KROGER ACES FRITO-LAY GOLF PROMOTION

RICHARD TURCSIK

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Salty snack sales at The Kroger Co.'s Columbus KMA were above par from a joint golf tournament promotion with Frito-Lay that raised funds for a local children's hospital.

The promotion was dubbed "Birdies-for-Children's." Kroger shoppers and employees filled out pledge cards specifying that they would donate from 1 cent to $1 every time a birdie (a score of one stroke under par) was made during the annual Memorial Tournament to benefit Children's Hospital here. Donors were also eligible to win Nicklaus golf equipment, a $500 Kroger gift certificate and badges to next year's tournament, among other prizes.

Pledge forms distributed in all central Ohio Kroger stores also contained a 50-cent coupon good for any Frito-Lay product. The coupon was valid for all of last month.

"We enlisted the help of Frito-Lay for some of the advertising," Nick Rees, assistant advertising manager at Kroger's divisional office in Westerville, Ohio, told SN. "We split the cost of a newspaper ad with them. We put some radio out there and used our in-store radio network to pump it, too." In-store displays also were featured.

Rees said the promotion was successful and raised almost $20,000. During the tournament, which was held May 30 to June 2. About 1,200 birdies were recorded.

"This is a good way to work with our retailer partners and do good for the community," Lynn Markley, a spokeswoman at Frito-Lay's headquarters in Plano, Texas, told SN. She added it was too soon to tell how many 50-cent coupons were redeemed.