A Marketing Plan for the Heartland

It wouldn’t be true to say that all of Dollar General’s collaborative marketing programs involve either a NASCAR sponsorship or a country music tie-in. But that statement wouldn’t be too far from the truth.In fact, add education advocacy to the list and you’ve covered a pretty sizable chunk of the dollar store chain’s thematic marketing strategy. Part of the praise that Dollar General earns from vendors about knowing its shoppers (see "Retail Intimacy..." in Related Articles), in fact, stems from its identification of these themes as behavior-changing purchase triggers.The following examples were selected from an ongoing array on the Path to Purchase Institute’s website (see Related Articles):Painting NASCAR Pink: For the third straight year, the retailer made its sponsorship of the “Dollar General 300” NASCAR race in October the centerpiece of its annual “Breast Cancer Awareness Month” campaign.This year’s event again kicked off with a parade of roughly 300 breast cancer survivors. On Oct. 1, a group of roughly 100 survivors helped Dollar General-sponsored drivers Matt Kenseth, Brian Vickers and Elliott Sadler – all of Joe Gibbs Racing – repaint the Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway’s pit wall and finish line pink. The retailer used the event to present a $50,000 donation to nonprofit Susan G. Komen for the Cure and film a video for its YouTube channel.The pink motif was employed during the race on driver suits, the paint schemes of multiple racecars, and the winner’s trophy.In the week before the race, Dollar General promised online shoppers 10% off purchases of products from its DG Baby private label and the 30 brands that co-sponsor Joe Gibbs Racing’s No. 20 car, which include Kellogg Co.’s Frosted Flakes, Procter & Gamble’s Bounty, Johnson & Johnson’s Band-Aid, Hershey Co.’s Reese’s, Church & Dwight Co.’s Xtra and the flagship brands of Energizer Holdings and Clorox Co. A home page carousel ad on DollarGeneral.com, an Oct. 7 Facebook update and an ad in an Oct. 11 email all linked to an e-commerce page showcasing products from those and other partnering brands.Pet-Friendly Honky Tonk: Mars Petcare’s Pedigree stayed prominent in its category in late summer by providing an exclusive sweepstakes that awarded a trip to the 2013 “Country Music Association Awards” on Nov. 6 in Nashville, Tenn.Running Aug. 19 through Sept. 22, the sweeps required shoppers to enter codes printed on checkout receipts with purchase of qualifying Pedigree products to a promotional website run by the manufacturer. The first 100 entrants each day received $10 worth of Pedigree coupons; all entrants earned a free MP3 from the retailer’s own DollarGeneralmusic.com download service.An Aug. 25 Facebook update and display ads running throughout Dollar-General.com supported the program, which followed a similar promotion – same mechanics, larger prize pool – conducted by the partners in 2012.Learning Quest: At exactly the same time, Henkel Corp. teamed with Dollar General on an exclusive “Celebrate Reading” sweeps that doled out e-readers to 30 grand-prize winners, along with store gift cards of $25 and $50 to 150 other entrants. QR codes on in-store signs linked to a mobile version of the sweeps’ dedicated website. American Sweepstakes & Promotion Co., Rochester, N.Y., handled the sweeps. A supporting co-equity FSI touted Henkel’s $25,000 donation to the Dollar General Literacy Foundation while directing consumers to Dollar-General.com to find more coupons.Music to Drive To: Coca-Cola Co. helped Dollar General combine its two favorite tie-ins last spring through an exclusive “Country, Cars & Cookin’” sweepstakes that awarded two trips to meet Dierks Bentley at one of the country singer’s concerts as the grand prizes and a pair of trips to the Dollar General 300 Powered by Coca-Cola (a different race than the aforementioned October event) in Joliet, Ill., as first prizes.Running April 22 through July 21 on a promotional website (operated by Pleasant Ridge, Mich.-based ePrize), the sweeps required shoppers to enter codes printed on receipts with purchase of qualifying SKUs from various Coke beverage brands. In the month of June, purchases of specific brands from two of Coke’s regular marketing partners – Kraft Foods Group’s Planters and Nestlé – also earned codes.A corresponding instant-win game awarded $50 gas and store cards to 100 entrants apiece. In stores, standees touted the sweeps while shelf tags identified the qualifying products.Facebook updates and display ads running on DollarGeneral.com linked to a brand showcase (from Triad Retail Media, Tampa, Fla.) that promoted the sweeps alongside the retailer’s “Easy Meals” program, which provided “Recipes for Summer” spotlighting Coke or Nestlé products. The showcase also directed visitors to stores to find a coupon for $3 off the purchase of $10 in Coke product valid from May 28 through June 24.

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