John had his baby! (Wendy helped)

Benjamin Errol Neupauer (Ben Ben) was born May 17th, weighing 6 lbs., 12 oz. and measuring 20 inches. Both John & Wendy are doing fine - if you ignore that lack-of-sleep thing. Send them an e-mail.

Are Distributor Sales Reps Becoming Obsolete?

Of course not, but provocative headlines like this one are generating super readership of the DSR newsletter.

Are DSR's ignoring your spiffs?

Rather than giving DSR's a 'couple bucks and hoping they focus on selling your product, try Schwan's strategy when launching their new Microwave-To-Rise Pizza.

By awarding sales reps points in their own Foodservice Rewards accounts they deliver product information, reduce the expense and hassle of issuing checks, start the "collecting points" habit and create future communication opportunities via e-mail and mail.

Not your average press release

Admire the creativity behind Advance Food Company's latest press release: Within a day it had earned a mention in Pizza Marketing Quarterly. If you are submitting your releases online, PR Web, WorldAnnounce, and Pressbox are all excellent submission sites.

Summer 100,000 Healthcare Give Away

Here's a look at the Summer Giveaway for healthcare operators.

Note the clever use of an ordinary (image) banner and the (text) banner mocked up to look like search results. Both are pulling well on healthcare sites and in healthcare newsletters.

Welcome Hellmann's, Knorr & Wish-Bone

Here's an excellent example of a welcome e-mail announcing three new brands' participation in Foodservice Rewards. To date, over 8,000 operators have claimed their reward codes.

"I've discovered consistency in product lines"

John Miceli, Executive Chef USA Gourmet, Pittsburgh, PA writes: "I have been collecting the Reward Codes for about three months. I now shop by choosing the manufacturers that offer the points. I have also found great consistency in product lines that I never used before. Foodservice Rewards has opened my eyes as a foodservice operator. Thank you for a great program."

Brand Standards Update

A reminder to our new sponsors: When adding the Foodservice Rewards "bug" to your advertising or the logo to your website, please refer to the updated brand standards guide