PLAY ACTION IN DALLAS

JOEL ELSON

DALLAS -- The Kroger Co. division here expects good volume with new National Football League anniversary videos promoted at high-traffic areas and outside video rental centers.

The 82-store division began merchandising the videos this month at 55 of its stores that have video departments and at a high-traffic areas at units without video rental sections. Shippers of the videos are merchandised just outside the video department, said Gary Hoffman, drug and general merchandise buyer for the Dallas Kroger Marketing Area.

"We've dabbled in some exercise and sports tapes, but this is the first time we're handling NFL tapes. We'll run it as an in-and-out promotion," Hoffman said. The videos are backed by a strong marketing and advertising campaign, including major network TV, cable and print ads, he said.

"Assuming it is successful, we'd probably run these kinds of videos again. We promoted a World Cup video this summer that was reasonably successful," said Hoffman.

Besides the Kroger divisions in Dallas and Houston, about 10 other major chains with more than 400 stores will carry the NFL videos, said Bill Sondheim, vice president of sales and marketing at PolyGram Video, New York. PolyGram markets and distributes the NFL line.

Kroger will be carrying select titles from the NFL series, said Hoffman. The total lineup for 1994-1995 will include "NFL Rocks on the Edge," "Super Bowl XXIX Championship," "Best of 25 Years of ABC's Monday Night Football," "John Elway's Greatest Comebacks," "75 Seasons: 75th Anniversary of the NFL," "NFL's 100 Greatest Follies," "NFL's Greatest Stars," "NFL 'Honky Tonk' Country" and 28 different NFL team videos."

"These videos are well suited to supermarkets. Our regional marketing plans tie in customers and store personnel. Grocery chains are a part of our mainstream marketing strategy," said PolyGram's Sondheim.

"A key element in our supermarket plans is motivating store employees. We use fliers to keep them updated on what the titles are about. We also have created a contest for store personnel that gives them a stake in the sales of the videos, offering them a chance to win tickets to local NFL games," he said.

At the Kroger divisions, the promotion also involves customers in drawings held at store level for licensed apparel, such as team shirts, hats and jackets. "That creates added excitement for the customers and motivates store clerks in the entire sales process," said Sondheim.