Get a FREE KFC 'Big Crunch' Sandwich when you buy Beer

Lakeport Brewing is giving their customers even more reason to buy specially marked cases of Lakeport Pilsner, Light or Honey Lager. Already priced at the lowest 'legal price' to sell beer with 24 packs at $24.00, the Hamilton, Ontario based brewer cannot lower their price to compete against other 'value' breweries, so the added value marketing partnership with KFC is a great way to increase sales traction as a result of giving customers even more for the money.

Here is more on how you can get a free lunch when you buy Lakeport beer: Free Lunch

Should be interesting to see if fried chicken sandwiches can do the trick...

Have a more rewarding breakfast with Quaker, Tropicana & Aeroplan

Aeroplan has teamed up with Quaker and Tropicana to make breakfast more rewarding. Now, you can earn 10 Aeroplan Miles while drinking your morning glass of orange juice or eating a bowl of cereal. Specially marked boxes of the aforementioned products will be marked with a PIN number that customers can enter along with their Aeroplan Member Number at a website address to collect their Miles.

Here is a website that lists all participating products:

www.breakfastcentral.ca

Very Interesting.... The brand affiliations are strong, customer fit seems to be good, it's a great way to bypass the retailer and market the Aeroplan Miles directly on-pack, but what will be interesting to learn is the % of people who actually go online and enter their PIN to collect those 10 Miles.... Not sure that I would personally take the time to do it, but then again, I may not be the target audience. The other thing that comes to mind is whether or not this is enough of a lure to bring customers who normally by white label or other orange juice brands to make the switch to Tropicana. Is it enough of a proposition to convince potential customers to want to pay more for that premium brand in order to collect the Miles? Will keep an eye on this one.

Rogers Wireless partners with Les Invincibles

I picked this up this story by Danny Kucharsky of Marketing Magazine in my 'Marketing Daily' email alert, and thought it made for an interesting read:

Rogers Wireless in Quebec has teamed up with the Radio-Canada TV series Les Invincibles to offer wireless subscribers exclusive content from the show.

The partnership enables Rogers subscribers to receive a free clip from upcoming episodes.
Now in its second season, the weekly series follows the exploits of four male friends entering their 30s who believe they didn’t have enough fun in their 20s and vow to do things differently.

“It is the first time that we have developed such an elaborate experimental marketing campaign,” says Sylvie Charette, senior director of marketing and communications at Rogers Wireless. “Traditional media not only support the wireless medium but, more importantly, the wireless medium now supports the electronic media.”


The plan to broadcast video content on a wireless medium is also a first for Radio-Canada, according to Christine Asselin, director of business development and new platforms at the network.The Rogers initiative is being supported by two 15-second TV spots and in-store signage created by Marketel.


Rogers subscribers will also be able send their friends pre-recorded messages from the show’s characters. As well, the Les Invincibles website allows users to insert their own or other people’s faces on clips from the first two seasons, and send the clips by e-mail.

–Danny Kucharsky

Interesting Marketing Partnership, but what remains to be seen is how many of the wireless providers in Canada will elect to offer more and more of this kind of content for Free as the date approaches for cell phone customers in Canada to change providers without having to change their phone number? Can content like this help companies like Rogers retain customers when all hell breaks loose in a couple of months? I'm not so sure that content can keep people from switching. Keep an eye on this space....

Starbucks serves up more than Coffee

Was at a local Starbucks last week. What caught my eye this time around wasn't any of the new coffee flavors, but more the non-Starbucks branded offers located near the coffee 'pick up' counter. Books and CD's lined up neatly on a floor standing display unit to be marketed to the loyal Starbucks customer. I don't think Barnes & Noble or Tower Records or HMV should be worried about Starbucks stealing major 'music' or 'book' market share from them, but what is interesting is how successful some of these programs have been for Starbucks and the artists that they choose to feature. Developing a Marketing Partnership with Starbucks has proved to be more than fruitful for some authors. According to the Associated Press, Starbucks has sold nearly 100,000 copies of Mitch Albom's For One More Day at it's US locations to date. That's not too shabby. What's even more interesting, is how they don't just pick best sellers or choose CD's from top selling 'major label' artists. Starbucks offers up what they think their customers will like, and it's not based on anything else but that, but hey, that is what makes for a successful Marketing Partnership, after all, right? Offering your customers what they want and because you are a trusted 'well frequented' brand, they will have faith in sampling something outside of your core business. I think it's brilliant and will be actively keeping my eyes out for more of these types of Marketing Partnerships. Let me know if you come accross any...

Creating Effective Marketing Partnerships - February 1st, 2007

Join me on February 1st at Toronto's Crown Plaza Hotel - Don Valley for a great roundtable event where we will discuss the principles and practices of creating effective Marketing Partnerships.

Check out this link for more details:
Creating Effective Marketing Partnerships

Hope to see you there!