Tim Hortons offer from Scotties is nothing to sneeze at
Recognizing that some in-store promotions, contests and giveaways have grown as stale as day-old coffee, Kruger Products is adding a caffeine buzz to its promotional marketing efforts.
Through Oct. 15, the paper products company is rewarding people who purchase two multi-packs (six or nine-packs) of its Scotties Original facial tissue with a $5 gift card from Tim Horton’s.
It is the first formal partnership between the two companies, although there is some alignment in their marketing activity—with Scotties serving as the title sponsor of Curling Canada’s Tournament of Hearts since 2007, and Tim’s the title sponsor of the Brier since 2004.
“Tim’s has both mass appeal and is a great fit with our brand,” says Scotties marketing director Oliver Bukvic of the program, which was developed in association with Kruger’s promotional agency, Fuse Marketing, and Snipp Technologies.
The latter is a receipt-reading technology that enables consumers to take a picture of their receipt with their mobile device for verification. The e-gift card is then sent directly straight to their device, where it is either uploaded to the TimmyME app or printed as a gift card.
Bukvic says that the Snipp partnership helps it avoid the “complications and delays” that can sometimes cause consumers to not act upon on-pack offers.
Scotties is promoting the $5 gift card offer with on-pack messaging and shelf blades in retail sales channels including grocery and drugstores. The company is also supporting the initiative with some Facebook advertising.
While Bukvic did not provide actual numbers, he says that redemption rates early in the promotion are tracking “above expectations.” The company is currently conducting research to assess the impact of the promotion on sales, he says.
Bukvic said that pricing activity is a key factor in sales for the facial tissue category, with the objective of promotions such as this to get consumers to “pantry load.”
“It’s very important as there is switching in this particular category, and we want to continue to incentivize consumers to pick up Scotties in particular,” says Bukvic. “There is room to improve
Bukvik said that back-to-school is a key sales period for Scotties, with schools including facial tissue on their list of items that students need to bring into the classroom. “It has been an area of focus, but this is less about a back-to-school theme than it is rewarding moms as they’re busy with their shopping,” he says.