Two very different ways that the world’s heavyweight fast food giants have embraced partnership marketing: World Wrestling Entertainment and Burger King are showing their softer sides and achieving mutual goals as a result.
The internationally recognized brands recently carried out a three-week in-restaurant promotion featuring WWE Superstars Triple H, John Cena and Undertaker on more than 5 million exclusive Superstar plush toys inside BK Kids Meals.”The goal is to get the message out of WWE as a family entertainment brand” says the WWE VP of Marketing. The deal also benefits Burger King as they drove WWE fans to Burger King locations as the toys were available in more than 3,000 Burger King locations around the world.
WWE recently conducted a six-week “Summer Slam” promotion with 7-Eleven convenience stores featuring images of WWE Superstars on 7-Eleven cups. As part of the promotion, WWE held its third “Coffee Cup with a Cause” campaign, where sales proceeds from a coffee cup with Cena’s image were donated to the Make-A-Wish Foundation. I can see how these brand partnerships work for WWE to gain them millions of dollars of free media exposure and align their brand with more family orientated brands but I can’t see where the Make a Wish Foundation comes in, sounds like that’s just been added on as a feel good afterthought. I can also see how the powerful WWE brand association and brand loyalty benefits BK and 7-11 in terms of an emotional call to action to get closer to the WWE brand through these marketing partnerships.
McDonald’s, Visa and Brightkite have formed a love triangle to reward the fast food giant’s most faithful patrons with a $5 Visa Gift Card in America.
To highlight the campaign, Brightkite is running a location- and activity-targeted ad campaign that launches an on-screen spinner that highlights the McDonald’s dollar menu.
“Visa and McDonald’s have got together to remind us that using your Visa card is the easier way to pay for your McDonald’s,” said Rob Lawson, chief marketing officer of Brightkite New York. “Rewarding the consumer each time they visit McDonald’s with higher badge levels encourages loyalty.”
Whenever consumers check-in at a McDonalds with Brightkite they receive the Easy badge courtesy of Visa and McDonald’s.
This means that as soon as they enter the restaurant they are reminded that Visa is an easy way to pay – so the two brands and the core message are tied together at the point of purchase.
The first 500 people to earn the badge also receive a $5 Visa gift card.
As the user keeps visiting McDonald’s they level up their badge, so the rewards keep coming and the brand messaging is reinforced.
The badge is displayed on users’ profile page, so friends see that they are a fan of the McDonald’s and Visa brands – giving the program a viral edge.
“We are able to communicate with consumers wherever they are – in this case when they are actually in McDonald’s and usually before they have paid,” Mr. Lawson said. “Combining interactive, digital media at the point of purchase we think is a unique and powerful combination.”
This is an excellent and very on target marketing partnership and will encourage consumers to pay for their McDonalds with a Visa card which they may not have considered before due to the low prices involved. The mobile angle is a marketing channel that the McDonalds consumer base will respect and respond to and they will like the rewards and I can see this increasing loyalty for McDonalds too.
This article first appeared on http://community.brandrepublic.com/blogs/chrisreed/archive/2010/10/26/partnership-marketing-examples-from-around-the-world-pt-3.aspx
