OKLAHOMA CITY -- Fleming Cos. plans to aggressively market its Marquee Premium upscale private label following the completion of the wholesaler's first phase of introductions.
"We're doing some of the traditional marketing elements with demos, ad slicks advertising and newspaper print, as well as coordinating the resets and making sure that we position the products properly in the sections," Robb Kraft, Fleming's premium-brand manager, told SN in mid-March.
"We're about a month away from developing some radio spots, and at this time we're in the process of looking at television. We haven't really developed any TV commercials, but we're seeing how viable it is," he said.
Fleming currently has 22 stockkeeping units of soft drinks, three cookies (chocolate chip, chocolate chip-pecan and oatmeal-raisin), a peanut butter-filled pretzel, and four new age sparkling water items.
The soft drinks were launched the first week of January, the waters at the end of January, and the cookies were introduced the first week of March.
The line is in approximately 1,250 stores throughout Fleming's 27 divisions, and will eventually be available to all 4,800 stores Fleming supplies, including IGA units.
Additional new products will be launched in June, late August and early October, Kraft said. He declined to specify what products or categories they will be.
Kraft said Marquee Premium products are sourced from several different suppliers. "We use a formula of quality item selection first, and then we go after the price and the marketing tools. We want to make sure that every product meets our high level of criteria for the entire program," he said.
Kraft said the line has been well received. "We've had a very positive reaction in initial feedback from each division. We're getting a nice distribution rate per division that we're very pleased with," he said.
In addition, the wholesaler has received encouraging letters from consumers.
"One letter stated that the products are a great value compared to what they normally buy. We're feeling very good about our consumer response right now," he said.
Kraft said the pricing of Marquee Premium varies according to the item, and that some items, such as soft drinks, are priced below the national brands.
