Tub of Cool Whip too Challenging? Try the Can†

Kraft Wants to Prove It Can Innovate by Unveiling Slew of Even-Easier-to-Use Products

Advertising Age, May 5, 2008 — Kraft Foods, which has made a business out of making meals easy, has heard from consumers that its products still weren't easy enough. And so Kraft is preparing to unveil to grocers some 80 new products at the Food Marketing Institute show in Las Vegas next week designed to appeal to even the laziest Americans.

The launches come as the company negotiates a complicated turnaround. It is beset with an unwieldy portfolio, old-but-storied brands and sky-high commodity costs. In order to hold prices and still drive demand, Kraft has boosted marketing spending, reformulated products such as Maxwell House and Oscar Mayer franks, and attempted to make its products more convenient and portable.

Kraft, Kellogg Beat Analyst Expectations†

Despite Quarterly Earnings Tumble, Marketers Stick With Upping Ad Spending

Advertising Age, April 30, 2008 — In the face of rising commodity costs and cautious consumers, most brand-name food manufacturers are continuing to increase marketing investment. Kraft and Kellogg, which both reported earnings this morning, credited advertising and marketing with the strength of the companies' respective brand portfolios. Both marketers saw profits drop and simultaneously beat analyst expectations.

Kraft: No More Cheesy Extensions†

Brandweek, April 29, 2008 — Until recently, Kraft's growth strategy largely revolved around extensions, like Philadelphia Cream Cheese snack bars or Jell-O cheesecake snacks entry with peaches and bananas. But now the company is taking a different approach.

Recession, Eh? P&G, Colgate Boost Ad Bucks†

Thanks to Planned Price Hikes, Package-goods Giants Forced to Keep Pitching to Consumers on Merits of Their Brands

Advertising Age, February 4, 2008 — BATAVIA, Ohio (AdAge.com) — Marketing budgets get cut in a recession, right? Not according to several of today's package-goods leaders.

In a testament to how important advertising has become to their businesses, Procter & Gamble Co., Colgate-Palmolive Co., Kraft Foods and Kellogg Co. all have boosted or at least maintained their marketing budgets, even as they've had to implement cost controls elsewhere. And that trend looks set to continue as these giants are forced to hike prices in response to rising commodities costs — a move that will require them to continue pitching consumers on the merits of their brands.

Refilling Kraft's Cookie Jar

CEO Irene Rosenfeld is banking on a raft of new products to boost sales. Can she whip them up before investors lose patience?

BusinessWeek, December 13, 2007 — Oh, the lunchtime dilemma. That turkey-on-whole-wheat sandwich you brown-bagged from home is properly frugal but so boring. That takeout panini with rosemary chicken, sun-dried tomato, and aioli, on the other hand, is tasty but sure takes a bite out of the paycheck. The chefs at Kraft Foods (KFT) think they've found a middle option: Oscar Mayer Deli Creations. The $2.99 kits, rolled out in grocery stores in August, have the makings of a hot meat-and-cheese sandwich, with bread that even gets toasty in the microwave.

From Cheap Stand-In to Shelf Star†

Food Retailers Put Spotlight On Store-Brand Products, To Dismay of Sara Lee, Kraft

Wall Street Journal, August 29, 2007 — When Zarlacht Atiqzoy, a Dallas mother of two, went grocery shopping at a Target supercenter recently, she was surprised to find a bottle of dipping oil flavored with pomegranates and apricots. The oil, from a brand called Archer Farms, "sounded so good and was so unusual that I didn't mind paying the $7, which isn't cheap," she says. She was even more surprised when she turned over the bottle and learned the oil was actually made by Target Corp. "I didn't expect Target to be so creative," she says.

Kraft Bets Consumers Will Hunger for Bacteria†

LiveActive Brand Could Extend From Raw Cheese to Snacks and Beverages

Advertising Age, April 23, 2007 — Hold the Metamucil: Kraft Foods wants to help America get more regular. The food giant appears to be launching an entirely new marketing platform under the LiveActive name of probiotic (good bacteria to battle irregularity) and prebiotics (nondigestible fibers that stimulate good bacteria in the colon).

Cooking Up Changes at Kraft Foods†

Studying Rushed Consumers, CEO Rosenfeld Orders Up Menu of Complete Meals

Wall Street Journal, February 20, 2007 — After Irene B. Rosenfeld became chief executive officer of Kraft Foods Inc. in June, she spent months talking to employees and peeking inside consumers' kitchens — from suburban Chicago to the capital of China.

Kraft Vies for Eyes -- and Noses†

Wall Street Journal, November 13, 2006 — Will Kraft's latest ads pass the smell test?

Kraft Undergoes Major Marketing Shakeup†

Advertising Age, September 12, 2006 — Several Longtime Executives Exit as Company Names Its First CMO