Raley’s Launches Social Brand Consumer Advocacy Program
Raley’s Family of Fine Stores, a privately held supermarket chain in Northern California and Nevada, has teamed up with BzzAgent, the social marketing arm of dunnhumby, to develop the first grocery retailer advocacy online platform to enhance its new loyalty program, Something Extra.
Called “Try-It,” the platform allows Raley’s to reward its best customers with exclusive access to new products based on products that they already purchase. Activities encourage consumers to share opinions and provide recommendations with Raley’s and other shoppers through face-to-face conversations and across Facebook, Twitter and the entire social web. This approach to social marketing is expected to foster advocacy and more intimate engagement with the Raley’s brand.
“Something Extra Try-It is truly groundbreaking,” said David Palmer, VP, marketing and consumer relationships, Raley’s. “Social marketing is important for Raley’s and this program helps us identify our best customers online and reward them with experiences they’ll want to share with their friends in social media and in person.”
Launched in December 2012, Something Extra Try-It has garnered significant interest from customers and has already surpassed Raley’s aggressive membership goals. Once customers initiate their Something Extra Try-It account and begin completing surveys, they will receive “Try-It Kits” with selected product samples and will be encouraged to share their product experiences with friends and family.
Raley’s said it has long sought a meaningful, scalable and measurable platform to activate its marketing mix, and has diverted budgeted dollars from other traditional paid media to fund Try-It. Transactional shopper data is combined with social marketing to drive sales and engagement with the Raley’s brand, to recruit customers to the right campaigns, and recognize and reward its most loyal customers.
In September, Raley’s, in partnership with dunnhumbyUSA, launched its Something Extra loyalty program to provide personalized customer offers based on customers’ purchase history and personal preferences. The Something Extra Try-It online community further personalizes the customer experience and ease of use by linking data and access to the customer’s Something Extra loyalty account.
“This social marketing approach to cultivating advocacy is new in the category and represents a significant competitive advantage for Raley’s,” said Malcolm Faulds, SVP, marketing, BzzAgent. "Customer learnings from Try-It will help drive and refine the Raley’s customer experience.”
West Sacramento, Calif.-based Raley's operates 128 stores in Northern California and Nevada under four banners: Raley’s Supermarkets, Bel Air Markets, Nob Hill Foods and Food Source.