Advertising Age, December 14, 1992, by Elena Bowes
"Coffee couple's story to percolate in book"
-----------------------------------------------------------

You saw the commercials. Now read the book.

U.K. viewers are so riveted by the six-year romance of the 
unnamed couple in commercials for Nestle's Gold Blend 
instant coffee that the Swiss marketer has commissioned a 
humorous romantic novel based on the long-running ad 
campaign.

Due to hit U.K. bookstores in February, *Love Over Gold* 
will be about the "Gold Blend couple," the same characters 
who promote Nestle's Taster's Choice in the U.S.

Corgi Books, a subsidiary of Bantam Doubleday Dell, is 
publishing the book to be written by Susannah James, a 
pseudonym for a successful English romantic novelist.

The book "is in response to the huge public interest in the 
ad campaign," said Allan Allbeury, Nestle's public relations 
manager. "Apart from one woman [who has a bit part], no one 
has a name, no one knows what they do. This book will tell 
everybody all the things theyhave wanted to know about the 
characters and their background."

There are no definite plans to bring the book to the U.S.

"They are only up to episode five and it would spoil them," 
Mr. Allbeury said.

McCann-Erickson has created all 11 commercials aired in the 
U.K. to date, including a 40-second spot that broke last 
week. In it, the character played by actor Tony Head finally 
confesses true love for the character played by actress 
Sharon Maugham, who melts in response.

This was such big news in the U.K. that it upstaged the 
royal family. The highest circulation daily, Rupert 
Murdoch's *The Sun*, ran the Gold Blend romance on Page 1, 
shunting Princess Anne's wedding announcement to a side 
column.

Kate Bolwell, account director at McCann, said *Love Over 
Gold* will "take the commercials and pad them out...it 
establishes who they are, where they are from, what cars 
they drive, what romantic relationships they have had in the 
past and what they do for a living."

Written in the style of Danielle Steel, the 300-plus page 
novel will subtly promote Nestle's Gold Blend, the No. 2 
instant coffee in the U.K. after Nescafe, Mr. Allbeury said. 
Retail sales of Gold Blend have jumped 40% to about $88 
million since the campaign started in 1987, he said.

"There will be the odd mention of coffee in the novel," Mr. 
Allbeury said."After all, Gold Blend is what brought them 
together and has kept them together. But we are not going to 
stick a jar of Gold Blend on the cover."

The cover picture will be a shot of Ms. Maugham from one of 
the ads, along with Nestle's logo. And there will be other 
promotional ties in the back of the book.

The similar U.S. campaign for Nestle Beverage Co.'s Taster's 
Choice began in 1990, handled by McCann-Erickson Worldwide, 
New York. Mr. Head and Ms. Maugham reprise their roles in 
the U.S. campaign.

A Nestle Beverage spokeswoman said there are no plans to 
publish a similar book in the U.S. noting that the on-screen 
romance is still relatively young. The sixth Taster's Choice 
spot is expected to air early next year.

A U.K. ad campaign to promote the book is likely to break in 
January from McCann and include promotional brochures and 
posters, Ms. Bolwell said.

The book "is a serious commercial proposition by a top 
publisher in Britain," Mr. Allbeury said, adding that Nestle 
will make only a minor financial investment in the novel.



-----------------------------------------------------------
                     Bentley's Bedlam
            http://www.BetsyDa.com/bedlam.html

This website is for information and entertainment purposes only 
and is not intended to infringe on copyrights held by others.