What's a Tie-In?
Tie-Ins come in all shapes and sizes. In general you are looking to team up with a partner or partners to increase sales of all partner products. You are usually looking to promote this Tie-In to the trade to increase orders. Tie-Ins are beneficial to the trade for a variety of reasons.
1. Partners share expenses
2. Retailers see cross category lift
3. Consumer benefit from promotional offer

For some, packaging design has been difficult to measure it's ROI. For others, it demands a majority of time and attention considering that 75% of consumers decide at the shelf. Increasingly FMCG companies are looking to larger partners and agencies and away from specialty design shops for their packaging activities.

The intangibility of design, and the difficulty in measuring its effectiveness and return on investment, has traditionally placed it low down in the marketing mix for FMCG clients.

Many of the agencies serving the consumer products goods sector have seen an increase in their packaging responsibilities, clients are looking for a more well rounded approach. A greater depth in strategic Above and Below The Line experience is helping to reestablish the sector, allowing consultancies to up their game and become ’scale’ players.

Grocery stores, like consumers' food budgets, are shrinking. This month Wal-Mart Stores Inc. opened four pilot Marketplace stores in Arizona that are half the size of a traditional supermarket.

Supervalu-owned Jewel-Osco is testing its own small-format store in Chicago known as Urban Fresh. Safeway trialed its version in Southern California. And Whole Foods has said it is scaling down the size of its new stores.

Overall, there is a high opportunity cost from delisting items. The estimated percent sales lost due to delisting has historically been greater than the new item dollar share. In highly marketed categories, roughly 30% of category sales are generated from SKU movement. With such a substantial chunk of category sales tied to listing and delisting decisions, the accuracy of assortment management is critical.

Good real estate comes at a price - and the aisles of a retail store are no exception. When a manufacturer launches a new product, there needs to be room on the store shelf for its placement. To make that room, the retail buyer will notoriously ask the manufacturer to delist an item from the portfolio. But which item gets the ax? Is there a compelling story that identifies what item to delist?

Marketing a product to a consumer necessitates getting the word out to the public – buy our product and you will get the best bang for your buck. In today’s economy, consumers are not handing out their bucks so quickly. People are being more thoughtful and cautious before parting with their dollars.

Many economists have declared a recession is already here, thus fueling a critical change in thinking for millions of consumers. We have witnessed gas prices across the nation climbing toward or over the $4.00 a gallon mark, the volatility of the stock market, and the soaring number of home foreclosures due to the subprime mortgage financing crisis. With all these conditions preying on us, we are forced to take a more introspective and analytic approach when it comes to personal buying habits.

Trade Promotion	Considerations
Buying/purchase allowances	Offer short-term discounts. Can be deducted from a manufacturer’s invoice. Simple implementation. Preferred by retailers.
Selling allowances	For count/recount sales allowances, warehouse inventory must be counted before and after promotion and scanner data is used. For advertising and merchandising, a retailer must perform and proof-of-purchase must be validated. These programs may be cumbersome to administer and retailers may offer some resistance.
In-ad coupons and rebates	Brand coupons or rebates are distributed by retailers in local media and store flyers. Funds are reimbursed by brand marketers.
Retailer or sales force incentives	Spiffs (sales performance incentive for forcing sales.) Mystery shoppers. Contests. Premiums. Retailers may object.
Slotting allowances	Marketers pay administrative costs to stock new products. Failure fees and deslotting allowances.

Source: PMA

Prize - something the consumer receives if declared the winner (trips, merchandise, things with monetary value, things with intrinsic value.)

Chance - anything that is beyond the control of the participant (random drawing, instant win.)

Consideration - any cost associated with winning (purchasing a product, costs to participate such as text message fees, completing surveys, visiting retail establishments, telling friends, downloading files, etc.)

A lottery, which is prohibited by criminal law, combines all three of the above elements. A sweepstakes has prize and chance, but no consideration. A contest involves prize and consideration, but no chance.

Advantages of Sweepstakes, Games and Contests

• Reinforce brand image.
• Create excitement and attention.
• May encourage purchase.

Disadvantages of Sweepstakes, Games and Contests

• Can cause consumer saturation.
• May not produce measurable incremental sales.
• Can be skewed by professional entrants.
• May have high judging costs.

Source: PMA

Advantages of Rebates

• Attract attention.
• Offer a substantial discount without misredemption problems.
• Reward non-users of coupons.

Disadvantages of Rebates

• Affected by rising postage costs.
• Reward loyal users.
• May be less appealing to consumers who want immediate gratification.

When planning a rebate, marketers should consider the following:

• Removable proof-of-purchase.
• Offer length.
• Complexity (complex offers can depress redemption).
• Exposure vehicles (in-store, in-pack, on-pack, etc.).
• Percent reward.
• Copy.
• Slippage (rebates sent to consumers, but never cashed).

Source: PMA

Specialty containers - specialty containers are decorative and/or reusable containers.

Advantages of Specialty Containers

• May encourage more product use.
• May encourage future purchase, especially if part of a set.
• Can allow costs to be determined in advance.

Disadvantages of Specialty Containers

• May be refused by retailers.
• Generate extra production and handling costs.
• May require a stocking allowance.

Source: PMA

Near-packs - near-packs are premiums, not attached to the product, that are offered with purchase.

Advantages of Near-packs

• Allows retailer displays.
• Can generate repeat purchase, especially if part of a set.
• Can generate trial for other products.
• Can allow costs to be determined in advance.

Disadvantages of Near-packs

• Are disliked by many retailers.
• May be displayed separately from product area.
• Allow pilferage.
• May be sold separately by retailers.

Source: PMA