To promote its new Full Throttle Frozen Blast Slurpee drink this month, 7-Eleven Inc. has partnered with Coca-Cola, Activision Inc. and Microsoft Corp. in a public relations blitz aimed at “music-loving, videogame-playing, techno-savvy, 18- to 34-year-old males,” the c-store giant said.
The promotion will use contests on the radio and online, as well as grassroots events and traveling street teams to call attention to 7-Eleven’s promotion of Activision’s highly anticipated Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game. The Guitar Hero game franchise has sold more than 14 million games worldwide since its introduction in 2005.
In an online contest at www.slurpee.com, visitors can enter codes found on specially marked 22-ounce Guitar Hero-branded Slurpee cups for a chance to win a copy of the new Guitar Hero: Aerosmith videogame, an Xbox 360 videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft or Microsoft Points to purchase content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace.
One copy of the new Guitar Hero: Aerosmith game will be awarded every hour throughout the month of May, for a total of 744 games. In addition, 10 winners will receive a prize package that includes an Xbox 360 console along with a copy of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith.
“The sweet spot of the core Slurpee customer is between 18 and 24 years old,” said Jay Wilkins, brand manager for Slurpee and Big Gulp beverages. “Our goal is to keep Slurpee as cool today as it was to teens and young adults in the 1960s when it was first introduced.”
7-Eleven has partnered with hit movies, videogames, popular music and extreme sports in promotions that stretch online, in the street and every other area where teens and young adults are interacting and listening.
Some of the non-traditional approaches 7-Eleven has added to the promotion:
Based in Dallas, Texas, 7-Eleven operates, franchises or licenses more than 7,500 c-stores in North America. Globally the company has approximately 34,150 stores in 14 countries.