DIAL LAUNCHES NEW PRODUCTS
By Adnews Staff
Dial Corp. of Phoenix, Arizona is poised to launch new products in the U.S. but its Canadian plans are being kept under wraps. All Canadian general manager Mike Cook will say is, "I can't comment on that right now for competitive reasons." Currently Dial doesn't advertise its products in Canada. Will it do Canadian advertising in the future? "No comment," is Cook's reply. The new products are: a bath, body and home fragrance line under the label Nature's Accents,; Tone skin care lotion; single-use Brillo Juniors; Baby Soft Purex detergent; Kaya hair care products and Liquid Dial Kitchen Formula. U.S. advertising for Nature's Accents and Kaya is done by Lavidge Higel Communications of Phoenix. DDB Needham Worldwide of Chicago handles Dial. Gotham of New York has Tone. The other products haven't been assigned to an agency. For now they are being pushed with sales promotions. Separately, Dial Corp. is re-structuring into two publicly-traded companies. One will take care of the $1.3 billion(US) consumer products business, the other will become a $2.2 billion services division. The separation is expected to be completed by the end of 1996. The consumer products company will take the name The Dial Corp. Its products will include the Dial soap line, Renuzit air-fresheners and carpet and room deodorizers, Armour Star canned meats and Breck hair-care products. It will also market the new products mentioned previously. The yet-to-be-named services company will hold Dial's majority share of Greyhound Lines of Canada. Besides operating airline catering and ground support services, it will also be a contractor for the trade show and exhibition industry. In addition, it will have a leisure and payment services section. This consists of the Travelers Express operation, the Restaura food service company and a number of vacation firms and tour operators, including Premier Cruise Lines.