Nestlé Confectionery is running three Kit Kat promotions in 2009, featuring 52 million prizes. It will be backing the Kit Kat brand with a £16m media campaign - £2m more than this year - and a claim this is the biggest-ever media spend on confectionery. The first promotion - Perfect Break - kicks off in January, and has a prize fund of £1m. There are three tiers of prizes - 10 top prizes
Airwaves has become the official chewing gum sponsor of the World Rally Championships as well as the main sponsor of the Plymouth Raiders basketball team.
New pricemarked packs have been launched for Sterling, which Gallaher says moves the brand into the super value sector.King Size 20s have been reduced from rrp £4.50 to £4.20, while Superkings have gone from £4.59 to £4.25. Gallaher says retailers will benefit by getting the same cash margin as before.
Procter & Gamble is relaunching its Jingles for Pringles campaign to find a family to star in a 30-second TV ad to be shown in a prime time Christmas Day slot.
A new economy cigarette brand, JPS 'Silver', has been launched by Imperial Tobacco to cater for the growing number of adult smokers who are moving down through the cigarette price sectors into the economy sector -which contributes more than £1bn a year to retailers' turnover. Offering more value in a tough economic climate - and expected to be a significant player in the economy sector - the JPS 'Silver' range bears all the usual JPS insignia, but in silver. The range includes King Size in Blue, Silver and Menthol at £4.21 for 20; £2.12 for 10; and Superkings in Blue and Menthol at £4.25 for 20.
Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) is launching its Christmas 2008 campaign this month, backed by £2.5m-worth of marketing and featuring an on-pack promotion on all 500ml and 2ltr bottles of Coca-Cola and Diet Coke as well as a seasonal campaign for Schweppes.
Diageo GB is building on its campaign to highlight spirit and mixer serves with the launch of its autumn Mellow Spirits activity. This is backed by a £300,000 spend on print advertising, sampling and in-store pos material.
Responding to the growing trend for larger packs, Gallaher has launched a pricemarked 50g variant of Amber Leaf. The new packs, marked at £9.99 and including rolling papers, are available for a limited period and are exclusive to the independent and wholesale channels.
Heinz is adding 13 new varieties to its ambient soup range. Backed by a £2.5m campaign, including TV advertising, there are new additions to its Classics, Weight Watchers from Heinz, Taste of Home, Big Soup, Farmers' Market and Soups of The World ranges.
Duracell is expecting to shake up the battery category with its biggest innovation for 10 years - a technological reformulation bringing improved power and performance to its battery range.
Nestlé is replacing its Kit Kat Chunky with a two-piece bar called Chunky Duo. At the same time a new Chunky peanut Duo is being added to the range. Recommended retail price for both products is 58p.
Red Bull Cola is already a big hit in forecourts. According to AC Nielsen data the 355ml can, which was launched in April, has shot to the number 19 spot in the list of single serve soft drink SKUs.
Danone Waters has launched a Weatherman service for independent retailers comprising a weekly email detailing the week's weather forecast as well as bottled water sales predictions.
Trident adds two new additions to its range this month: Sweet Kicks chocolate mint gum and Fresh mouth-watering gum, available in 'oooh peppermint', 'aahh spearmint' and 'coool lemon' flavours.
Diageo GB has announced that Guinness and Baileys Irish Cream will be joint sponsors of network films on Channel 4. The sponsorship is worth almost £5m and will run for a year from mid-July.
Mars Planets and social networking site MySpace (uk.myspace.com) have launched a search for the hottest new music-presenting talent in the UK through a radio show, MySpace Mars Planets Radio.
Ginsters has added a New York-style steak & cheese pasty to its range. The new snack is part of the company's Pasties of the World range and is also part of a brand relaunch - it replaces the company's Indian-style pasty.
Walkers has launched its SunBites and Baked better-for-you brands in sharing packs. The company says the move aims to capitalise on the growing number of consumers buying healthier snacks.
Danone Waters has announced its five-year tenure as Official Bottled Water of The Wimbledon Championships. Danone Waters will be spending £3m employing a range of marketing tactics to ensure Evian is synonymous with Wimbledon and Tennis this summer. The company will be supporting its
Gourmet snack company Pipers Crisps Ltd will target smaller, independent retailers - and not major multiples - to sell its range of 'handcooked, 100% natural' products. The crisp range is flavoured with ingredients sourced from independent suppliers and include Anglesey Sea Salt, Biggleswade Sweet Chilli Parsnip, Sea Salt & Somerset Cider Vinegar and West Country Cheddar and Onion.
Walkers is introducing Smoky Bacon flavour to its Big Eat range of crisps. The company says Smoky Bacon is its fifth best-selling standard bag flavour in impulse, worth £5m and growing at 20%. The Big Eat range, which has seven other flavours already on the market, is worth £27.7m and is growing at 6.1%.
Pringles is running a promotion to coincide with Euro 2008, offering consumers the chance to meet Michael Owen and star in the next Pringles Football TV ad.
Coca Cola Enterprises is giving away £1.5m-worth of prizes over the next few weeks, including trips to the finals of Euro 2008, JCV home entertainment systems worth up to £2,500 and European short break holidays.
R&R Ice Cream is spending £1m promoting Fab this year. The campaign is aimed specifically at mums and includes on-pack communication, online activity, advertising and sampling.
Unilever UK has introduced a green tea range to its PG Tips brand. The range is made up of PG Tips green tea, green tea lemon flavoured and green tea mint flavoured, with a rrp of £1.89 for a pack of 40 (with four packs per case).
