THE CHALLENGE

Cumberland Farms has established an effective Social Media strategy with over 150,000 loyal Chill Zone Facebook fans.  This predominately teenage audience is passionate for the Chill Zone and previous promotions have been shown to increase store traffic.

The brand wanted to reach their fan base again.  This time increasing repeat store traffic with a weekly Chill Zone offer during Summer months.

THE SOLUTION

Working with their agency, Cielo implemented a solution that allowed the brand’s Facebook fans to recieve coupon codes directly on their mobile phone.  The fan was also added to an opt in dabase, from which Cielo sent them additional Chill Zone coupons each week.

Each week during July and August, Cielo sent a new mobile coupon and alert to the growing list of opt-ins.  Dubbed Wednesday is Friendsday, Cielo sent a Buy One, Get One (BOGO) free mobile coupon in a text message every Wednesday.

The campaign leveraged the power of both social media and the ubiquity of text message alerts to reach Cumberland Farm’s loyal teenage Chill Zone fans. The BOGO offer promoted bringing friends into the store which increased store traffic and overall sales.

Cielo created a Text Message Call-To-Action (CTA) powered by CieloMessage™. The consumer opted in by texting “chill” to 77982, and then instantly received a mobile coupon code, redeemable at the store checkout counter.  The same text-in offer was also used with a concurrent mobile banner ad buy, using a different keyword “chillme” which enabled Cumberland Farms to track the performance of each medium independently. 

RESULTS

The mobile coupon promotion was successful in lifting repeat store traffic.  The text-in offer not only engaged Facebook fans on their mobile but created a valuable direct mobile marketing database of opt-in consumers.  The weekly text message coupon, sent by Cielo each Wednesday, was the key to reminding the consumer to comeback to the store with a friend — even if they saw the offer only once before.

The campaign shows how using mobile coupons and text alerts, in combination with social media, can reach a targeted audience and convert online offers into store sales.