Sep 22, 2008 12:31 PM

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#3 Best Use of Event Marketing (More Than Five Venues)

7-Eleven/Simpsons Movie Kwik-E-Mart Experience
Agency: Freshworks
Client: 7-Eleven, Inc.

To help position the chain as a fun, relevant brand and boost bakery sales, 7-Eleven turned to “The Simpsons” to create buzz and excitement at its stores. Working with a budget of less than $3 million, the company partnered with Fox Studios and Gracie Films to turn 12 stores in as many cities into Kwik-E-Marts, the Simpsons’ parody of the convenience store chain. Traditional logos and P-O-P were replaced with Kwik-E-Mart signage, and life-size cutouts and clings of “Simpson” characters appeared throughout the store. 7-Eleven even temporarily changed the names of beverages and snacks as homage to the animated show. The classic Slurpee became the Squishee, for example. Manufacturers were also enlisted to create products like Buzz Cola and KrustyO’s brand cereal, fictitious products from the show. The month-long campaign included an instant-win game that let the grand-prize winner star as an animated character in an episode of “The Simpsons.” 7-Eleven’s bakery sales increased more than 15% versus 2006, and donut sales, specifically, jumped more than 20%. More than 40,000 people entered the instant-win game, and Web site hits for July topped 79 million, a 320% increase over July 2006.

The Other Lunch Break
Agency: Momentum Worldwide, London
Client: MINI
See Category #1

Wachovia Way2Save Challenge Tour
Agency: Synergy Events
Client: Wachovia

Hoping to get an edge over its competition, Wachovia rolled out a multi-city tour to help promote a new savings program, Way2Save. Under it, customers could earn up to $300 a year and a special annual percentage rate for the first three years after opening an account. To spread the word, Wachovia staged fun activities at branches, malls, sporting events and other high-traffic locations to drive traffic to the main events. For instance, attendees received free massages, putted for prizes and gift cards as part of a golf experience, and vied for prizes in a trivia-based memory game. The main events featured a three-story structure with eight glass “money” machines. Visitors registered for a chance to grab flying cash from the machines. The top money-grabbers had a shot to enter the “The World’s Largest Money Machine” to win $2,000. Wachovia gave away $10,000 per event. The firm used its sports sponsorships, TV ads and PR with the help of big-name celebrities, including Mario Lopez and jockey Kent Desormeuax, to help promote the campaign. Wachovia shattered its goal to secure 100,000 new Way2Save customers. As of early June, more than 725,000 Way2Save accounts had been created.

TRex Trek 2007
Agency: The Borden Agency
Client: Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment

Hoping to spark sales of one of its new DVD releases, Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment brought a piece of the movies to life with a marketing tour. It constructed a one-ton dinosaur to replica of Rexy, the T-rex from the movie “Night at the Museum,” and took the beast on a cross-country road trip from New York to Los Angeles to celebrate the film’s DVD and Blu-Ray disc release. The tour, which traveled more than 4,000 miles in eight days, made stops at natural history museums and other spots in 11 cities. Along the way, a documentary film crew shot footage of the trek and posted videos on Yahoo Movies. A second tour featuring another dinosaur encased in a custom-built glass truck traveled to Wal-Mart Stores. There, visitors received a keepsake Polaroid picture encased in a movie-branded picture frame and other promotional items. Ten-foot Rexy standees and promotional banners and fliers helped promote the event. The event drove 22 million unique visitors per week at Yahoo Movies. And Fox reported more than 6 million DVD sales in the first week, beating seven other new releases.

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