Vlasic Prep Pak Direct Mail

Vlasic Prep-Pak Pickles are designed to make food handling easier for foodservice operators. As of June, sales are positive but could always be better. To build on the current momentum in the marketplace, Marlin was asked to concept and produce a direct mail effort that was sent to a targeted audience.

My involvement was rather minimal on this one. The idea was worked out by art director Gale Venosdel (now with Littlefield) and copywriter Chris Rock. Playing off of the Prep Pak Ad, the idea was to use the Prep Pak container as a delivery vehicle for the experiement’s booklet. The recipient is invited to run through a series of 5 experiments that illustrate the power of the Prep Pak. The content is whimsical, but it drives home the point that the simplicity of the Prep Pak idea makes lots of pickle-sense.

Pickle Productivity

As part of an overall new product launch for the Vlasic Prep Pak, Marlin developed an ad for foodservice publications to tout the wonders of pre-packaged pickle packs.

Art director Gale Venosdel (now with Littlefield) and copywriter Chris Rock developed a tongue-and-cheek science journal-like ad to expose the oversight of productive time-loss due to inefficient pickle replenishment.

The ad was featured in the January/February 2007 issue of Commmunication Arts. Here’s the cutline that went along with the image:

“A trade ad for a foodservice manufacturer and marketer for retail brands. ‘Foodservice operators are very conscious of margins and numbers,’ said Gale Venosdel and writer Chris Rock. ‘And there was something ridiculous and engaging about the idea that pickles can make you more productive. So we created a pseudoscience out of it. Plus, that let us make pie charts out of pickles, which has always been a goal.’”

Gale did most of the design on this one, utilizing me to tighten it up a bit. So all-in-all, this is mostly Gale's work. But it is a good example of the team nature of things around Marlin.

Aunt Jemima Whole Grain Launch Kit

Pinnacle Foods, a client of Marlin, is introducing a new line of Aunt Jemima Whole Grain items including French toast sticks, French toast and pancakes.

To properly launch the tasty, toasty treats, Pinnacle needed a launch kit to arm brokers and the Pinnacle sales force with information about the products, enabling them to be more comfortable when talking about the new products.

Art director Gale Venosdel (now with Littlefield and copywriter Chris Rock developed a strategy to take the audience back to school, or the "Whole Grain University". The kit is encased in an old school collegiate binder and the content mimics a science text book of the early 20th century.

As an added note of novelty we came up with the "Fighting French Toast Stick" mascot.