Fall 1999: Recipes, Earnings, Games, Jobs - Nabisco's Web Site Has It All

Unless you have been living in a cave or on some remote island, chances are you have sampled a Nabisco product. The Parsippany, N.J.-based company was established in 1898 - Nabisco derives its name from a merger that year between the New York Biscuit Company and American Biscuit & Manufacturing Co.

Listing all of Nabisco's products would fill an annual report but some of its more well known brands include Oreo, SnackWell's, Ritz crackers, A.1 steak sauces, Grey Poupon mustards; Life Savers confections; and Planters nuts and snacks. Nabisco markets products in the U.S., Canada and more than 85 other countries worldwide.

No surprise then that the company's Web site - http://www.nabisco.com, is also enormous, providing useful information for shareholders, job applicants, recipe seekers and people who simply want to log on and play games and win prizes.

According to Silvio Bonvini, Nabisco's senior manager of new media, the goals and objectives of the Nabisco site are manifold.

"We're providing a corporate presence for stakeholders, shareholders and a comprehensive directory of information for people wanting to engage with Nabisco online," he said. "In short, we have something for everyone."

Nabisco.com currently has more than 300 pages of information. The Nabisco home page has a homey, early 20th Century Main Street storefront look. Scroll left on the navigational task bar and you go 'Uptown' to various sections; go right and you move 'Downtown.' Click on 'Town Hall', for instance, and you get detailed information about job opportunities, financial news and reports and product information. The 'Museum' provides interesting tidbits on the origins of Nabisco's diverse product line. 'Health Club' offers a welter of nutrition information. The 'Arcade' features games and screen savers.

You can even download commercials from the 'Cinema' section. There are also lots of interesting pages for kids too - click on nabiscokids.com/teddy_grahams/color, for example, make a printout of the page and kids can color Teddy (of 'Teddy Graham' game).

There are also 18 Nabisco brand Web sites as well, all linked to the main site. The most popular, www.Candystand.com, runs more than 700 pages and was created as a destination environment that features various online games for a targeted demographic audience of 15-34 years of age; gender split is 55 percent male; 45 percent female.

"We're currently averaging about 250,000 page views per week on our corporate site and over four million page views for Candystand," Bonvini said. "Peak traffic for both sites is generally at 1 PM EST and then between 3:30-4:00 PM EST - lunch hour for the corporate crowd; after school hours for our younger audience."

Nabisco doesn't sell advertising on any of its sites but does provide banner space for many of its strategic partners - at last count more than 100 - who have promotional tie-ins with Nabisco. Some of these companies include Disney, Toshiba, Dodge, Apple, Nintendo and Sony. A number of companies also provide reciprocal links to promote the Candystand or offer premiums.

At any given time Nabsico may run as many as 15 contests and sweepstakes on its main site giving away all sorts of merchandise - iMacs, Playstations, cars, and Nintendos. Recent promotions have included an 'Islands of Adventure Sweepstakes' - visitors can win a trip to Universal Studios in Orlando, FL; and a Triscuit Recipe Contest with a top prize of $25,000 towards a dream kitchen. Candystand, for instance, just launched a 'Bubble Yum Bullpen Blast' game. Prizes include a Home Run King Set of Bamm Beanos (tm) from Salvino's Bammers(tm), and DVD players with a baseball DVD catalog.

The contests that Nabisco runs on its sites are often tied into seasons, holidays and major sporting events. They are also promoted on many partners' sites and premiums are frequently included. Dodge provided Nabisco with a car as a giveaway. J&R Music World gave away consumer electronic equipment. Toshiba has provided home entertainment systems, televisions, VCRs and personal stereo equipment as tie-ins.

Bonvini admits that Nabisco doesn't sell a lot of products on its site - it's still not profitable to sell Oreo's or candy online.

"From an e-commerce perspective, we're not generating a lot of revenue yet, but in terms of creating overall visibility, the sites are excellent branding tools and create positive brand assocation," he said. "So the next time you're at a candy rack, you'll recognize and hopefully purchase Nabisco products."

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