Nestlé Ice Cream is backing its brands with a £7.5 investment and a pledge to make its range "the most visible ice cream brand on the street and in the freezer". The budget will support what Nestle defines as its Super Seven' must stock brands: Maxibon, Extreme Duo, Mega Truffle, Rowntree's Fruit Pastil-lolly, Montego, Fab and the new Kit Kat Chunky ice cream. The lion's share of spend (£4m) goes behind the national launch of Maxibon. It will be supported by a TV ad campaign with a bite off more than you can chew' theme, plus roadshow and sampling. Recent launches Mega Truffle and Extreme Duo will be supported by a national poster campaign. Nestlé is also launching new products in the children's market ­ including Smarties ice cream, Toy Story 2 Traffic Cone' lolly and Pooh sticks. It is also running a Rowntree's Fruit Pastil-Lolly Beach Radio promotion. Nestlé claims that in 1999 26% of its sales came from new product innovation. Nestlé Ice Cream marketing manager Catherine Dymond said: "Nestlé Ice Cream's key objective for 2000 is to build the ice cream category and increase consumer interest and demand in both the impulse and take home sectors. "Sales within our Nestlé Ice Cream freezers have proved that consumer demand is high for our Super Seven products and we are looking forward to an excellent year." Nestlé claims its freezers offer better profit opportunities for retailers: £385 per average freezer per year compared with £333 for BEW and £260 for Mars [Nestlé estimates]. New regulations on freezer exclusivity introduced by trade and industry secretary Stephen Byers have sparked a frenzy of marketing activity by the major ice cream brands. Birds Eye Walls is spending £14m on promoting its ice creams this year ­ including £7m behind Magnum ­ while Mars is backing its brands with a £6m marketing investment. l See Focus, p41 {{P&P }}

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