A week’s worth of Tim Hortons’ double doubles and I’ve only seen the disappointing red “please play again”, but I’m not too worried given that there are over 47 million prizes, ranging from free coffee, baked goods, and even 100 Panasonic 3D tvs, 1000 Napolean barbeques, 5000 Raleigh mountain bikes, and 40 Toyota Matrixes.
The promotion is obviously huge for Tim Hortons, acting as a customer appreciation event for their loyal customers as well as an incentive for new customers to start drinking double doubles. Tim Hortons brand manager states that “We don’t really measure the contest in terms of sales, because the primary focus is rewarding guests for their loyalty,” but the attraction of new customers is certainly a perk of the marketing initiative.
However the contest is equally important for their prize sponsors. Napolean, the barbeque prize sponsor, is based in Ontario and is a first-time sponsor of the contest, though they have been trying to get involved for several years. According to Napolean’s national advertising manager, “having the Napoleon name and logo in 3,500 Tim’s stores throughout Canada and the Northeastern U.S, as well as on literally millions of cups, creates huge brand recognition for the company”.
Toyota has also found this exposure to be a huge benefit and has acted as the vehicle prize sponsor for the contest for the last 6 years. Director of External Affairs for Toyota Canada, Sandy Di Felice says that the partnership also allows Toyota, a foreign automaker, to align itself with a distinctly Canadian brand.
“It’s really not just a matter of whether our product appears on the cups–though we value that–but it’s about long-term shared values, shared brand pride,” she said. “We like to say that in building our value proposition with Canadians, Toyota’s as much a part of Canadian road trips as Tim Hortons is.”
