Burger King Pushes Gift Cards with Holiday Promotion
Burger King is looking to make big holiday promotion splash this year with its gift card offerings.
The company next month will launch an instant-win game tied to Burger King’s BK Crown Card. For every gift card purchased, buyers will receive a scratch and win game piece. Prizes include one of five $50,000 American Express gift cards and 30 prizes of a year of travel with Orbitz.
“We are using the promotion to drive gift card sales and to give something back to our guests,” said Cherie Koster, Burger King’s manager of Pay it Your Way, the firm’s electronic payment umbrella. “This comes at a crucial time when guests are focused on gift-giving. It’s nice to get that extra reward.”
The campaign, which runs Nov. 19 to Jan. 6 in the U.S. and Canada, gives customers an added incentive to buy a Burger King gift card.
“We designed it so winning was easy,” Koster said of the promotion. “This is a fun way to bring excitement into the restaurant.”
In-restaurant signage, merchandising, packaging, PR and online marketing will support the promotion. Print ads will also run in Oprah, Parents, Parenting, Nick Jr., In Touch, US Weekly and Star magazines. Equity Marketing handles the promotion, Wunderman oversees merchandising and Edelman handles PR efforts for Burger King.
Burger King launched stored-value cards in 2005, then called Have it Your Way Cards. Its most recent version, BK Crown card, rolled out in December 2006. The card, which features the company’s iconic crown and a graphic of the King mascot, can be loaded with amounts ranging from $5 to $100.
Beyond the promotion, Burger King is expanding the number of locations that sells its gift cards. The company signed a deal with InComm, a technology provider and distributor of prepaid products, to distribute the cards in more than 14,000 retail stores. Participating stores include CVS/pharmacy, Office Depot and regional grocery store outlets.
The latest push, which began Oct. 1, marks the first time Burger King is going national with its gift cards outside of its restaurants and B2B channels, Koster said.
Consumers will soon be able to purchase, register and reload their gift cards at the fast food chain’s Web site, which is being re-launched on Dec. 1. Currently, users can check their balance and buy a card online.
