The Huge Impact of the Super Bowl at Retail

While the Super Bowl has traditionally been viewed as the biggest event of the year for advertisers on a global scale, it's a huge business for grocery retailers as well. Over 7.5 million consumers across the nation host Super Bowl parties for friends and family, generating millions of dollars for retailers.

In 2010, Nielsen released some pretty startling statistics pertaining to the impact that the Super Bowl has on retail channels. Here are a few interesting facts:

• The great majority of US households (9 of 10) watch the Super Bowl at home or at a friend's or relative's house instead of watching it at a bar or restaurant ... this is an astonding figure when you consider that 106.5MM people watched the Super Bowl in 2010 (note: per Nielsen, 12% of these consumers also used the web while watching the game)
• The Super Bowl continues to be a bigger and bigger event in Q1 where consumers drink billions of servings of beer at home. From a beer sales standpoint, the Super Bowl (49.2MM units) trails only the 4th of July (63.5MM), Memorial Day (61.0MM), Labor Day (60.2MM), Thanksgiving (52.8MM), Christmas (52.8MM), and Halloween (50.7MM). Grocery retailers alone sell approximately 17MM cases in the two weeks surrounding the Super Bowl.
• Super Bowl viewers purchase $644MM of snacks for the Super Bowl, a figure that is equivalent to 166 million pounds of food.

Grocery - Retail Sales (Per Nielsen)

Grocery - Viewing Statistics (Per Nielsen)

Trader Joe's Leverages Sports... Without Paying for It

Are you looking for new ways to leverage sports at retail without having to incur high sponsorship fees? Are you looking for creative ways to enhance the consumer's shopping experience?

Trader Joe's, a privately held chain of grocery stores located nationwide, does a tremendous job leveraging sports to enhance the consumer's shopping experience... without having to pay steep sponsorship fees.

Their strategy? Independent store locations use a hometown sports thematic to welcome consumers (fans) as they enter the store. Select Trader Joe's locations tap into the passions of sports fans by featuring a simple "Kick off the season with Trader Joe's" welcome message that resonates with fans. Inside, store shelves and walls are decorated with murals and stuffed animals of local team mascots (who female shoppers normally gravitate to).

The hometown sports strategy is so simple, yet (cost) effective. Consider new ways that your brand can leverage sports without paying for it!  

The Panthers and Harris Teeter Team Up at Retail...

Are you looking for creative ways to leverage partnerships at retail? Are you looking for new ways to sway consumer buying behaviors?

The Carolina Panthers have teamed up with Harris Teeter in 2009 to create a "Total Tailgate Sweepstakes" that will reward one (1) customer with an ultimate tailgate party for 20 people at the Panthers-Redskins game on October 11, 2009 at Bank of America Stadium. For the chance to win, consumers just have to use their VIC card (points rewards card) at any participating Harris Teeter location to accumulate points (the more total points, the greater chance of winning).

Each time a consumer makes a purchase while using their VIC card (from July 22nd and September 15th), they receive one (1) point. However, consumers who purchase one (1) of fifty (50) participating brands featured in the store will receive an additional five (5) points at the end of the sweepstakes period.  

The most interesting aspect of the promotion is the way the Panthers and Harris Teeter have teamed up to promote it in store. The grocery retailer is featuring prominent promotional labels with the team's marks and the promotional offer on select product price tags throughout the store:

The VIP tailgate package includes twenty (20) upper deck tickets to the game, 20 hospitality passes to a private tent location outside the stadium (inclusive of food, beverages, etc.), roundtrip transportation for 20 guests from select Charlotte Harris Teeter locations, and 20 gift bags (a package worth $5,500).