Marketing Tactics

This year, Nestlé Toll House is celebrating its Real Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsel’s 75th birthday.

Nestlé credits Ruth Wakefield Toll House with inventing chocolate chips. Wakefield ran the Toll House restaurant in Whitman, Massachusetts. She broke a bar of Nestlé semi-sweet chocolate into tiny pieces and added them to dough expecting to create a chocolate cookie. Instead, the semi-sweet pieces held their shape and softened to a creamy texture. Wakefield's "Toll House Crunch Cookie" recipe was published in a Boston newspaper.

Lewisville, Texas – Consumers are increasingly interested in the BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) option for making purchases. According to a new survey of 1,992 U.S. adults by custom incentive company Parago, 63% of shoppers BOPIS (buy online, pickup in store) at least a few times a year, but 82% percent would consider doing so to receive a $10 rebate on a $50 item.

Adidas has enlisted marketing technology company Unruly for its latest #predatorinstinct campaign, and as part of the partnership is piloting Unruly’s new In-Feed format. The new format adapts to the look and feel of a Web page in real time across the Open Web.

Menomonee Falls, Wis. – Kohl’s Department Stores is launching an omnichannel partnership with lifestyle brand Juicy Couture. Juicy Couture products are now available at Kohl’s stores nationwide and at the dedicated URL Kohls.com/JuicyCouture.

Duluth, Minn. -- Maurices, a subsidiary of the Ascena Retail Group, announced that Ali Wing has been named chief marketing officer, executive VP of digital commerce. Wing joins Maurices after 10 years as CEO and founder of giggle, a multichannel retailer, wholesaler and licenser of baby products.

Maxwell House has launched a sponsored digital content series called "Made Right Here," that showcases “made-in-America” stories as part of its efforts to rejuvenate the brand and tap into a new generation of coffee drinkers.

Produced in partnership with Coolfire Studios and Mr. Here Productions, "Made Right Here" features the people behind products manufactured all across the country, from the small sheds and workshops of artists to large gleaming factories run by assembly lines.

Merrimack, N.H. – Brookstone has named Blue Wolf Communications as an agency for public relations, social media and event marketing.

The relationship launches with major initiatives for the 2014 holiday season, the announcement of high-profile spokespeople, the introduction of many new products, and high-impact events for fall and winter.

Rakuten has confirmed that it is in the process of acquiring Ebates, a provider of the largest cash-back shopping website in North America, for a total consideration of $1 billion in cash and will hold 100% of Ebates’ outstanding voting stock.