Kroger Drives to Daytona Again

Kroger is staging its second-annual run-up to the Daytona 500 by teaming with packaged goods makers for exclusive displays, product packaging and promotional activity.Following up on the $100 million umbrella campaign it ran in 2008, when NASCAR's season-opening race celebrated its 50th anniversary (see "Kroger Reaches Daytona at Last" in Related Articles), the retailer kicked off a similar company-wide effort last spring for the 2009 event, which takes place Feb. 15 in Daytona, FL. Kroger sponsors the race's qualifying event on Feb. 8.The retailer commissioned limited-edition packaging for more than 100 products in the Kroger private-label portfolio and from 41 national food, beverage, household and pet brands. Packages feature the Daytona 500 logo and profile drivers or famous moments in the race's history. Participating items come from packaged-goods sponsors Kraft Foods, Kellogg Co., Mars Inc., Hormel, General Mills, Unilever, Coca-Cola, ConAgra Foods, PepsiCo, Lloyd's Barbeque, Georgia-Pacific and Pactiv Corp. Some sponsors also provided dedicated P-O-P displays. A floorstand from PepsiCo's Fritos, for instance, features cutouts of the brand-sponsored No. 9 racecar and driver Kasey Kahne, and directs shoppers to Kroger's Daytona 500 promotional website.Designed by online NASCAR community operator RacingOne Multimedia, Kroger's site features a live countdown to the Feb. 15 race, along with relevant news, interactive games, and driver blogs and biographies. Products from brand sponsors are incorporated into party recipes on the site. One sponsor acts as the site's "presenting partner" each month, hosting sweepstakes and offering coupons. Coca-Cola, the presenting partner for January and February, awards a VIP trip for four to attend the Daytona 500 qualifying event in 2010. Consumers registered on the site to enter throughout January. The December sponsors, PepsiCo's Frito-Lay and Gatorade, presented a sweeps asking consumers to guess the race's winner for a chance to win brand merchandise.Kroger has promoted the campaign with ongoing rebate offers and other incentives, communicating the promotions in weekly circulars and on signs in-store. (See "Kroger Turns Back to Daytona" in Related Articles.) A common rebate offer, which ran again this week, gives frequent-shopper cardholders $3 off the purchase of 10 participating Daytona 500 products at checkout. Yellow shelf tags mark the eligible products.Meanwhile, Kroger reunites with Kimberly-Clark for the annual "Faces on the Car" promotion, which features the images of real-life Kroger employees on a racecar that K-C co-sponsors. Baker Curb Racing's No. 27 car will race in preliminary rounds of the Daytona 500 and exhibit at Kroger's Cincinnati headquarters and nearby stores following the race. K-C's Scott toilet paper features the exclusive Daytona 500 packaging.In other activity, Kroger has rolled out a wireless coupon program to all stores. Powered by mobile marketing company Cellfire Inc., San Jose, CA, the program lets shoppers browse coupons on their computers or mobile phones and load them onto their loyalty cards. Shoppers register for the service on Cellfire's website or by text message. Kroger tested the program in the Atlanta market last summer (see "Kroger, Nestle Double Up" in Related Articles), during which more than half of participating customers redeemed at least two digital coupons, according to published reports.Kroger Co., Cincinnati, operates 2,477 supermarkets and combination stores in 31 states under 24 banners, including Kroger, Ralphs, Fred Meyer, Food 4 Less, Fry's, King Soopers, Smith's, Dillons, QFC and City Market. Sales in third-quarter 2008 (ended Nov. 8, 2008) rose 9.0% to $17.6 billion, while identical-store sales rose 5.6% at stores with fuel stations and 7.8% at stores without.

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