Rite Aid leveraged the February start of the 2010 NASCAR season through a trio of exclusive sweepstakes from Coca-Cola Co., Kraft Foods and Mars Inc.

Brands tap into the excitement surrounding the National Collegiate Athletic Association's "March Madness" in this week's FSIs.

Here's a shopper marketing-related question: How many consumers honestly like "10 for $10" sales? Since the Institute began tracking supermarket activity in 2003, these sales events have been among the more prominent staples of many promotional calendars. So they must drive store traffic and/or sales volume for retailers and manufacturers.

As for shoppers, I'm sure they like the price. But that's a pretty big load for the pantry to bear, isn't it? My freezer still carries a few four-packs of butter purchased at a "10 for $10" sale back around fall 2008, I believe. Do I remember which supermarket gave us the deal? Not a chance. I barely notice which brand it is anymore. ...More

Work for such clients as Procter & Gamble, Lowe's, Land O' Lakes and Qwest Communications has inspired Rich Butwinick, president of MarketingLab, Minneapolis, to formulate this checklist for developing effective P-O-P.

A group of leading retailers and industry supporters has been working this year to develop a blueprint of best practices designed to unlock the full potential of shopper marketing as a performance-boosting business strategy.

A Booz & Company survey of consumers contends that frugality not only is becoming a defining behavior during this lingering recession, but may endure once the economy recovers.

IRI's Times & Trends takes its annual look at merchandising activity in the packaged goods channel

John Stermer of PromoWorks and Neal Heffernan of Knowledge Networks/PDI, discuss research findings from the R.I.S.E. Report on In-Store Sampling Effectiveness.

Steve Bava of WhittmanHart Interactive discusses the basic pillars for creating an effective social media strategy.

An overview of company and product news gathered by Institute editors in February at the Digital Signage Expo.

The company's current mindset forces brand teams, agencies to start with the store