WINN-DIXIE UNIT SCORES WITH DOLPHINS STRATEGY

RUSSELL REDMAN

MIAMI -- Since kicking off a grocery promotion with the Miami Dolphins pro football team, Winn-Dixie Stores already has seen a sizable return by customers.

The Jacksonville, Fla.-based chain's Miami division, which has 125 stores, began its annual Fun Zone program with a full-page newspaper ad Aug. 17. The promotion, in its sixth year, gives shoppers a discount of up to $16 on a Dolphins ticket for buying certain groceries.

"There are approximately 180 items that customers can purchase [from], and when they purchase one of those items, a Catalina [system] kicks out a $2-off coupon for a Dolphins ticket," said Terry Walsh, marketing director for Winn-Dixie Miami, based in Pompano Beach, Fla. "So instead of the ticket costing $30, they can get in for $14."

To get the discount, customers redeem the Fun Zone checkout coupons at Ticketmaster locations when they buy Dolphins tickets. Coupons can be used on up to six tickets. A limited number of seats are available for the program.

The Fun Zone promotion runs to Oct. 18. However, many shoppers already have been buying the selected groceries to get the discount. "The complete [stadium] section has been 25% sold after week one," Walsh said. "There are roughly 1,800 seats available [for Fun Zone]."

The Aug. 17 ad, which features a Dolphins player figure and the team's colors, listed groceries designated for the program. Products include Arm & Hammer laundry detergent, Kool-Aid soft-drink mix, Heinz ketchup, Nabisco cookies, The Budget Gourmet frozen entrees, Wise potato chips, Wishbone salad dressing, Hershey's candies, Kellogg's Frosted Flakes, Success rice, Gatorade drinks, Claussen pickles, Mardi Gras paper towels, Ore-Ida frozen potatoes, Smucker's strawberry

jam, Deep South mayonnaise, Ziploc freezer bags, Gerber baby food and Guilt Free ice cream.

Shelf tags marked off Fun Zone products in stores. "There's a little football shelf dangler in front of each item, designating it as a Fun Zone item," Walsh explained.

"And we have 10 large football signs throughout the store that list the [program's] details. It's a plastic-type sign about 4 feet long and 3 feet high. They're hanging from the ceiling in front of each checkout register, and there's one in each corner of the store."

Winn-Dixie will continue to advertise the Fun Zone promotion through direct mail, but not in newspapers. "Just in our regular circulars -- drop-ins -- two times a week," Walsh noted.

Groceries featured in Fun Zone ads will be rotated, he added. "We run 20 a week," he said.