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7-Eleven Lights The Thrusters With 'Super-8' Promo

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Call it Madison, Vine and Houston. 7-Eleven is sending someone into space as part of a campaign around the Steven Spielberg-produced Paramount sci-fi horror feature "Super 8," which hits theaters next week. The capstone in the effort is an honest-to-goodness trip into near-orbit for the winner of a Foursquare location-based promotion. Private aerospace firm Space Adventures, Ltd. is providing the seat into suborbital space.

The new film, which is set in 1979, follows a group of friends in a small Ohio town who capture a train crash while making a Super 8-mm film. Weird things start happening around town, while the local lawman tries to uncover the truth, which turns out to be E.T. -- though not of the kid-friendly, anthropomorphic, telephone-using variety.

The effort makes Foursquare the entry portal to an awards cache of 21,000 prizes including movie tickets, 10-zero gravity trips, and that grand prize. To enter the sweepstakes, people check in on Foursquare using their smartphone while at a 7-Eleven store. Prizes are awarded based on the number of check-ins and are selected every time check-ins hit certain thresholds tied to the number 8.

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Every 88th person who checks in gets a free movie ticket; every 88,888th person gets one of ten tickets for Zero Gravity Corporation's ZERO-G Experience. After the a threshold of 888,888 check-ins, everyone who participates through the month will be entered into the pool for the $100,000 near-orbit spaceflight, via Space Adventures.

Customers can check in via Foursquare as often as once every three hours at any 7-Eleven store and can check in at as many different stores as they like each day. The tally of store check-ins on Foursquare will be regularly updated on Slurpee and 7-Eleven Facebook fan pages and Twitter.

Jesus Delgado-Jenkins, 7-Eleven's SVP of merchandising, marketing and logistics, says the Foursquare program was set up in a way to encourage people to check in often and be part of the whole enterprise. "We are doing a lot in digital, particularly given the nature of the movie and how tight-lipped they have been about it."

He adds that the company felt the movie was a good fit because it will appeal to a new generation. "We have lots of customers whom we have had for a long time, who grew up with us. What we want to do is connect with the millennials who maybe didn't have the experience we have had. And [Super 8] indexes very high with that group."

While neither Delgado-Jenkins or Rita Bargerhuff VP and CMO at 7-Eleven don't know exactly what the company's integration will be in the film -- although the 7-Eleven provided a store renovated in 70's style to the production, "we are going to have to watch the movie to see," he says.

Bargerhuff says film deal does not represent an exclusive association with Paramount. "We have partnerships with Fox, Paramount, Sony. The critical thing is how strongly will it resonate with customers. What about this will be cool?" She adds that 7-Eleven recently partnered with Hangover II in a smaller program.

Beyond the Internet, the company is touting the "Super 8" program via radio -- "primarily because the people we serve are on the road." She says digital includes social and banner ads.

In-store elements include Super Big Gulp cups featuring the Super 8 movie poster art and scenes from the film; an in-store promotion around pricing on select items that end in the number "8."

7-Eleven's FreshWorks group of Omnicom agencies handled the program.

1 comment about "7-Eleven Lights The Thrusters With 'Super-8' Promo ".
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  1. Patrick Jebber from MONSTERS Unlimited, June 6, 2011 at 10:37 a.m.

    This makes me want to find a 7-Eleven near me. What a cool marketing campaign.

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