Coca-Cola, 7-Eleven partner on World Cup mobile promotion

Brief:

After teaming in 2014, Coca-Cola and 7-Eleven have partnered again on a World Cup-themed promotion, this time with a campaign that urges customers to download the 7Rewards customer loyalty mobile app. Shoppers can win a grand prize of $50,000 by predicting winners of the soccer tournament in the "Predict and Score!" game, according to a press release.
U.S. shoppers can purchase specially marked "Share a Coke" cans to receive unique codes to play the game in the 7-Eleven app. When a Coke product, including Powerade, is purchased and the 7-Eleven app is scanned at checkout, an email with a code to play is sent to a customer email address associated with the 7-Eleven account.
Each week through July 15, a bracket showing upcoming games and teams appears in the 7-Eleven app. The "Predict and Score" appears in the "Deals" section of the app, which has links to enter a code and choose their picks to win that week. Although the game ends on July 15, the sweepstakes will continue through Aug. 31.

Insight:

Coca-Cola and 7-Eleven’s campaign not only seeks to boost sales of Coke products during the FIFA World Cup, but also urges smartphone users to download the 7-Eleven mobile app and sign up for the company's loyalty program. The last time the companies ran a World Cup campaign four years ago, customers only had to scan a QR code on specially marked Coke products to see a specialized website, per Chainstore News. This time, the 7-Eleven app is integral to participating in the sweepstakes.

The discount chain has boosted membership in its rewards program 33% to 12 million members since November 2017, when it expanded the range of products that were eligible to earn loyalty points. The chain tries to make it as easy as possible to sign up for the program, and customers can message "7Rewards" to Facebook’s chatbot on Messenger or use a dedicated 7Rewards mobile website. The World Cup promotion could help boost sign-ups by members of the loyalty program-reluctant Generation Z, as long as the brand understands their preferences and behaviors.

7-Eleven in the past year has ramped up campaigns that depend on mobile platforms, including movie tie-ins and contests. Last month, the convenience chain ran a nationwide tie-in with the movie "Deadpool 2" that let fans unlock augmented reality experiences by using their smartphone cameras to scan special "zapcodes" in stores. In March, 7-Eleven ran a contest that gave rewards members a chance to win points by obtaining a bar code from the Messenger chatbot and having the 7-Eleven mobile app scanned at checkout counters.