SmartSource Shelftalk with Scented Plastic
Technology Debuts
News America Marketing Expands Use of Scents to Attract Customers in Supermarket Aisles
New York, NY (February 27, 2006) – News America Marketing, a division of News Corporation (NYSE: NWSA), today announced the launch of a product enhancement that will provide clients with a technologically advanced method of attracting consumers with fragrance. The enhancement builds upon News America’s already successful portfolio of scented options.
Available on the SmartSource ShelftalkSM line of products, the new option uses recent advances in plastics technology to fill the aisle with fragrance without requiring direct interaction from the consumer. News America worked with Rotuba, a pioneer in scented plastics, to create a custom design that would easily integrate with existing SmartSource Shelftalk products. Made from a natural polymer called Auracell(TM) developed and produced by Rotuba and Eastman Chemical Company, the product enhancement retains and disperses fragrances for several months without losing intensity.
Paul V. Carlucci, News America’s CEO said, “Advertising through scent is a powerful tool that traditionally has provided our clients with a significant competitive advantage. Auracell significantly ups the ante for this type of marketing by enabling clients to capture a customer’s attention and literally lure them to a product with its fragrance.”
The new technology represents a significant change in the way scent is used in marketing. In the past, consumers had to take the initiative to interact with the advertising, through either a “scratch and sniff” patch or by touching a button to release a puff of fragrance. With Auracell the fragrance is already in the air as the customer walks by.
“We are very optimistic about the potential for this new generation of scented advertising,” said Jesse Aversano, News America’s EVP of Marketing. “It is a remarkable and singular vehicle for distributing fragrance, with an intensity and endurance not previously available.”
The SmartSource Shelftalk Scented Plastic Option can be permeated with any of 33,000 stock scents, or a custom designed fragrance can be developed in collaboration with News America Marketing, Rotuba and Rotuba’s fragrance partner, Givaudan. The Auracell enhancement tested positively in select markets last fall, and is expected to hit stores nationwide starting early this summer.
Rotuba is a privately owned company incorporated in 1945 with headquarters and manufacturing located in Linden, New Jersey. They also have representation in Asia and Europe with warehousing facilities in Asia. Rotuba has been producing Cellulose Acetate since 1955, more than 40 years. Rotuba is the largest independent producer of cellulosics in the world and recently launched scented cellulosics under the product brand Auracell(TM). Cellulosics was one of the first modern thermoplastics introduced into commercial production in 1929. Primarily derived from wood pulp, a renewable resource, it can truly be called a natural polymer. Versatility of form-ability and performance characteristics along with its capabilities for secondary processing and fabrication makes cellulosics unique.
Eastman Chemical Company (NYSE:EMN) is a global company whose products touch the lives of people around the world every day. Headquartered in Kingsport, Tennessee, U.S.A., Eastman manufactures and markets more than 1,200 chemicals, fibers and plastics products. While Eastman's products are not household words, they are used in thousands of consumer products. The company is the world's largest supplier of polyester plastics for packaging; a leading supplier of coatings raw materials, specialty chemicals and plastics; and a major supplier of cellulose acetate fibers and basic chemicals. Eastman is one of the top 10 global suppliers of custom-manufactured fine chemicals for pharmaceuticals, agricultural chemicals and other markets.
Givaudan is one of the oldest and largest flavor and fragrance houses in the world. Givaudan contains within itself the institutional knowledge of predecessor firms dating back to the late eighteenth century. It makes use of its strong product development and research capabilities, including one of the world's oldest perfumery schools, to serve a diverse and distinguished clientele, by creating fragrance and flavor compounds for a variety of products. Today, Givaudan is a science-smart, modern, and innovative company, with global reach and resources, well positioned to succeed in the twenty-first century. Givaudan is based in Geneva, Switzerland.
News America Marketing, a division of The News Corporation Limited, is the leading single-source provider of consumer advertising and promotional services. The company’s product portfolio, marketed under the SmartSource brand name, consists of the first branded free-standing insert, known as SmartSource Magazine®, various in-store advertising and promotional products, merchandising services, database marketing tools and online promotions. These products and services allow marketers to deliver a brand message to over 150 million consumers each month via a network of 1,161 newspapers and 34,500 supermarket, drug and mass merchandisers locations across the country, including Albertson’s, Kroger, Winn Dixie, CVS, Eckerd and Rite Aid.
News America Marketing’s diverse portfolio of consumer-marketing programs includes:
IN-STORE MEDIA
SmartSource® At-Shelf Sampling SmartSource ShelftalkSM
SmartSource Shelftake One® SmartSource® Bonus Box
SmartSource ShelftalkSM Banner SmartSource Shelftake One® RX
SmartSource CartsSM SmartSource Freezer ShelftalkSM
SmartSource Showcase® SmartSource Coupon Machine®
SmartSource Freezer ExtraSM SmartSource Showcase® Extra
SmartSource Floortalk® SmartSource Price Pop® Guaranteed
SmartSource Electronic Shelf ProgramsSM
HOME-DELIVERED MEDIA TRADE MARKETING
SmartSource Magazine® SmartSource Price Feature Plus®
Partnerships Themed Events
Direct Response Advertising
SmartSource Custom PublishingSM
ONLINE MEDIA
SmartSource Online Savings NetworkSM
DATABASE MARKETING MERCHANDISING SERVICES
SmartSource Direct
News America Marketing—International provides consumer-marketing services in Canada, Australia and New Zealand, in addition to a network of advertising and promotion partners in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Pacific Rim.
News Corporation (NYSE: NWS, NWS.A; ASX: NWS, NWSLV) had total assets as of June 30, 2005 of approximately US$55 billion and total annual revenues of approximately US$24 billion. News Corporation is a diversified international media and entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; direct broadcast satellite television; magazines and inserts; newspapers; book publishing; and other. The activities of News Corporation are conducted principally in the United States, Continental Europe, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia and the Pacific Basin.
For more information about News Corporation, please visit www.newscorp.com.
Contact: News America Marketing
Laura Richards
212.782.8145
lrichards@newsamerica.com
Rubenstein Associates Public Relations
Robin Wagge
212.843.8006
rwagge@rubenstein.com
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