluster advertise two or three brands and get a common price point in order to offer those brands to the consumer at a savings. "And what we basically try to do with Winn-Dixie is work with theme advertising. I may recommend we do a theme on football or health and wellness. I look at the brands we're promoting and try to develop some advertising theme."

But it is the chain's willingness to be competitive on price against other operators in the market that really makes this kind of ad effective, said Ward.

"We've done this on numerous occasions with Winn-Dixie in Atlanta. We usually run about two ads per month with them in the local newspaper. And it's been highly successful for us; that's more of a tribute to the retailer's ability and willingness to be competitive in the marketplace."

Neither official was able to provide specific results from the football snacking promotion. Ward said, however, that "The ads usually result in the movement of more products to the consumer," and because of that expected growth in demand, additional product is shipped to stores weeks before the ad breaks.

"Looking at case movements, we do increase, especially on items that are seasonal, promotional type items, such as Halloween Oreos. We ship those in with the anticipation of selling them. In a lot of cases, we have them presold to the accounts prior to even setting the ad up," Ward said.