Card patrols bestowed greenbacks on some lucky Kmart shoppers who purchased Expressions From Hallmark cards.
From May 30 to June 6, 26 two-person card patrol teams awarded cash prizes to Kmart shoppers who were packing a card from the line in their carts. The 826 KMart stores that carry the line participated.
The account-specific effort was communicated via a direct mailer to consumers in 32 states on May 27 and 28. It announced the new card department and included a buy-one-card, get-one-free coupon.
One shopper in each store was given a $50 Kmart Cash card. The promo awarded seven $1000 first prizes and one $5,000 grand prize.
Lifesize standees of the cards patrol were posted at Kmart entrances and instore radio spots ran three times an hour.
Over 90 percent of the time, the card patrols were able to catch the shoppers with one of the Expressions cards within five to 10 minutes of starting their search, says Julie Wood, account director, SJI, St. Louis, which handled.
The effort produced a 23 percent increase in stores’ card units sold and a 19 percent increase in card sales compared with the same period of one year earlier.
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