Tops Joins The Big Bite Tour
Tops Markets LLC has formed a marketing partnership with NFuse 360 Marketing, under which the grocer has been designated upstate New York's “official food retailer”of the latter’s touring platform, The Big Bite Tour, billed as “the largest traveling consumer experience at the nation’s biggest food, BBQ & elite festivals,” with an upcoming stop at Taste of Syracuse on June 3-4
Additional event promotion will encompass print, digital and social media. Williamsville, N.Y.-based Tops will also publicize the tour and its CPG and OTC participants.
Tops “is one of the great locally owned regional grocers in the nation,” noted Jay Freedman, managing partner of Westlake Village, Calif.-based NFuse 360 Marketing. “Our goal is to create a memorable experience for the consumer when we touch them at events. Now we can enhance that experience with Tops and provide consumers in New York real value.”
Added Freedman,“Our hope is to have a complete alignment across the country for all of our major touring platforms, [including] The Healthy For Life Tour and The Tailgate Tour.”
The Big Bite Tour got rolling at the end of last month and will travel the country through the end of August. Since it began eight years ago, it has reached more than 40 million consumers at events. On a recent weekend in New York City, the tour provided free samples and coupons to 500,000-plus consumers, driving them to local grocery stores to buy featured items. By the tour’s end, it will have provided more than 10 million impressions for partners Brookside Chocolate, Mentos, Snyder of Hanover, Turkey Hill, Rolaids and Gold Bond Powder.
“Reaching consumers at events has always been our primary objective,” continued Freedman. “With the new partnership, we will now add … activities at the store level and be in market for longer periods to connect with the local community. Driving retail sales at Tops is our No. 1 goal.”
The company’s tours enable consumers to sample new products and receive discount incentives as added value to their experience.