Circle K Pushes Cold and Hot Drinks for Holidays

LAVAL, Quebec -- Alimentation Couche-Tard's Circle K U.S. convenience store divisions are brewing up and pouring on promotions tied to its hot and cold beverages in time for the holiday season, the In Store Marketing Institute reported.

In Circle K's Midwest division, the Polar Pop soda fountain offered "Cool gifts for the holidays," with holiday merchandise including T-shirts, sweatshirts, caps, backpacks, tote bags and mugs, all carrying the Polar Pop logo, according to the report. Window clings directed shoppers to a promotional site to buy the items.

Circle K's West division, meanwhile, promoted coffee with a "KoffeePalooza 2009" sweepstakes awarding $5,000 in store gift cards, "so you can get your morning hot beverage for free for a very long time," according to the division's Web site, which was cited in the report. The sweeps runs Nov. 3 to Dec. 31, and entry is online.

Similarly, the Southeast division is running a "Coffee Concoction Contest" that awards a year's worth of free coffee and a premium mug to the winner. Customers can enter through Dec. 31, by submitting a coffee or cappuccino recipe using products from Circle K's Ajava bar. The contest is supported by the division's Facebook and Twitter pages, the report stated.

And Circle K's Arizona division offered vendor-specific promotions, including a buy-one, get-one offer for a free Fuze energy drink with purchase; a cross-merchandising offer from Coca-Cola Co. with $1 off the combined purchase of two hot dogs and a 20-ounce Coca-Cola product, or one hot dog and a two-liter Coke SKU; a program from PepsiCo awarding $40 gift cards to MLSgear.com when shoppers mailed in 10 labels from 20-ounce bottles and a redemption certificate from stores; an offer from PepsiCo for tickets to a Phoenix Coyotes National Hockey League game with the purchase of four eight-packs; another cross-merchandising offer from Anheuser-Bush, for $1 off the combined purchase of a hot breakfast item and two 24-ounce cans or one four-pack of Budweiser & Clamato or Bud Light & Clamato beer; and a "two for $2" offer on Mars Inc.'s M&M's, according to the report.

In other holiday promotional news, Speedway SuperAmerica is hosting a sweepstakes through Dec. 30, with Mars Inc. that awards a trip to Miami and tickets to the National Football League's Super Bowl on Feb. 7, according to the In Store Marketing Institute. Entry is automatic with purchase of a king-size Snickers bar using a Speedy Rewards loyalty card.

And on Speedway's Web site, a Speedy Rewards sweepstakes will give away a Vizio HDTV, Magellan Roadmate GPS and Apple iPod Touch to three grand-prize winners. Cardholders must log on to their accounts and redeem 50 rewards points between Dec. 1-30 to enter.

Meanwhile, BP's ampm convenience store chain is promoting its proprietary food with offers such two-for-$2 burritos, two-for-99 cents doughnuts, and 79-cent hot dogs, corn dogs, hamburgers and cheeseburgers. Other recent "2-for" deals include PepsiCo and Red Bull products, the report stated.

The chain also recently implemented a mobile coupon program that delivers to customers up to three offers per month via text message. Participants show the message at checkout to redeem, and can enter online or by text messaging the chain.

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