TOPS is the official grocery store of the Buffalo Bills. The chain store wanted to leverage this sponsorship for its 50th Anniversary and create a program to benefit Bills fans and TOPS shoppers.

SKM developed a program for Bills fans to text to win a year’s free groceries and opt-in to receive offers from TOPS throughout the season. The integrated text campaign used existing marketing vehicles (circular, radio, in-store) plus sponsorship inventory (in-game high-def board spots, signage, print collateral) to promote the contest. After texting a short code to enter the contest, the user received an opt-in request offering coupons all season long. SKM negotiated additional placements with media and additional services from the text program provider in order to increase reach for the program and improve ROI.Tracking was done on several levels, including specific keywords for each marketing channel. In addition, the circular was used as a test channel with the opt-in coupon message being the lead vs. the free groceries for the year. Subscribers through the circular keyword were automatically entered into the TOPS text club. Reporting was provided for response, opt-in enrollment, channel penetration and response, opt-out rate, coupon redemption and overall return on investment.

Two months into the five month program, both contest entries and opt-in subscribers were almost triple the estimates for the entire season-long program.