October 18, 2006
Time is On 7-Eleven’s and White Sox’ Side
They say that good things come to those who wait. As it turns out, waiting six minutes longer to start a ballgame will bring the Chicago White Sox a goodly amount of money.
Last week, the team and the 7-Eleven convenience store chain announced a deal that would have the White Sox begin their evening home games at 7:11 instead of 7:05 (Friday night
games are pushed up from 7:35 to 7:11). In return for pushing the start time back, the White Sox will be paid $500,000 a year for three years.
“It’s a fun way to insert our name into fans’ hearts and minds,” Margaret Chabris, a 7-Eleven spokesperson, told The New York Times, “We think it’s worth way more than
$500,000.”
For its money, 7-Eleven becomes the official sponsor of the first pitch at White Sox evening games. Also included in the deal are signage in U.S. Cellular Field, advertising
on giveaway card promotions and mentions during radio and TV broadcasts. The convenience store chain will also sponsor one of the team’s fireworks nights.
Ms. Chabris said 7-Eleven is talking to other baseball teams about sponsorships that would include starting their games at 7:11.
Discussion Questions: What do you think about 7-Eleven’s deal with the White Sox? Can you think of other examples of creative marketing partnerships
that have worked well?
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This is the era of non-traditional marketing. The 7:11 start time is not intrusive, easily associated with the brand owner and brilliant in its simplicity. Traditional success factors still apply.
Brilliant! Bill Veeck is smiling….
The brand exposure is a given, but where do we draw the line? In our increasingly desperate quest to capture eyeballs and attention, I fear a world where anything and everything is stamped by a branded message. We now have stairs, conveyor belts, cars, product placement…even digital t-shirts and underwear displaying brands and logos!
I’m not saying that I think this is a negative effort. It’s actually somewhat clever…for now. But what will it ultimately drive as far as sales and profits? Will it make someone go out of their way to turn into a 7-Eleven rather than a competitor? Not sure. I just hope we draw some boundaries somewhere and determine when enough is enough.
Oh thank heaven ….
Presents quite a challenge for Store 24 (regional New England c-store chain). Could be expensive to sponsor the entire day.
A great, creative way to get 7-Eleven’s name in front of millions of baseball fans — not only in Chicagoland but perhaps the concept can work elsewhere.
Sponsorship can be a somewhat grey issue in terms of ROI. First, it should fit in some way with the product or service. (Which it sort of does here). Second, for each $ invested in the base sponsorship, a marketer has to be prepared to leverage that amount by a factor of 3-5 times to really build a comprehensive merchandising, promotion and PR package around the base sponsorship amount.
So to me the jury is out on how this promotional strategy will impact 7-Eleven’s sales. But store managers should have good seats for the games!
As far as other creative marketing partnerships, the Olympic sponsorship program put together by Home Depot, with a lot of help from their vendors (when the games were in Atlanta) was a great example of a top-to-bottom fully integrated program. And NASCAR’s sponsorship programs are another example of an organization that really knows how to put together a marketing partnership.
P.S. That also gives the TV station carrying the ball games another six minutes for more commercials. Hey, that looks like a commercial “win-win” situation.
For less than $85,000 a month, 7-Eleven has come up with a million dollar idea. Yes, Bill Veeck is smiling — and so are 7-Eleven’s owners.
One word: genius… Chump change for 7-Eleven when considering the buzz that will be generated.
Maybe, though, they should have approached the Tigers organization, who will of course win this year’s World Series.
I hope this doesn’t mean that the time spent watching the ball game is no longer “Miller Time.”
Simple ideas are often the best. I think this is a wonderful out of the “park” idea, good PR, not intrusive and all but impossible for their competitors to copy. A home run for 7-Eleven.
Great move by 7-Eleven. The publicity alone for doing this would have been worth what they paid, and let’s not forget that they’re also getting signage and other goodies.
Will customers drive out of their way to go to 7-Eleven? Probably not. But will this promotion remind a few of them to stop at 7-Eleven on their way home, when they would have otherwise held off until their grocery shopping day? Maybe.
Will they think of 7-Eleven every time they look at their tickets? Yes. Has 7-Eleven *already* gotten their money’s worth, 6 months before the start of the season? Probably.
Sports sponsorships are often hard to connect to sales or profit results. How many sports sponsorships seem to be more connected to executive egos and the desire for a connection to boyhood fantasies? Will more people hire an insurance company or consulting firm or accounting firm because a golfer or ballplayer appears in paid ads?
How many Home Depot customers shop more (or how many employees work harder) because of their Olympic athlete sponsorships? How many people will drive one tenth of a mile out of their way to shop at 7-Eleven instead of a more convenient competitor because 7-Eleven is a baseball sponsor?
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This is the era of non-traditional marketing. The 7:11 start time is not intrusive, easily associated with the brand owner and brilliant in its simplicity. Traditional success factors still apply.
Brilliant! Bill Veeck is smiling….
The brand exposure is a given, but where do we draw the line? In our increasingly desperate quest to capture eyeballs and attention, I fear a world where anything and everything is stamped by a branded message. We now have stairs, conveyor belts, cars, product placement…even digital t-shirts and underwear displaying brands and logos!
I’m not saying that I think this is a negative effort. It’s actually somewhat clever…for now. But what will it ultimately drive as far as sales and profits? Will it make someone go out of their way to turn into a 7-Eleven rather than a competitor? Not sure. I just hope we draw some boundaries somewhere and determine when enough is enough.
Oh thank heaven ….
Presents quite a challenge for Store 24 (regional New England c-store chain). Could be expensive to sponsor the entire day.
A great, creative way to get 7-Eleven’s name in front of millions of baseball fans — not only in Chicagoland but perhaps the concept can work elsewhere.
Sponsorship can be a somewhat grey issue in terms of ROI. First, it should fit in some way with the product or service. (Which it sort of does here). Second, for each $ invested in the base sponsorship, a marketer has to be prepared to leverage that amount by a factor of 3-5 times to really build a comprehensive merchandising, promotion and PR package around the base sponsorship amount.
So to me the jury is out on how this promotional strategy will impact 7-Eleven’s sales. But store managers should have good seats for the games!
As far as other creative marketing partnerships, the Olympic sponsorship program put together by Home Depot, with a lot of help from their vendors (when the games were in Atlanta) was a great example of a top-to-bottom fully integrated program. And NASCAR’s sponsorship programs are another example of an organization that really knows how to put together a marketing partnership.
P.S. That also gives the TV station carrying the ball games another six minutes for more commercials. Hey, that looks like a commercial “win-win” situation.
For less than $85,000 a month, 7-Eleven has come up with a million dollar idea. Yes, Bill Veeck is smiling — and so are 7-Eleven’s owners.
One word: genius… Chump change for 7-Eleven when considering the buzz that will be generated.
Maybe, though, they should have approached the Tigers organization, who will of course win this year’s World Series.
I hope this doesn’t mean that the time spent watching the ball game is no longer “Miller Time.”
Simple ideas are often the best. I think this is a wonderful out of the “park” idea, good PR, not intrusive and all but impossible for their competitors to copy. A home run for 7-Eleven.
Great move by 7-Eleven. The publicity alone for doing this would have been worth what they paid, and let’s not forget that they’re also getting signage and other goodies.
Will customers drive out of their way to go to 7-Eleven? Probably not. But will this promotion remind a few of them to stop at 7-Eleven on their way home, when they would have otherwise held off until their grocery shopping day? Maybe.
Will they think of 7-Eleven every time they look at their tickets? Yes. Has 7-Eleven *already* gotten their money’s worth, 6 months before the start of the season? Probably.
Sports sponsorships are often hard to connect to sales or profit results. How many sports sponsorships seem to be more connected to executive egos and the desire for a connection to boyhood fantasies? Will more people hire an insurance company or consulting firm or accounting firm because a golfer or ballplayer appears in paid ads?
How many Home Depot customers shop more (or how many employees work harder) because of their Olympic athlete sponsorships? How many people will drive one tenth of a mile out of their way to shop at 7-Eleven instead of a more convenient competitor because 7-Eleven is a baseball sponsor?