Super Marketing
After years of serving as media sponsor for the annual Supermarket College conference, PROMO and Atlantic City, NJ-based event producer Raphel Marketing took their relationship a step further this year by introducing the Grocery Promotion Awards, a program recognizing the most innovative and effective supermarket campaigns.
The awards were presented last month during a special ceremony at the conference, held in Atlantic City. The following is a description of the award-winning campaigns.
Best Grocer/Manufacturer Promotion
Packaged goods maker Pillsbury teamed last fall with one of its largest accounts, Boise, ID-based Albertson’s, on a program that sought to increase brand sales and store traffic while also generating awareness and donations for nonprofit Big Brothers Big Sisters of America.
The Decorate a Cookie campaign featured events in 35 Albertson’s outlets in which Big Brothers Big Sisters participants painted cookies to compete for trips to the Universal Studios Hollywood theme park. Both Albertson’s and Minneapolis-based Pillsbury promised to make donations to the organization based on sales.
Co-branded Ready Set Go recipe booklets were distributed through stores to generate buzz prior to the program. Cable TV spots customized for local markets, full-page ads in Albertson’s circulars, outdoor ads, and in-store P-O-P supported. Universal Studios chimed in by handing out $10 coupons to Albertson’s shoppers in Los Angeles.
The effort helped Pillsbury post record sales (60 percent in October and 120 percent in November) in what had been a declining refrigerated-dough category, as well as successfully launch three new SKUs in Albertson’s stores (through sampling during the events). Albertson’s moved product, endeared itself to local communities, and bolstered its ongoing tie to Big Brothers Big Sisters, which received a check from the two companies for $170,000. (More than 10,000 Universal Studios coupons were redeemed.)
“We know that customers choose where they shop every day,” says Albertson’s spokesperson Jenny Enochson. “Our goal is to be viewed as the retailer of choice in [our] communities.”
Westport, CT-based Ryan Partnership’s Los Angeles office and The Market Connection, Newport Beach, CA, handled the effort for Pillsbury. The campaign won a PMA Reggie award last spring.
“This wasn’t a promotion for a corporation, it was a promotion for a charity,” says Jay Mainthia, Pillsbury’s co-marketing manager for Albertson’s. “All the elements for [developing] long-term equity were there.”
Best Grocer Promotion
Farmer Jack, meanwhile, has been reaching out to little brothers and sisters through the ongoing Baby Bonus Savings Club, the nucleus of which is a $20 cash refund delivered at check-out whenever members surpass $200 worth of items from a 1,500-SKU inventory.
“We were looking to stop channel erosion in the baby category to mass merchandise stores,” says Farmer Jack vp-advertising and marketing Paul Coleman. “And we wanted to attract a younger demographic and build loyalty with it.”
The retailer, which operates 107 stores in Southeast Michigan and Northern Ohio, utilizes a variety of tools including P-O-P, special merchandising sections, and direct-mail newsletters to attract and retain members. Local hospitals receive Club bags filled with goodies and program information to distribute to new moms. Each month, the chain sends 4,000 birthday cards with a coupon for a free cake to members. And a contest invites parents to submit photos of their babies for use in a Club calendar. TV, radio, and print advertising support.
Since its launch, the club has boosted baby-product sales by 55 percent and category market share by 39 percent. The club currently has 90,000 members.
“This type of loyalty program is unheard of in this industry,” says Greg Holub, senior vp at Mars Advertising, Southfield, MI, which developed and runs the program for Farmer Jack — and has scored additional business from the chain’s parent, Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Co., due to its success.
