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Marketing Daily MISSING BLIMP SPARKS POPEYES CONTEST
The restaurant chain has launched a promotion around the runaway blue and white blimp after it unexpectedly left its roost atop a Hamilton outlet. It was last seen flying over Burlington, Ont. New to the chain, the inflatable blimp was intended to rotate amongst all 31 Popeyes outlets in Ontario, but it vanished after less than a day of use. As a result, participating Toronto-area Popeyes franchisees are offering a gift certificate for $1,500 - equal to about a year’s supply of its New Orleans-style fried chicken - to the first person to provide credible information that leads to the safe recovery of the blimp. “It was an interesting opportunity that presented itself – it’s definitely a general interest story that had some talk value that would be wise to share,” says Emir Tahirovic, account director at Brainstorm Group in Toronto. “We though it would be a very simple and straightforward approach to spreading the word.” Brainstorm was recently awarded the Popeyes business, previously handled by Jan Kelley Marketing of Burlington, Ont. The new agency had been working to launch a new Popeyes website, chickencravers.ca, but moved the launch date up to support the blimp promotion, says Tahirovic. Media relations and wild postings in the Toronto area are also helping spread the word. The Popeyes chain was first established in New Orleans in 1972, expanding to over 1,800 restaurants in the U.S. It came to Ontario in 1984. But research suggests awareness is not where it should be for such an established business, says Tahirovic. Traditionally, Popeyes has done very little advertising but within the last year it has explored radio along with direct mail, he says. The Ontario chain also leverages work done in the U.S., such as point-of-sale materials and flyers. – Sarah Dobson |
Consumers should keep their eyes peeled for a 20-foot inflatable blimp featuring the Popeyes Chicken & Seafood logo for the chance to win a year’s worth of chicken.