Omaha, Neb. — ConAgra Foods’ Parkay® brand has launched a new, free iPhone application that uses an innovative new voice-to-animation technology to bring the brand’s iconic “Talking Tub” to life. In the just-released application, voice recognition commands the Talking Tub to say “Parkaaaay” and “moo” when the user says words like “butter” or “milk.” The first-generation application is available for free at: http://tinyurl.com/ParkayApp.

Fans of the brand and nostalgia buffs alike will certainly recognize the famous connection between “butter” and “Parkaaaay” from television ads launched in the early 70s. The “moo” and “milk” banter refers to a recent television ad titled “Barn” which touts a new formulation of Parkay table spread made with real nonfat milk. In the ad, a farmer is startled to hear an unusual moo coming from inside his barn, and he discovers the Parkay Talking Tub in one of the stalls. The voiceover calls out that the new Parkay is made with milk “for a fresh and creamy taste.”

“This new iPhone application is a fun and quirky way for fans and consumers to interact and connect directly with the Parkay brand and the iconic Talking Tub,” said Jeff Muench, senior brand manager, ConAgra Foods. “There has always been a great deal of nostalgia and fanfare surrounding the Parkay Talking Tub, and we hope this new iPhone application helps reinvigorate the brand and gets people talking and laughing.”

Marketing firm Rawle Murdy spearheaded the project using voice-activation technology licensed from design firm Creaceed.

“The explosive popularity and adoption of new media provides a great opportunity for classic icons like Parkay to re-connect with consumers – and create a new generation of fans,” said Bruce Murdy, president, Rawle Murdy.

The Parkay Talking Tub was first used in television advertising in 1973. Over the years, the tub has appeared in advertising with celebrities such as Laurel and Hardy (1982), Deacon Jones (1983), William Daniels (1990-91), Crystal Bernard (1997) and Al Franken (1999).

About ConAgra Foods

ConAgra Foods, Inc., (NYSE: CAG) is one of North America’s leading food companies, with brands in 97 percent of America’s households. Consumers find Banquet, Chef Boyardee, Egg Beaters, Healthy Choice, Hebrew National, Hunt’s, Marie Callender’s, Orville Redenbacher’s, PAM, Peter Pan, Reddi-wip and many ConAgra Foods brands in grocery, convenience, mass merchandise and club stores. ConAgra Foods also has a strong business-to-business presence, supplying potato, other vegetable, spice and grain products to a variety of well-known restaurants, foodservice operators and commercial customers. For more information, please visit us at www.conagrafoods.com.

FMI DAILY LEAD | 09/08/2009:  Bruce D. Murdy, president of Piggly Wiggly’s longtime agency Rawle Murdy, took on a second job as chief marketer for the supermarket chain. “This type of situation is a win-win for agencies and for clients,” said Murdy, who made changes and is now handing off the job to Christopher Ibsen, an internal hire. Advertising Age (09/07)

NEW YORK (AdAge.com) — When America’s first self-serve grocery store needed to bolster recession-depressed revenue and modernize its old-school marketing department, it asked the president of its agency to take on a second job: chief marketer.  Click here to read full article.

An Agency President Goes to Bat for His Biggest Client

In early 2009, after facing a challenging year and making the decision to let go of its marketing director, our largest and long-term client of 23 years, Piggly Wiggly Carolina Co., asked if I would personally step in as interim marketing director, and help lead its company’s business — through the marketing function — into the 21st century.

While agencies no doubt offer an invaluable outside perspective, I quickly found out that I had plenty to learn about the day-to-day of being a client-side marketing director. Of the many insights I’ve gleaned from wearing both hats — things that all of us, regardless of agency or client-side, should consider — there are 10 that stand out most:

1. The marketing director is often not the last word. Few have complete autonomy to make major decisions without checking with someone first, whether it’s a management team or the chairman of the company.

2. Many internal battles are fought on the agency’s behalf. Just as agencies don’t bore our clients with the nitty-gritty of what we go through to get work to them, the marketing director doesn’t share all the battles he has to fight to get buy-in on his side. But believe me, good clients fight for our ideas.

3. Our schedule is not their schedule. Just because we want an answer today, doesn’t mean we’re going to get it. When we wait days for responses, it also doesn’t mean the client isn’t interested, it may simply mean they had something more pressing to deal with.

4. More than anyone, clients have passion for their brands. Agencies often talk about having passion for clients’ brands. But could you stay passionate about a brand you have to think about 24/7? That’s what marketing directors do — they live and breathe the brand, and love it.

5. Communications are only a small part of what a marketing director works on. This is one of the most important lessons I’ve learned. What a marketing director is tasked with goes far beyond expectations. But what I can tell you is that our work is the most fun thing they work on!

6. The best agencies make the marketing director’s life easier, not harder. Yes, you need to know what’s going on, but don’t spend as much time asking questions as answering questions. And any “simple solution” agencies tend to bring to the table often is much harder to execute than expected on the client side. Risk management, legal, IT, turf wars, and more can add to internal complications. Instead, learn how to bring smart solutions and ideas while keeping their internal challenges in mind.

7. Bring ideas that build business. Want to make your agency invaluable? Bring solutions to questions that haven’t been asked. Be a trusted advisor, consultant and resource that the client simply can’t replicate. In most cases, our breadth of knowledge, resources, insight and inputs can truly complement the client’s in-house resources. But make sure our ideas are measurable — in today’s economy, results have to be the focus.

8. Keep the marketing director informed throughout the planning process. Don’t wait until major campaigns are completely developed and perfectly designed. Keep the marketing director involved all along the way. Especially in this economy, that means quicker-to-market, more cost-efficient solutions and a marketing director who is bought into the solution from day one.

9. Things change. Agencies have to be nimble. The agency’s job is to bring new thinking and new ideas to the table. In today’s economy and going forward, we need to anticipate changes and continue to move faster than clients can to prove our worth again and again.

10. We are part of a team. Don’t tell the marketing director the agency can turn everything around, because you have no idea what “everything” is. We can help, but what we influence is also influenced by other marketing and operational initiatives over which we have no control or input. The good old rule of thumb is still valid: under-promise and over-deliver.

As I write these insights, it dawns on me how simple so many of them are. But many agencies rarely actually take these into consideration. Be thoughtful, be proactive and be an advocate for what’s exciting, what’s new and, most of all, what produces results.

Also featured in AdAge’s Small Agency Dairy.

CHARLESTON MAGAZINE (Charleston, SC)  Written by Colleen Troy In the business of public relations and advertising, the best work comes from the marriage of head and heart. After weeks or months of digging for insight, the perfect solution often arrives like a lightning bolt—a thrilling moment whose striking precision belies its difficult conception.

Lauren Curler remembers when one of those “aha” moments occurred in the conference room at Rawle Murdy. A dozen employees were parsing reams of research about the Charleston Animal Society (CAS), imagining how to shift the dusty image of the local “dog pound” into something as shiny and bright as the new digs being built for it. “We didn’t want to go down the guilt route,” says Curler, who helped lead the pro bono project team. And then it hit: what if they mirrored national news by electing a CAS “president”? Pitting a dog against a cat could make people take notice; stroke some checks; adopt many, many pets.

It proved a brilliant idea that helped launch the CAS with a bang. It also earned the society and Rawle Murdy raves from national media, including The New York Times, and major industry awards. Firm insiders can’t think of a single employee who didn’t work on the project, from negotiating ad rates to carrying posters in parades. It was total immersion and hundreds of donated hours.

That level of engagement has also benefitted WINGS, the Charleston-bred, nationally honored nonprofit that uses an after-school program to deliver social and emotional intelligence to kids. Founder Ginny Deerin notes that Rawle Murdy did more than volunteer to design a logo or brochure. “They got to the heart of what we do,” she says. “They saw WINGS as a movement, and that changed everything.”

Company chairman David Rawle doesn’t know how it could work any other way: “I can’t imagine doing anything by half. That’s like leaping the Grand Canyon and coming up a foot short.” For him, it has all been about making a difference since the firm’s inception more than 30 years ago. Spoleto Festival USA, the effort to revive tourism after Hurricane Hugo, and the Coastal Community Foundation, among numerous others, have all been on the receiving end of this sense of duty.

It’s a philosophy that extends throughout the company. “We’ve written down our values and shared them with employees,” says president Bruce Murdy. “Personal development is on the list, and giving back is one way we achieve that.”

Campaign Strategists Pro Bono Profile:

WINGS for Kids (1996-present)
Identifying WINGS as a movement helped the organization take flight:
• An 11-minute Rawle Murdy-produced film generated thousands of dollars in contributions to WINGS.
• Within two years of beginning a campaign for WINGS, contributions and grants for the nonprofit doubled.
• WINGS received national recognition as a model by Scholastic AfterSchool magazine and the National Association of Elementary School Principals. www.wingsforkids.org

Charleston Animal Society (2006-2008)
Spike vs. Biscuit was creative—and effective. The winning campaign netted lots of results:
• Double-digit increases in adoption rates for 2007 and 2008
• $297,486 worth of media coverage (print, TV, radio, and Internet)
• The Charleston Animal Society website experienced 10,000 views of the “election” website, 4,300 YouTube  downloads, and a sustained 100,000 visitors to the site each month for an entire year.
• Rawle Murdy was awarded a Silver Anvil—the industry’s highest award—from the Public Relations Society of America. www.charlestonanimalsociety.org