Kroger Gets a Seasonal 'Kick Off' from Snickers

Kroger got seasonal marketing started last month with a company-wide "Kick Off to Savings" instant-win game from Mars Inc.'s Snickers that leveraged the brand's official National Football League sponsorship.The retailer's loyalty cardholders played from Sept. 1-14 by kicking a digital football on a central promotional website (operated by You Technology, San Francisco). Grand prize was a trip to East Rutherford, NJ, to attend the Super Bowl on Feb. 2, 2014. The secondary prize pool comprised 10 tickets to a regular-season NFL game, 250 Snickers-branded coolers, 3,000 coupons for free product, and 7,000 store credits of $1 to $5. Facebook updates and a Sept. 6 email ad supported. In stores, dump bins with pole toppers activated Snickers' NFL sponsorship.In other themed activity, each chain's "Get Out & Grill" microsite (see "Kroger Grills …" in Related Articles) was refreshed with a "Friends. Football. Food." message. The microsites house the same recipes and grilling tips that they did during the summer promotion, but during the promotional period linked to the Kick Off to Savings site. Home page carousel ads supported.In stores, floor decals (distributed via News America Marketing's SmartSource) carry the Friends, Football. Food message. Stores also are making liberal use of football displays from manufacturers such as MillerCoors, Anheuser-Busch InBev, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola Co., ConAgra Foods, Mondelez International's Nabisco, Redhook Ale Brewery and Brown Forman's Jack Daniel's. Case cards from Constellation Brands' Corona carry tearpads employing a "Find Your Beach on Gameday" message to cross-promote General Mills' Old El Paso, Tyson Foods' flagship brand and Snyder's-Lance Inc.'s Snyder's of Hanover.Elsewhere, the Kroger, Dillons, Ralph's, King Soopers, QFC, Fry's, Smith's, City Market, Gerbes and Baker's chains conducted "Kitchen to Kickoff" contests. Facebook fans of the chains entered from Sept. 5-25 by submitting recipes and photographs of an appetizer, entree or dessert (depending on the week). Public voting determined weekly winners, with prizes varying by chain. (For instance, Kroger's contest awarded a $1,000 store card, nine $250 cards and nine $100 cards each week; Dillons doled out weekly $200 cards to the top winner and $50 or $25 cards to two runners-up.) Tempe, AZ-based Sitewire Marketplace Solutions handled. Facebook updates supported.Kroger also is serving as the sponsor of The Atlanta-Journal Constitution's football coverage; display ads on the newspaper's website link to kroger.com.Among chain-specific efforts, Denver-based King Soopers gave loyalty cardholders a free donut and two-liter bottle of PepsiCo's Crush or Pepsi on Sept. 6 to celebrate the Denver Broncos' victory the night before. Spectaculars from official team sponsor PepsiCo touted the soda giveaway. Coca-Cola also provided Broncos-themed spectaculars, while the chain activated its own Broncos sponsorship through upfront displays merchandising products from Stokes Ellis Foods and Link Snacks Inc.

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