Purchasing for Super Bowl parties just got easier. Two CPG behemoths are boosting their brands' cooperation in the retail store using the upcoming Super Bowl as a way to generate unprecedented synergies from in-store marketing.

PepsiCo and Anheuser-Busch InBev will put Bud Light and Pepsi together for the first time under the new effort, which AB InBev internally called a "National Big Bet," according to Ad Age. The companies previously had paired AB InBev drinks with PepsiCo-owned snack brands such as Doritos and Lay's, but not beverages.

As official Super Bowl sponsors — and Budweiser's Bud Light the official beer of the NFL — the respective beverage giants are hoping the co-branded in-store signage will woo shoppers in the days leading up to America's Biggest Snacking Occasion.

The co-branded marketing materials reportedly include display signs showing two bags of Doritos, two bottles of Pepsi and two bottles of Bud Light along with the Super Bowl logo and the slogan, "Super Bowl. Super Team. Super Party."Continue reading...

Super Bowl XLVII is getting closer, so more heavyweight brands are making the required heavyweight commitment to advertise during the Big Game on CBS on February 3.

The network said today that all of the available spots are sold out at around $4 million per 30 seconds, with the latest returning brands including Chrysler from last year and Taco Bell from three years ago.

Budweiser plans to debut Budweiser Black Crown, an amber lager with higher alcohol content, with a 30-second spot during the game. Anheuser-Busch InBev introduced Bud Light Platinum during last year's game, while Black Crown was developed via last year's Project 12 regional brewmaster challenge.

Taco Bell had a very good year with a snap-back in sales on the strength of new produccts such as Doritos Locos Tacos, and so the Yum!-owned brand has confirmed it's suiting up for the Super Bowl for the first time since 2010. The chain's 60-second spot will "support the brand’s 'LIVE MÁS' tagline and spirit."

Doritos, meanwhile, tapped actress Ali Landry, who rose to fame during her 2008 Super Bowl commercial debut with the brand, to announce the five finalists for its fan-voted "Crash the Super Bowl" creative commercial challenge.Continue reading...

One of the last big things that Joel Ewanick did before he was bounced as General Motors' CMO last summer was to declare that the giant automaker was going to sit out TV advertising in Super Bowl XLVII on February 3. But don't be surprised that GM is trying to find every other way it can to attach itself to the Big Game.

One of the latest reports is that Chevrolet plans to place its all-new 2014 Corvette on the 50-yard-line during the halftime show and present it to this year's celebrity performer (and Pepsi partner), Beyonce. But GM hasn't budged an inch in terms of its decision to sit out actual advertising during the Super Bowl telecast on CBS, even though Chevy could probably make real good use this year of its traditionally strong presence in the game, with a new 2014 Silverado pick-up truck comnig out and its overall brand message remaining muddled.

Speaking of Beyonce, PepsiCo now plans to put 50 contest winners onstage with her during the halftime show. The online contest invites entrants to post photos of themselves in Beyonce-style positions that could be used in ads promoting her performance.

In other Super Bowl advertising news, M&Ms has announced that it will return to the game with an all-new 30-second commercial during the first quarter. Last year, M&Ms introduced the world to its "Ms. Brown" character that was a hit with viewers. All that Mars Chocolate North America will say about its plans for this Super Bowl is that it will "tap our colorful characters" once again.Continue reading...

PepsiCo continues to shore up the foundations of one of its key beverage brands even as it finally enters a hot-growing segment where it hasn't gone before in a bid to win more market share. Diet Pepsi is employing a new formulation that includes a substance called acesulfame potassium (known as Ace-K) as one of its sweeteners.

Previously, Diet Pepsi had been sweetened entirely by aspartame, but sources told BeverageDaily.com that the beverage giant found that heat would break down amino acids in the sweetener and lead to loss of flavor. Rollout of the new formula reportedly has begun in New York, Omaha and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Acesulfame potassium, as AP noted back in August, is meant to prevent taste degradation, and also perhaps to make the US formula for Diet Pepsi consistent with that used elsewhere, for manufacturing efficiencies. PepsiCo now tells AP that the goal is to put the tweaked flavor of Diet Pepsi "in high definition," and that a new ad campaign touting the new flavor, logo and tagline for the soft drink is launching in January.

In the meantime, PepsiCo also is leaping into the increasingly popular fruit-and-vegetable drink segment with new Tropicana Farmstand. It's a chilled, 100-percent fruit-and-vegetable juice that targets parents looking to sneak veggies into their kids' diets, with carrots, beets and sweet potatoes part of the mix.Continue reading...

Toyota sets to reclaim world sales crown as GMand Volkswagen vie for No. 2 and hints at elimination of Matrix model.

Domino's Pizza founder sues over Obamacare contraception coverage mandate.

McDonald's tries to get franchisees to stay open on Christmas.

Akamai taps co-founder as new CEO.

Burger King works with franchisee to expand in Mexico.

Chobani nears openingof huge new factory in Idaho.

Cosi uses pop-up unit in Chicago to test growth ideas.

Cox cable TV guide offers personalized recommendations in U.S. first.

Discover Communications makes key European deals.

Facebook counts on big deal with Walmart.Continue reading...

Angry Birds first Christmas song ("Fly Me Home Tonight") released by Rovio.

Apple downgraded by Citi on China suppliers, while first weekend iPhone 5 sales in China top two million.

NRA goes silent in wake of Newtown, CT, school massacre as President Obama vows to get tougher on guns.

Diet Pepsi quietly changes sweetener in advance of new logo, tagline and can design.

Barclays protests US energy fine.

Best Buy extends deadline for founder's buyout bid.

Chrysler undecided on minivan plan.

Cisco reportedly plans to sell Linksys brand.

Coca-Cola resurrects Mello Yello in Australia, plans pop-up beach at Sydney Cricket Stadium.

Facebook's monetization efforts may ride on Walmart campaign lessons.

Li Ning projects substantial loss.

Microsoft urged to ditch Windows brand by Dell.

PPR goes shopping for young brands.

Starbucks defended by London mayor Boris Johnson.

Toyota set to seize global auto sales crown as GM vies for 2nd place.

For PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, the driving force of her reign has been a desire to transform the company into a purveyor of better-for-you foods and beverages for the masses as well as the classic "junk" food brands such as Pepsi soft drinks and Frito-Lay corn chips.

In this quest, Nooyi already has wheeled PepsiCo into fruit-based snack chips, all sorts of healthier beverages and, most recently, a new yogurt brand. But there's another big initiative up her sleeve that Nooyi believes will advance the company still further down her chosen, more nutritious track: "drinkifying."

That's PepsiCo-speak for the R&D push to "drinkify" snacks and "snackify" beverages — creating liquid snacks out of food and vice versa. Nooyi cited a drinkable oatmeal, Leche con Avena, produced by its Quaker brand in Latin America. And Naked smoothies have plenty of food content.

"A way to grow the beverage business is to take foods and drinkify them," Nooyi said at an industry conference sponsored by Beverage Digest this week, according to the Financial Times. "There's a whole range of products we have in the pipeline that are value-added products that can be snacks made into beverages."Continue reading...

Want to have your face on a Pepsi can? Well, first you need to sell more than a 100 million albums around the globe and win 16 Grammy awards. At least, that’s what it took for Beyonce to get her face etched into aluminum.

As already announced, Bey is starring in the Pepsi-sponsored Super Bowl XLVII halftime show in February as part of the brand's multimillion-dollar return to the Big Game after pulling out in 2010 to reallocate its funds for the social Pepsi Refresh crowdsourced philanthropy platform. Now

Now PepsiCo is expanding its Super Bowl deal with the performer beyond the half-time show into a full-blown partnership in a $50 million deal that will burnish the Pepsi brand and Brand Beyonce, including marketing support for her new album that's dropping next year.Continue reading...