Gillette Hits the Road with Young Guns

Safeway and Rite Aid this month are providing in-store support to "Young Guns," Gillette's ongoing activation of its NASCAR sponsorship. Pleasanton, CA-based Safeway is hosting a sweeps in which each division will award 10 Gillette "ultimate NASCAR" parties. The package features a Sony 51-inch HDTV set, a $100 Visa gift card and a NASCAR fan pack. Members of the chain's Club Card loyalty program are automatically entered into the sweeps with the purchase of Gillette products through July 31. Participating SKUs include Venus Divine and M3 Power razors, Duracell Coppertop batteries and Oral-B power toothbrushes. Gillette is also hosting a mail-in offer for a free Young Guns cap with the purchase of three Gillette, Oral-B or Duracell products. The sweeps and mail-in offer have been featured in Safeway's weekly circulars. In-store support includes endcap and pallet placement for products and messaging on Safeway's electronic point-of-sale advertising system. At Rite Aid, shoppers who buy $20 in Gillette products can receive a free diecast replica of a Young Guns car. Shoppers who submit their receipt information through the chain's Single Check Rebates program get a postage-paid postcard, select the replica they want and mail back the card. The offer was advertised in the chain's July 4 circular and July rebate catalog.The Young Guns campaign, which features six NASCAR drivers, launched Feb. 8 with a national FSI plugging the "Young Guns $5 Million Challenge." The FSI kicked off a nine-month program offering $5,000 weekly prizes to consumers who correctly guess which driver finishes first in each weekend's race. (See "FSI Report: Feb. 8, 2004" in Related Articles.) Eckerd provided early support for the campaign to coincide with the FSI drop. But most retailers had closed the book on activity for the first half of 2004 by the time Gillette came calling in late 2003, according to Julie Washington, vice president of market development for Gillette Commercial Operations North America. (The company's NASCAR sponsorship went into effect in November 2003.) Thus, Gillette prepared a stronger push for the second half of the year, Washington said.The Young Guns initiative has been placing heavy emphasis on the M3 Power razor and includes a set of TV spots from BBDO New York and ads on Wal-Mart TV. GMR Marketing, New Berlin, WI, handles Gillette's NASCAR sponsorship; DVC, Morristown, NJ, takes care of promotional activity; Marketing Drive Worldwide, Wilton, CT, handles co-marketing; and Boston-based Digitas takes care of the web site.

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