ShopRite Finds Plenty of Brand Classmates

ShopRite used heavy doses of manufacturer overlays and digital marketing in this year's back-to-school campaign.The retailer kicked off the season on July 29 by adding a themed component to its periodic "Dollar Days" promotion, dangling $5 off a future purchase of school supplies to qualifying Price Plus loyalty cardholders. (See "ShopRite Harks Back ..." in Related Articles.) The $5 discount became ShopRite's main promotional hook during the season.An email blast on Aug. 5 invited consumers to “Make ShopRite your back-to-school headquarters” and linked to shoprite.com's home page, where two of four carousel ads were devoted to school-themed messages. In its concurrent circular, the supermarket co-op used separate features to promise $5 off a future purchase of school supplies to cardholders who spent $20 on qualifying products from Georgia-Pacific or Procter & Gamble. (See Images at right.) Another feature showcased school supplies for the "College Bound" and "Dorm Room Essentials" such as a Coby Electronics Corp. Coby television, Sunbeam Products' Mr. Coffee coffeemaker and Hanesbrands' Hanes T-shirts.The Aug. 5 tab also carried the first of three straight weekly features leveraging Kellogg Co.'s national "Start School Like a Champion" program (see Related Promotional Activity) to dangle $5 off supplies with a $25 purchase of qualifying SKUs from brands including Keebler, Famous Amos, Cheez-It, Raisin Bran and Eggo. The manufacturer's national school bus-shaped displays supported in stores.One week later, ShopRite and General Mills began executing their joint “Shop Once. Give Twice” program in circulars and online. A feature within a two-page seasonal spread promised $5 off supplies with purchase of 10 Mills products. “Shop Once. Give Twice” unites the retailer’s own "Partners in Caring" cause campaign with Mills’ “Box Tops for Education” program. (See “ShopRite Rewards Learning” in Related Articles.) Loyalty cardholders register on a promotional website (shopriteshoponcegivetwice.com). The purchase of five qualifying Mills items in one month earns five “Bonus Box Tops” for the cardholder's school and a 55-cent donation to Partners in Caring, which benefits hunger relief efforts. Consumers who register for "Shop Once" between Aug. 12 and Sept. 8 receive 50 additional Box Tops. Endcaps supported in stores.Other manufacturer-specific offers promoted in the Aug. 12 tab were: $10 off future receipts with purchase of $30 worth of Kimberly-Clark or Colgate-Palmolive SKUs in an overlay to the manufacturers' concurrent “Set them up for success” FSI event. (See "Kimberly-Clark, Colgate Are ..." in Related Articles.) The reward was delivered as two $5 coupons valid on K-C or Colgate product purchases good for two weeks; A QR code within the feature linked to digital coupons from various manufacturers on shoprite.com.$4 off a future purchase of SC Johnson's Ziploc with a four-SKU buy.The promotional onslaught continued on Aug. 19 with features for:a $5 checkout coupon for school-supply purchases to cardholders who bought five products from Kraft Foods' Nabisco. The featured employed Kraft's seasonal “Keep Lunch Interesting” theme, which also was evident on national displays placed in ShopRite stores.Henkel Corp., which activated its seasonal “Get Kids Fit” campaign (see "Henkel Stays ...") with an overlay offering cardholders $5 off a future receipt with purchase of $20 in products from Dial, Purex, Soft Scrub, Tone and other brands. The offer was promoted in stores on price labels.Mills’ “Box Tops” alongside a feature for Campbell Soup Co.’s “E-Labels for Education” program under a "ShopRite Family Rewards" header.ShopRite’s eponymous private label, with food and non-food items grouped under the headings “Breakfast,” “Pack a lunch,” “After school favorites” and “The essentials.” The feature carried a QR code that linked to the retailer’s website "to find out more about the ShopRite brand."Additional national and private-label products under “Back to school supplies” and “Looking good… Back on campus” messages in a digital-only feature. Activity slowed considerably in subsequent weeks, with themed features on Aug. 26 and Sept. 2 touting brands from multiple manufacturers. Nabisco's promotion switched to $5 off supplies with a $20 purchase in the Aug. 26 tab, earning the manufacturer a larger feature. That week's circular also showcased products from MeadWestvaco's Mead, Newell Rubbermaid's Sharpie and Bic Corp.'s flagship brand under "Save on back to school" and "Cool stuff" messages. A feature on Sept. 2 promised "Locked In" prices on private label products and SKUs from national brands such as J.M. Smucker Co.'s Jif, ConAgra Foods' Chef Boyardee and Hunt's, Dole Foods' flagship and Bimbo Bakeries' Entenmann's that were good through Sept. 22.Throughout the season, shoprite.com's home page carried a carousel ad targeting “college bound” consumers (and their families) that linked to a back-to-school microsite (at shoprite.com/cnt/backtoschool.html). The site's landing page sported the same lead image utilized in digital versions of weekly circulars to showcase school supplies from Mead, Bic, the flagship brands of Elmer’s Products and private-label SKUs. The page linked to shopping lists customized for three age groups: elementary, high school and college. 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