© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on 4 TH OF JULY PROMOTIONAL REFLECTIONS July, 2012 Michael Denson Promotional Business Analyst

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Contents Grocers Heavily Promote BBQ Meats Mass Merchandisers Focus On Diverse BBQ Products YoY Category Mix Shift Category Mix Shift An Early Start on BTS and Office Supplies Retailers Most Promoting Hot Dogs Regional Prices Hot Dog Ground Beef and Hamburger Patty Prices Steak BBQ Categories Annual Promotional Support Circulars Outside The US Borders Navarro Discount Pharmacies Celebrates “Independence Month”

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Grocers Heavily Promote BBQ Meats piggly wiggly, 6/28/2012, Milwaukee, WI Publix, 6/28/2012, Miami, FL Safeway, 6/20/2012, Baltimore, MD Many Retailers dedicate entire pages and front pages to BBQ for the 4 th of July.

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Mass Merchandisers Focus On Assorted BBQ Products Walmart, 7/1/20122, Cleveland, OH Target, 7/1/20122, Minneapolis, MN Walgreens, 7/1/20122, Chicago, IL CVS, 7/1/2012, Boston, MA Super Kmart, 7/1/2012, Chicago, IL

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on YoY Category Mix Shift The July 4 th 2012 promotional period has seen significant gains in circular support for Back-To-School, Office, and Mail Supplies compared to its 2011 counterpart. Retailers are getting an earlier start on BTS. We don’t normally see BTS promotions until mid-July. Each is a percentage of the total average weighted ad count of the 4 th of July Season (6/23/2012-6/30/2012) compared to the year previous (6/18/2011-7/2/2011). Categories were excluded that averaged less than 0.1% of the total weighted ad block count. This study uses ECRM’s weighted ad block count which weights retailer’s ads to reflect scale and marketing power.

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on In this CMS Analysis we used the control period of week ending 6/02/2012 against the week ending 6/30/2012 to measure the categories % change. Category Mix Shift Household and Sports categories lose promotional support to make room for 2012’s big BTS push and summer wear. This study uses ECRM’s weighted ad block count which weights retailer’s ads to reflect scale and marketing power.

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on An Early Start on BTS and Office Supplies Walmart, 6/24/20122, Cleveland, OH Fred Meyer, 7/1/2012, Seattle, WA Ultra Foods, 7/5/2012, Chicago, IL We don’t normally see significant BTS promotions until mid-July.

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Retailers Most Promoting Hot Dogs Top retailers are promoting Hot Dogs in different ways. Ad Count is the True Ad Block Count in which products that share an ad block receive a partial ad block value. This study included 8899 ad blocks by 235 retailers in 164 Markets. We used the industry standard (IRI, Nielsen) promotional periods of (6/19/2012-7/3/2012), (6/20/2011-7/4/2011), and (6/21/2010-7/5/2010). In 2011, Walgreens advertised Oscar Meyer and Ball Park Hot Dogs extensively. That has not been their strategy in 2012.

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Regional Hot Dog Prices

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Regional Ground Beef and Hamburger Patty Prices

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Regional Steak Prices

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on BBQ Categories Annual Promotional Support Weighted Ad Block count, per week, across all retailers for select categories. Grills are used to drive foot-traffic and their promotions peak in June. Aside from a few very strong weeks, you can easily observe the seasonal trends of BBQ sauce by it’s “lows.” BBQ Sauce is heavily promoted before the Super Bowl, Memorial Day, and July 4 th.

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Circulars Outside The US Borders CVS, 6/24/2012, San Juan, Puerto Rico “4 th OF JULY OFFERS!” Thrifty Foods, 6/27/2012, Vancouver, BC Don’t forget about Canada Day for our neighbors to the north!

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Navarro Discount Pharmacies Celebrates “Independence Month” This is the first reference that we’ve observed for “Independence Month.” It may be a reference to the 20+ countries that gained their independence during the month of July. Navarro Discount Pharmacies, 7/4/2012, Miami, FL

© ECRM All rights reserved Follow us on Our Methodology & Details Report Methodology All insights are sourced in a study performed by ECRM Analysts, July More About ECRM’s MarketGate Ad Comparisons Web Site: Studies on Seasonal & Category Promotions: Contact: Scott Whalley Upcoming Events: Global Wine, Beer & Spirits 8/27/ /29/2012