Marketing Tactics

Tampa, Fla. -- Burger 21, founded by the owners of The Melting Pot Restaurants, has executed its first franchise agreement in Michigan, under which a debut restaurant in Ann Arbor will open summer 2015.

Additionally, the company signed two franchise agreements for single units in Ocala, Florida, and Raleigh, North Carolina. The new deals are part of the fast-casual concept's growth strategy to expand its presence in new and existing markets nationwide.

To date, Burger 21 has 13 open locations and 25 franchised restaurants in development.

New York – XO Group Inc., parent company of online maternity and wedding retailers such as TheBump.com and TheKnot.com, has named Dhanusha Sivajee as executive VP marketing, responsible for overseeing the brand, consumer marketing, partnerships and communications. Sivajee joined XO Group from AOL, where she served as chief marketing officer for the AOL Brand Group and drove audience growth across AOL's portfolio of digital brands.

Eden Prairie, Minn. – Supervalu Inc. is hosting the company’s first-ever national sales expo, a three-day trade event, in St. Paul, Minnesota. The expo will feature more than 20 educational sessions and more than 330 expo booths, providing more than 3,900 independent grocery retailers from more 1,250 stores the opportunity to gain insights, merchandising ideas and grocery retail solutions from industry experts.

A new partnership with Hendrick Motorsports has 3M off to the races. The company has signed a three-year contract to become the primary sponsor of NASCASR driver Jeff Gordon’s No. 24 car, starting in 2015.
 
The brand will use its sponsorship — which includes 11 Sprint Cup races every year — in product launches and promotions.
 

Foothill Ranch, Calif. – The Wet Seal Inc. is launching its new Wet Seal + Plus banner with 30 new stores opening Aug. 16. The stores are opening in California, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Massachusetts, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia.

The smart home phenomenon is coming to dinner this Thanksgiving and Jennie-O and smart thermometer manufacturer iDevices are bringing the technology.

North Bergen, N.J. - The Vitamin Shoppe will host its latest "Share the Health" expo on Aug. 16, in more than 600 stores nationwide. As part of this event, each store will offer its own specialized festivities, such as free product samples and consultations with local wellness partners.

This marks the ninth Share the Health Expo hosted by the Vitamin Shoppe since 2012. The Vitamin Shoppe stores will host wellness partners from their communities throughout the day, ranging from local gyms and spas to chiropractors and product representatives.

Dole Fresh Fruit’s sales and marketing team will be taking a trip to Kannapolis, North Carolina, to see the company’s Nutrition Research Laboratory on the state’s research campus.
 
The visitors will be led by Dole’s VP of nutrition research Nicholas Gillitt, who will show them around the campus and explain research in the hope that the marketing team will pass it on to consumers.