“Our marketing strategy is always twofold—make it appealing to consumers and easy for our retail partners,” says CHS Refined Fuels spokesperson.
One of the fastest growing convenience store chains in the country is ending the year with a strong, all-inclusive holiday marketing push.
“To help Cenex retailers capitalize on the 2011 gift card season, CHS has launched a comprehensive holiday campaign including corporate media placement, merchandising kits for retailers and sales training for front-line employees,” said Kayte Haaland, brand and marketing manager, CHS Refined Fuels.
“Our marketing strategy is always twofold—make it appealing to consumers and easy for our retail partners,” Haaland noted. “Research shows occasion-based gift cards help drive purchase decisions; as a result, a new campaign is introduced seasonally. To make it easy for busy retailers to implement the latest campaign, they receive complete merchandising kits with campaign guides in advance of a corporate media campaign launch.”
The media plan for the holiday season includes print ads, radio spots, direct mail, online advertising, email marketing, and consumer sales promotions. Additionally, there are bonus advertising incentives for Cenex retailers who deploy local marketing.
“Our goal is to provide retail partners with everything they need to leverage and benefit from the campaign. For example, based on customer feedback, this year we developed online training to teach c-store employees how to maximize sales of Cenex gift cards through suggestive selling, merchandising techniques and more,” added Haaland. “Best of all, everything is completely free. The Cenex brand is all about energetic, personal attention – and the gift card program is just one example of that commitment.”
As a result of aggressive marketing and retailer engagement, gift card numbers have increased every year since Cenex gift cards were introduced nearly a decade ago, both in sales and transaction counts. “We’re on track for another record year. Our challenge now is to keep up the momentum,” said Haaland.
Cenex ranked as the fifth fastest-growing c-store chain in 2011, according to Nielsen TDLinx; there are currently 1,400 Cenex locations in 19 states.
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