Ephraim Rosenhaus, the CEO of the Super-Sol supermarket chain, was chosen as 2006's marketing man of the year.

Rosenhaus beat out - among others - the sellers of Crocs shoes, Strauss-Elite and the Toto sports betting organization. 
 
The Israel Advertisers Association conducted the contest, and 170 association members voted on a winner. The chairman of the association happens to be Yaron Dor, Super-Sol's executive vice president for marketing.

Rosenhaus was chosen for Super-Sol's major marketing campaign over the past two years - which picked up the pace in 2006 - designed to build a new strategic plan for the country's largest supermarket chain.

The idea was to create a retail concept built around the Super-Sol name: Super-Sol Deal for low prices; Super-Sol Sheli (My Super-Sol) neighborhood stores; and Super-Sol Big, a chain of huge stores with a wide range of products. The campaign also included private brands and a new credit card.

Super-Sol spent $15.5 million on the branding plan in 2006. This also marked the first time an Israeli supermarket chain rebranded itself completely.

The number two chain, Blue Square is implementing a similar plan with three different types of stoers.

Negotiations are currently underway for the sale of Super-Sol. The owner, Nochi Dankner's IDB group, is looking to sell the chain to Matthew Bronfman and Shulem Fischer for a company value of $1.09 billion.
 
 
 
Source: Ayala Tsoref and Gali Berger