Snickers, WWE 2K23 to Present WrestleMania 39
Snickers and WWE 2K23 will return as joint presenting partners of WrestleMania 39, which takes place April 1-2 at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles.
Following a successful co-promotion at last year’s WrestleMania, which marked the first time two brands served as presenting partners for WWE’s pop culture extravaganza, the partnership continues at WrestleMania 39.
Ahead of the biggest matches of the year at WrestleMania, Snickers and WWE 2K23will continue their multi-platform campaign from last year on the Road to WrestleMania.
“The Snickers brand is thrilled to be back as one of the presenting sponsors of WrestleMania 39,” said Ray Amati, director of media, Mars Wrigley. “Over the years we have seen the passion of WWE fans and know they are always hungry for high quality entertainment, which we look forward to delivering alongside our partners. Snickers will continue to be a solution for fans when they feel out of sorts before, during or after WrestleMania.”
“We’re excited to come back even stronger and co-present WrestleMania 39 with Snickers as we tag team for WWE’s biggest event of the year,” said Alfie Brody, vice president of global marketing strategy at 2K. “Like our WWE 2K23 cover Superstar, John Cena, we’ll ‘Never Give Up’ as we take on Snickers head-to-head and provide fans with engaging content leading up to the main event matches.”
“Last year we brought together two of our most-tenured brand partners for WrestleMania and it’s exciting to continue the partnership as WrestleMania goes Hollywood in April,” said Craig Stimmel, WWE senior vice president of global sales and partnerships.
Both brands will be showcased during WWE’s flagship TV programs Monday Night Raw on USA Network and Friday Night SmackDown on FOX leading up to WrestleMania, as well as during the WrestleMania Kickoff Show and WrestleMania each day on Peacock. The partnership also includes custom digital and social content on WWE.com and WWE’s YouTube channel.
For more information on WWE 2K23, visit the game’s official website for a full breakdown of the pre-order details, become a fan on Facebook, follow the game on Twitter and Instagram using the hashtag #WWE2K23 or subscribe on YouTube.
WrestleMania 39 takes place April 1-2 live from SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. Limited tickets are still available via ticketmaster.com
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Snack Brands Capitalize on Marketing in Week Before Super Bowl
Budweiser may not have been a big presence at the Super Bowl, but its products ranked high with consumers among snack brands the week of the big game.
Snack brands that leveraged the excitement and anticipation leading up to the Super Bowl can tap into a captive audience of millions and create campaigns that leave a lasting impact on brand awareness and loyalty.
Veryfi, using artificial intelligence technology to instantly transform documents into structured data that consumer packaged goods companies use for cross-basket insights, analyzed supermarket shopper receipts in the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
Veryfi Insights used shopper receipt data to identify factors that contribute to the success of snack brands during the Super Bowl, and what strategies brands can employ to improve their sales in the future.
“Veryfi’s analysis of supermarket shopper receipts in the week leading up to the Super Bowl is a powerful demonstration of the potential of cross-basket analytics in understanding consumer behavior,” said Ernest Semerda, co-founder and CEO, Veryfi. “By launching campaigns in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, brands can trigger a jump in sales while connecting more closely with customers and the Super Bowl audience.”
The ability of AI to instantly transform receipts into structured data provides insights that were previously impossible to obtain. By analyzing supermarket shopper receipts, Veryfi was able to identify shifting preferences in consumer behavior in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, and this information can be used by brands to inform their loyalty marketing and advertising strategies.
Anheuser-Busch InBev dominated the beer category during the Super Bowl – with Bud Light, Budweiser, and Michelob Ultra all ranking in the top three in sales for the week leading up to the event. Coca-Cola’s success in the soft drink category is also notable, with the brand outperforming Pepsi by a significant margin. However, it’s worth noting the large increase in sales for Pepsi Zero in the week leading up to the Super Bowl, which suggests that the brand’s advertising campaign preceding the big game may have paid off.
In the chip category, PepsiCo’s Lays and Doritos brands emerged as clear leaders, indicating the popularity of salty snacks during the Super Bowl. Contrary to some predictions, despite more affordable avocado prices, a lack of increase in avocado or guacamole sales versus the preceding year’s worth of sales data may suggest that customers were not motivated by any price changes.
Hellman’s mayonnaise is the leading U.S. mayo product. However, the substantially greater popularity of Hellman’s mayonnaise over Heinz ketchup and French’s mustard is a surprising finding, as ketchup and mustard are often considered staple condiments for Super Bowl parties.
“Through Veryfi Insights, we’ve proven that consumer shopping receipts deliver cross-basket insights, greater personalization, and better customer loyalty to CPG brands and the marketing agencies supporting them,” continued Semerda. “Building on our momentum gained in 2022 with loyalty marketing organizations, we see increasing numbers of CPG brands and agencies that are using receipts to drive customer loyalty and mitigate any impacts caused by economic uncertainty.”
Unlike most consumer surveys that solicit feedback from a few thousand people, Veryfi draws its insights on data collected in the aggregate from millions of opt-in receipts extracted by the Veryfi OCR API Platform. In this way, Veryfi’s technology offers an unprecedented real-world view into shopping trends. Veryfi customers in the CPG industry can gain insights into consumer behavior through analysis of “cross-basket” purchases, that is, by examining all line items on a purchase receipt.
Veryfi provides the only mobile receipt capture technology that includes AI computer vision for receipt detection and image enhancement, as well as a long receipt capture mode. It helps transform unstructured documents into structured data – tapping into data that was previously unavailable for analysis.
By eliminating manual data entry, Veryfi enables organizations to accurately capture, extract and transform documents such as receipts, invoices, purchase orders, checks, credit cards, and W-9 forms into structured data, at scale. Veryfi uses advanced AI/ML technology, trained by hundreds of millions of documents over the past five years, to extract data and transform it into a structured format for 85 currencies, 39 languages, and over 110 defined fields such as vendor, total, bill to/ship to, purchase order and invoice numbers, any line item (product name, SKU, description), taxes, and more, which can then be accessed for a wide variety of business applications.
For more on The Super Bowl Snack Battle, go to https://www.veryfi.com/insights/the-super-bowl-snack-battle-which-brands-came-out-on-top-and-why/.
Go here to learn more about turning receipts into valuable consumer insights: info.veryfi.com/value-of-receipt-infographic.
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Back to Nature Brand Sold to Barilla Group
B&G Foods, Inc. has completed the sale of the Back to Nature brand to BA Brussels, LLC, a subsidiary of Barilla America, Inc.
B&G Foods intends to use the proceeds from the sale for general corporate purposes, including the repayment of long-term debt and the purchase of assets useful in B&G Foods’ business, and to pay taxes, fees and expenses related to the sale.
Back to Nature features a portfolio of plant-based, non-GMO products that compete in the United States cookies, crackers, granola and nuts & trail mix categories. Founded in 1960, the brand is mainly distributed in the U.S. natural and specialty channels and is committed to providing people with good food made with nature-inspired recipes.
Barilla, a fourth-generation family-owned company founded in 1877 is an international food company, leading in pasta and bakery products, and present in more than 100 countries. It has a strong bond with the United States, where it has operated since 1996, and is currently the #1 pasta brand. The acquisition of Back to Nature is consistent with Barilla’s long-term strategy to build a strong multi-brand bakery platform in the United States, where the Group is already market leader in the crispbread category with the Wasa brand.
Barilla is a leader in the European bakery products sector and has expertise in, and a reputation for, healthy, good-for-you snacking products. The acquisition of Back to Nature provides Barilla with a strong platform from which to build and grow in the dynamic North American bakery marketplace.
“At Barilla, we aspire to build a long-term and significant presence in the U.S. baking industry and this operation reminds me of when we first started our journey with pasta over 25 years ago and we are now the market leader. The acquisition of Back to Nature is a key step for this exciting journey”, said Guido Barilla, chairman of the Barilla Group. “We focus all our business activities and products on health and indulgence and hence Back to Nature was a natural choice. We are excited to see how our efforts will evolve in the future”.
Barilla confirms its commitment to ensure people have access to good, sustainable food with consistent improvements in its nutritional profile. The Italian based family company, founded 145 years ago, brings together 8,700 people around the world, and a supply chain that shares its values and passion for quality.
Barilla is a family business chaired by the brothers Guido, Luca and Paolo Barilla. It was founded by their great-grandfather Pietro Barilla, who opened a bakery in Parma in 1877. Barilla is renowned in Italy and around the world for the excellence of its food products. With its brands – Barilla, Mulino Bianco, Pan di Stelle, Gran Cereale, Harrys, Pavesi, Wasa, Filiz, Yemina and Vesta, Misko, Voiello, Academia Barilla, First, Catelli, Lancia, Splendor, Tolerant and Pasta Evangelists – it advocates tasty, hearty and wholesome nutrition, inspired by the Mediterranean Diet and the Italian lifestyle.
Based in Parsippany, N.J., B&G Foods and its subsidiaries manufacture, sell and distribute high-quality, branded shelf-stable and frozen foods across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. B&G Foods’ portfolio of more than 50 brands includes B&G, B&M, Bear Creek, Cream of Wheat, Crisco, Dash, Green Giant, Las Palmas, Le Sueur, Mama Mary’s, Maple Grove Farms, New York Style, Ortega, Polaner, Spice Islands and Victoria.
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