Campbell and its longtime ad agency, Omnicom Group's BBDO, are even reprising the familiar jingle that first wafted out of radios and into living rooms back in the 1930s. With an onslaught of TV commercials set to start on Wednesday, Campbell joins the ranks of marketers dipping into the archives for new advertising ideas. But rarely has a company had so much riding on the effort.

Facing declining sales of condensed soup and with few new products to help make up the slack, Campbell has been flailing through a series of management and strategy changes. So far, none of them have done much to get the Camden, N.J., company back on course.

Condensed soup, Campbell's mainstay product and the source of two-thirds of its profits, isn't at the top of many shopping lists anymore as consumers face more convenience-food choices than ever. The dominant Campbell brand still accounts for some 70 per cent of the prepared soup sold on grocery shelves nationwide, but it's losing ground: For the year ended July 16, sales of so-called wet soup rose two per cent, while Campbell's sales of such products fell 0.2 per cent. Campbell's corporate earnings fell 14 per cent for the fiscal third quarter that ended in April, and analysts expect another poor quarterly earnings report from the company this week.

Campbell has blamed warm winters and its own retail trade incentives, which caused stores to overstock, for the soup slump - but not declining consumer appetite. Heightening Wall Street's concerns about Campbell is the absence of a permanent chief executive since March, when Mr Dale F. Morrison resigned under pressure.

The Wall Street Journal