Coors ice brew
Despite the fact Labatt Breweries of Canada recently convinced at least one major u.s. brewer, Coors Brewing, to recognize the term ‘ice brewing’ as a Labatt trademark, other u.s. brewers continue to roll out ice beers without offering compensation.
On Feb. 14, Coors will officially launch a new ice beer, Artic Ice, that will carry the Labatt’s logo ‘Ice Brewing Process.’
But last week, Miller, which does not recognize Labatt’s claim to have invented the ice brewing process, introduced the first low calorie ice beer, Lite ICE. Lite ICE contains 125 calories per bottle and has an alcohol content of 5.5%.
The new brew joins icehouse, which Miller began testing in the u.s. in September and launched nationally in December.
As well, Miller recently began tests on several additional ice beers: Miller High Life Ice, Leinie’s Ice, which is being brewed by Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing, a Wisconsin regional brewery owned by Miller, and Miller Ice, which has been introduced in Puerto Rico.
In late 1993, Labatt launched a u.s. law suit against Miller and other u.s. brewers for violations of trademarks associated with terms such as ‘ice brewed’ and ‘ice brewing.’
Miller responded in December by launching a countersuit claiming compensatory and punitive damages. Miller contends that Labatt, in its marketing of Labatt Ice, has engaged in ‘false advertising’ and ‘unfair competition.’
NCR name change
In an effort to better convey its business focus on computing and communications, ncr has changed its name to AT&T Global Information Solutions.
ncr was bought by at&t, effective Sept. 1, 1991.
In the u.s., AT&T Global Information Systems has supported the name change with a major media buy in the business press, including The Wall Street Journal and Business Week.
But in Canada, the company is relying on media spill from the u.s. buy and a direct mail campaign to get the word out to its customer base.
Creative for the Canadian direct mail program is being produced by the company’s ad agency for North America, Foote Cone & Belding Communications of Chicago. Execution is being handled in-house.
(The ncr brand name will be retained on selected products where it is believed to have superior recognition.)
Concurrent with the name change, AT&T Global has unveiled a new corporate positioning statement: ‘Get IT. Move IT. Use IT.’ The statement reflects the company’s strategy to help businesses acquire, transport and analyze information on their customers. The upper case ‘it’ is a play on the term ‘information technology,’ which is often abbreviated to ‘it.’
Virve Tremblay, director of communications with the Canadian division, says the newly named company will launch a series of marketing campaigns in 1994, targetting the various market sectors it serves.
Tremblay says the campaigns will include direct mail, trade press ads, product road shows and attendance at product fairs.
Imperial charity
Imperial Oil has created a new non-profit body, the Imperial Oil Charitable Foundation, to administer the company’s charitable activities.
According to company literature, Imperial donated $5.2 million in 1993 and supported more than 800 non-profit organizations across the country.
In forming the foundation, Imperial hopes to better co-ordinate its donations and provide a focus for the company’s overall program.
The foundation will be chaired by Muriel Kovitz, a director of the company. The president will be Barbara Hejduk, Imperial’s manager of public affairs.
Doppler superstore opens
A new warehouse-style computer store has opened in Vancouver.
Doppler Computer Superstore is a 28,000-square-foot computer specialty outlet that includes permanent kiosks dedicated to specific manufacturers, a reading room, a kid’s ‘Teach me, Show me’ room and a cafe called, the Hard Drive Cafe.
Microsoft catalogue
Microsoft Canada will mail out a product catalogue in support of its new Microsoft Home brand of software programs, sometime in March or April.
Microsoft developed the Home brand in response to the increasing numbers of pcs being bought for domestic use.
The full line of Home products comprises 34 programs and includes Microsoft Encarta, a multimedia encyclopedia, Microsoft Cinemania 1994, an interactive movie guide, and Microsoft Bookshelf 1994 cd-rom, an interactive reference library.
LiveEnt ponders DRTV
Live Entertainment of Canada is considering running direct response tv spots in support of its forthcoming original Canadian cast musical recording of Show Boat.
The recording, scheduled to go on sale March 21, is to be distributed in North America by Quality Special Products, of Scarborough, Ont.
Quality Special Products, which handles its advertising in-house, regularly uses direct response tv to market a variety of musical recordings and specialty video products.
In addition to tv, the campaign is expected to include awareness building radio and newspaper advertising and in-store point-of-purchase displays.
Show Boat will be the fourth cast recording of a LivEnt production.
