Market Wise

National team soccer player Tamir Cohen is taking part in the Hisense advertising campaign.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Tamir Cohen ad 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Tamir Cohen ad 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
NOTHING IS forever, including the relationship between SuperPharm and Orange. Apparently it wasn't a seven-year itch but a 10-year itch that led to a parting of the ways and a new ring tone. SuperPharm has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Pelephone for the marketing and sales of Pelephone telephonic equipment and programs in all of SuperPharm's points of sale as well as through SuperLink. This represents a major change; SuperPharm has had the exclusive sales and marketing rights for Orange since 1998. SuperPharm has 137 branches throughout Israel. SuperLink, the retail chain of telecommunication stores of which SuperPharm is a co-owner, has 15 stores. SuperPharm's revenues in 2007 were NIS 3.35 billion. Pelephone is planning to launch an advanced type of cellphone in 2009, from which SuperPharm and SuperLink will undoubtedly reap some of the benefits. CELEBRITY CHEF Segev Moshe is cooking up a storm. He has been selected to be the presenter for Tempo to teach Israelis how to be beer connoisseurs; presumably in the process he will come up with a number of mouth-watering recipes in which beer is an essential ingredient. Other items on his immediate agenda are the publication of a cook book and a trip to India to film a pilot presentation for a new TV show. TARI BARI (Fresh and Healthy) has become one of the world's largest marketers of pomegranate seeds after signing new contracts with Indian companies. The entry into the Indian market, according to company CEO Shlomo Korach, means that Tari Bari will be processing about four million pomegranates a year and producing some 300 tons of pomegranate seeds. The company's major markets are in the UK and other parts of Europe. Pomegranates have numerous healthy properties, Korach says, and pomegranate products are gaining in popularity around the world. SEEING IS believing, which is why the Beitili chain has invested NIS 500,000 in a 2009 furniture exhibition. The company has been exhibiting new furniture designs each year for the past 12 years, but this will be the first time it will be displaying ecology-friendly upholstered furniture in addition to furniture that is not upholstered. The company will also display the latest designs in light fixtures. Beitili intends to open two additional stores in 2009. THE NEW three-door luxury refrigerators made by Haier are designed to save on electricity costs. They are being marketed by Newpan, a company that specializes in refrigeration equipment. SOME 1,500 people attended the recent opening of Factory 54 at the Herzliya Pituah Marina. The gala event was hosted by the Irani Group, which has become the Israeli franchisee for Dolce & Gabbana. The central focus of the event was a fashion show featuring designs by famous Italian companies. The show was produced by Moti Reif, who came from New York for the occasion and then flew to Los Angeles. NATIONAL TEAM soccer player Tamir Cohen, who also plays for Bolton of the English Premier League, is taking part in the Hisense advertising campaign. By signing up for the ads, he inadvertently closed a circle: Hisense is one of the sponsors of the national team, and its CEO, Dror Denon, played soccer with Tamir's father, Avi Cohen, as Maccabi Tel Aviv juniors, when both were 10 years old. As an adult, Avi Cohen played with Maccabi Tel Aviv and Liverpool. SHIKUN U'BINUI together with Shikun Ovdim and Azorim on Tuesday launched their new prestige project Ir Yamim (City of Seas) with the participation of Netanya Mayor Miriam Feierberg and Shikun U'Binui CEO Ofer Kotler. The gala event signified that occupants of the first stage of the project in Ramat Poleg had taken possession of their respective properties. When completed, the project will comprise 456 apartments located in six residential towers rising to a height of 21 floors. All the towers are surrounded by greenery and face the Mediterranean. Many of the apartments have been purchased by overseas buyers. An overseas buyer recently acquired two penthouses for NIS 13 million. Several of the new owners were present at the launch, as was celebrity chef Israel Aharoni, who prepared a fish-based gourmet dish for the occasion. Aharoni was brought in to help market the project, but simultaneously marketed his own culinary talents. ALTHOUGH THERE are several burger eateries in Israel, it is a fairly safe bet to say that the best known is McDonald's, which is currently celebrating the 15th anniversary of its Israel operations. Omri Padan, who owns the McDonald's Israel franchise, decided that this was a time for everyone in the company to gather together and get to know each other over burgers and other goodies. He took some 600 employees and their spouses and significant others to Shefayim for a fun day that included entertainment by clowns, nostalgia documentation of the opening of the first local branch McDonald's at the Ayalon Mall, a review of McDonald's advertising and a documentary about Padan. IN OTHER burger news, Tel Aviv District Court President Uri Goren is due to decide today who will take over the bankrupt Burger Ranch chain, which is in receivership. Among the bidders are the Orgad brothers of the rival Burger King chain.