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This post is from guest blogger Brian Gainor:
How sweet is victory? For the St. Louis Blues, an organization looking to drive fan excitement after coming off a subpar 2007 season, team victories are pretty sweet (the Blues are currently 5-8-1). The Blues organization however has found a way to make wins in 2008 even sweeter for its fan base through a unique partnership with Dairy Queen.
The St. Louis Blues collaborated with Dairy Queen to offer a unique "Dairy Queen Blizzard Bonus" promotion for fans throughout the 2008-09 season. Each time the Blues score five (5) goals during a game played on their home ice, all fans in attendance receive a coupon upon exiting the arena that is redeemable for a free 12 oz Dairy Queen Blizzard (approximately a $2.30 value) at any participating Dairy Queen location in the St. Louis DMA. The coupon comes along with one (1) of twelve (12) player cards that fans can collect throughout the season.
The Blues executed the first "Dairy Queen Blizzard Bonus" promotion this season against the Dallas Stars on October 16th (the Blues won the game 6-2). With the team ahead by five (5) goals, fans began chanting "Blizzard! Blizzard! Blizzard!" throughout the arena. The following day, a multitude of fans flocked to nearby participating Dairy Queen locations to redeem their free Blizzard coupon, with some even heading for their free Blizzard in the early morning hours.
While early promotional results were not disclosed, this offer does serve as an effective business play by Dairy Queen if it can effectively backfill the promotion with a great product and excellent customer service. The promotional offer serves as an effective way to drive direct store traffic (using a value-driven incentive that is more effective than just distributing branded premium items to fans) and a mechanism that can translate fan affinity for the Blues organization into fan affinity for the Dairy Queen brand.
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St. Louis Blues |
As a complement to the "Dairy Queen Blizzard Bonus" promotion, the restaurant chain is offering Blues fans a chance to win tickets, autographed collectible cards, Blizzards for a year, and other monthly prizes through an online sweepstakes available on the team's web site.
Dairy Queen and the St. Louis Blues organization are supporting the promotion with radio drops, banners hoisted at the main entry points of the Scottrade Center, LED ribbon board signage, in-game PA's, and advertising on the team website. The team anticipates that it will distribute free Blizzard coupons at six (6) games this year based on historical team statistics.
Some other NHL organizations have also found unique ways to reward fans based on team performance:
Columbus Blue Jackets: Every time the Blue Jackets score 3 goals, all fans in attendance can redeem their ticket stub for a free chili at participating Wendy's locations. To drive awareness and excitement for the promotion, the Blue Jackets lead their fans in a "Chili Chant" and feature a #3 jersey with the name "Chili" on the scoreboard.
Nashville Predators: Each time the Predators score 5 goals, all fans in attendance can redeem their ticket for a free taco at participating Taco Bell locations in the Nashville DMA. Since the promotion's inception, it has become routine for Predators fans to chant "We Want Tac-os" every time the team is on the verge of scoring its fifth goal.
Brian Gainor is the founding editor of PartnershipActivation.com, a site that identifies best practices in the sports marketplace. Brian can be reached at .
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