DALLAS -- Coming off a month-long promotion heralding the release of Madden NFL 09, 7-Eleven Inc.'s big promotional play in September also is football-centric. The retailer has teamed up with NBC Sports and Sunday Night Football for its Big Match-Up Promotion that will send four 7-Eleven customers and their guests to watch the live production of Football Night in America, NBC Sports' popular Sunday night football studio show.
Each week, a customer will be randomly selected in a U.S. 7-Eleven store to win a trip-for-two to New York City to be a part of the VIP behind-the-scenes tour during [image-nocss] the show produced at NBC Studios at 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan.
Matty Blake, standup comic and actor who hosts The Matty Blake Show, an online sports show on www.nbcsports.com, and a NBC Sports video crew will travel to randomly selected 7-Eleven stores to interview and videotape the first two winners. Segments featuring the surprised winners will air on NBC and NBCSports.com. The second two winners will be announced through NBCSports.com and www.7-eleven.com.
In stores, the Big Match-Up refers to a Big Bite -Super Big Gulp meal deal, an all-beef Oscar Mayer quarter-pound Big Bite hot dog and a 44-oz. Super Big Gulp for $2.49 ($1.99 in Arizona). Special Big Gulp cups and Big Bite hot dog containers are preprinted with the 2008 NFL Sunday Night Football game schedule, beginning with the Chicago-Indianapolis match-up Sunday, September 7.
Sweepstakes winners will visit NBC Sports' Football Night in America studio as part of a VIP trip to NBC Studios and meet the Football Night team.
Mike McCarley, vice president of marketing, promotions and communications for NBC Universal Sports & Olympics, said, "Partnering with 7-Eleven allows us to reach millions more avid and casual football fans each week and allows those fans to stock up for Sunday night's big matchup."
Rita Bargerhuff, 7-Eleven marketing vice president, added, "NBC Sunday Night Football and 7-Eleven are working together to offer one of this football season's most exciting and surprising promotions for some lucky fans…. And whether football fans need food and drinks for a tailgate party or to watch the game at home, 7-Eleven is ready to play."
Assisting 7-Eleven in developing this partnership and promotion is FreshWorks, its advertising and marketing agency, which is a consortium of Omnicom companies.
Local promotions, including contests to win free tailgate party packs and game tickets, also will be included for the duration of the Big Match-Up Promotion.
Last week, Andretti Green Racing (AGR) announced a multi-year agreement with Dallas-based 7-Eleven to extend the company's long-running sponsorship program of the No. 11 entry driven by 2004 IndyCar Series champion Tony Kanaan. 7-Eleven has been affiliated with Andretti Green and Kanaan since the team began competing at the beginning of the 2003 IndyCar Series season.
7-Eleven will also continue to have a branding presence on AGR's three other IndyCar Series cars, which are driven by Marco Andretti, Hideki Mutoh and Danica Patrick.
John Lopes, chief marketing officer of Andretti Green Racing, said, "7-Eleven is one of the cornerstones of Andretti Green Racing and we're thrilled to extend our agreement with them. We've accomplished a lot together, but we feel like we can do even bigger things in the future. The Team 7-Eleven car has been a fixture at the top level of the IndyCar Series since it debuted in 2003 and we expect to keep it there for a long time."
Bargerhuff said, "We joined forces when Andretti Green began racing in 2003, the year Tony joined the AGR team, and have worked together over the last five years to build an even stronger 7-Eleven brand through this international platform. Tony exemplifies the leadership, team orientation and values we embrace at 7-Eleven and has been a terrific spokesperson. The unification of open-wheel racing earlier this year has made the IndyCar Series even more relevant to our customers. We're looking forward to enjoying future successes together."
In other racing news, San Ramon, Calif.-based Chevron announced today that it will end its NASCAR sponsorship after the 2008 season. As a part of this action, Chevron will pursue new marketing strategies in support of the Texaco and Havoline brands with a focus on increased awareness through local and regional marketing programs.
And in other sports news, Newton, Mass.-based Gulf Oil LP hosted "Gulf Day at Shea" on August 24 where the company sponsored a baseball clinic for more than 100 children from four local groups that help better the lives of homeless, autistic or neglected children: "Little Flower Children" and Family Services of New York, "New Haven Police Athletic League", "Navigating the Spectrum" and the "Beat the Streets" Organization. The clinic was led by Mets players and coaches. Each child participating in the clinic received two tickets to the Mets game that same afternoon versus the Houston Astros.
In addition to the clinic participants, Gulf Oil also hosted 30 children from the New York Foundling Organization (serving abandoned children) with tickets to the game.
Gulf's RoadTrip'n Squad was on the main concourse with a Lucky Gulf Wheel where fans were invited to spin the wheel to win prizes, including Mets coolers, CD car visor holders and Mets baseball hats. A Lucky Seat giveaway took place throughout the game, including a grand prize of the game, a $100 Gulf gasoline card plus two tickets to a future Mets game and a Mets cooler. Three runners-up each received two tickets to a future Mets game and a Mets cooler. Additionally, the first 25,000 fans through the gate received a special Mets promotional t-shirt.
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