Just Born- Atlantic Records: Mike & Ike/Music Madness PROMO Magazine, March 1999 Don't Sing with Your Mouth Full Just Born, Atlantic Records perform a duet. Bethlehem, Pa. Candy maker Just Born Inc. is looking to serenade its 12- to 24-year-old core market with Music Madness, a nine-month promo starting April 1 that will reward more than three million prizes in conjunction with partner Atlantic Records. The program is the biggest ever for Just Born, says group product manager Matt Pye. The effort will be promoted via 15 million boxes of Just Born's Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales brands, with instant-win messages on the inside panels. The packages will also contain a mail-in card allowing consumers to enter a grand prize drawing for an appearance in a future music video by one of Atlantic's leading artists. Prizes include $2, $5, and $10 gift certificates from Music Cash, the retailer-neutral program operated by True North Communications' The Properties Group. The certificates are honored at more than 10,000 outlets, including Musicland, Sam Goody, Wal-Mart and Kmart. Atlantic is offering up 15,000 copies of The Absolute Hits, a new compilation CD with tracks from such performers as Hootie & the Blowfish, Edwin McCain, and Sugar Ray. The record company is looking to brand The Absolute Hits as a series, and found Just Born's target audience to fit perfectly with its own, says vp-marketing Lee Stimmel. TV and print ads from Just Born and a direct-response TV spot from Atlantic will support the promo, as will shelf danglers, pallets and other P-O-P displays that will allow entry into the grand prize sweeps. New York City-based Kobin Enterprises handles the promo. CONFECTIONER MEANS BUSINESS, January/February 1999 Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales Tune up for "Music Madness" with Atlantic Records Just Born, Inc. manufacturers of Mike and Ike, HOT TAMALES and Marshmallow Peeps® dances to a different beat with the announcement of a national consumer promotion. Uniting with promotion partner Atlantic Records, one of the nation's leading record labels, the Bethlehem, Pennsylvania-based candy company's promotion offers music and candy fans a chance to win over three million music-related prizes. These prizes include Music Cash®, Atlantic Records' new "The Absolute Hits" CD featuring All-4-One, Hootie & the Blowfish, Edwin McCain, Sugar Ray and other artists, plus a chance to win an appearance in a music video by entering a national sweepstakes. The promotion will "play" across the country beginning April 1, 1999 through December 31, 1999. The grand prize winner will be announced on or about March 1, 2000. "The core target for Mike and Ike and HOT TAMALES is 12 to 24-year-olds. Teaming up with Atlantic Records and their music allows us to reach this audience very well," said Greg Barratt, vice president of marketing and sales for Just Born. Advertised on 15 million specially marked 2, 12, and 8-ounce boxes of MIKE and IKE Original, Berry Fruits, Tropical Fruits and HOT TAMALES, approximately three million instant win prizes can be won during the contest. January 18, 1999 Just Born Candies Get Big Bang With Atlantic Records Cross-Promo Looking to break out of a candy media landscape dominated by better heeled behemoths, Just Born Inc. is latching on to music to make a bigger bang with its 12- to 24-year-old target through a national cross-promotion with Atlantic Records, backed by $2 million in media, including its first TV buy. The "Music Madness" sweeps, running April 1 through December, will splash the artists All-4-One, Hootie & the Blowfish, Edwin McCain and Sugar Ray on 15 million packages of Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales, and on POP displays with tear pads. Consumers will have a chance to win instant prizes like $2, $5, and $10 Music Cash certificates redeemable for CDs or cassettes at music retailers and mass merchants. There also will be 15,000 chances to win The Absolute Hits, a compilation CD featuring those artists and other Atlantic talent. The grand prize will be an opportunity to appear in a music video. "With all the consolidation going on in the [non-chocolate market], we needed to insulate ourselves and build the brand," said Matt Pye, group product manager. Meanwhile, Atlantic wanted an off-channel boost for the compilation, which can't be promoted through typical channels for single-artist albums, such as MTV or radio stations, said Lee Stimmel, vp of marketing at Atlantic. May, 2000 Musical Confections Just Born hits high notes with Atlantic Records' help Candy maker Just Born, Inc., Bethlehem, PA, has historically carved out comfortable market share with low-key promotional campaigns. Its Mike & Ike brand is among the top five sellers in the soft, chewy segment, while its Hot Tamales is the No. 1 brand in cinnamon candies. But Just Born decided last spring it could use a little more flavor in its advertising, especially if it wanted to muscle in on the big boys of the candy category. The company, along with New York City-based agency Kobin Enterprises, recruited Atlantic Records, New York City, to give it some star power, and "Music Madness" was, well, just born. "The highlight of the campaign for us was teaming with such a well-known partner as Atlantic Records," says Just Born group product manager Matt Pye. "This is something we've started doing for the first time over the past year. We're not a big name with the resources of an M&Ms or Skittles, so working with Atlantic helped us close the gap." The campaign, which was designed to boost sales and increase product profile and excitement among the company's target audience of 12- to 17-year-olds, consisted of an on-pack/in-pack sweepstakes that ran via 15 million boxes of Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales. The sweeps offered up more than three million prizes, including Music Cash gift certificates in $2, $5, and $10 denominations and 15,000 copies of Atlantic Records' Absolute Hits, a compilation CD featuring such top artists as Jewel, Matchbox 20, and Hootie & the Blowfish. Packaging also contained a mail-in entry form for the grand-prize package, an all-expense paid trip to appear in a future video by an Atlantic artist. "A real key to the success of this campaign was the accessibility of prizes," says managing partner Sharon Tracy of Kobin Enterprises. "We were offering a one-in-five chance to win, whereas most promotions offer odds of one in seven million." By teaming with Atlantic, Just Born was able to use the artists' images in TV spots (30-second spots ran 300 times exclusively on MTV from May 10th though June 5th) and trade collateral - without having to pay royalty or licensing fees to the performers. "Music is big with our target audience, and we were able to leverage the names of Atlantic artists on our own packages," says Pye. "If you go to the artist directly, you're going to pay a lot more." Atlantic Records also ran a "Music Madness" banner on its home page (www.atlanticrecords.com), as well as a dedicated sweepstakes entry page. The results were tasty. The promotion boosted brand sales by 17.7 percent versus the same period in 1998. Just Born's prior on-pack efforts had never increased sales more than five percent. And the sales momentum continued for Mike and Ike and Hot Tamales even after the promotion ended. "The results were outstanding. We've never done anything to this degree," says Pye. "We've done on-pack before, but not backed by TV. We moved sales numbers double-digit in a category that's only growing in the single digits." The partnership proved equally beneficial for Atlantic Records, which sold more than 2,000 units of The Absolute Hits CD each week the promotion ran - in a period when the company was not running any of its own dedicated advertising. With its first foray into tie-ins having been so successful, Just Born signed on as a NASCAR sponsor in 2000 and is actively looking for other promotional partners. And singing a happy tune all the way.