Circle K & Cheetos Create New Electricity

Insights, innovation, and customer involvement via strategic partnerships create a platform of new electricity and Circle K has the right partnership to drive incremental success according to Steven Johnson Grocerant Guru® at Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions®. 

CircleK has found its new electricity to drive top line foodservice sales and bottom line profits in its relationship with Cheetos.   Frito Lay owns the Cheetos brand and is very good at expanding its brand and brand relevance according to Johnson.  Brand relevance is in part driven with innovation in new food products and new avenues of distribution all of which are the platform for the new electricity, according to Johnson; partnerships specifically strategic partnerships are driving retail success today. 

Johnson stated that in my minds-eye the new electricity must be very efficient for the supply and includes such things as fresh foods, grocerant consultants, urban farming (produce, seafood, etc.), autonomous delivery, cashier-less retail, cash-less payments, digital hand held marketing.

Retailers the ilk of CircleK to survive the next generation of retail must embrace the artificial intelligence revolution while simultaneously embracing fresh food that is portable, fresh, with differentiation that is familiar not different.  That’s exactly what CircleK is doing. That will require brands to embrace new fresh food partnerships more now than ever before according to Johnson.

So when Circle K Stores and PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay's Cheetos brand joined forces to launch Sweetos Cinnamon Sugar, a Froster flavor inspired by the brand’s Sweetos cinnamon sugar puff which is was alimited-time frozen beverage flavor.

Circle K's Florida division drummed up support for the Sweetos Cinnamon Sugar flavor through a sweepstakes, which ran from March 9-23. Five $25 gift cards were awarded to consumers who entered by replying to a March 9 Facebook update from Circle K Florida explaining where they would go with a Cheetos Sweetos Froster. Thus, the platform for continued customer engagement via strategic partnerships.

CircleK  teams up with Frito-Lay regularly for exclusive product launches and promotions. In fact last year, Circle K has partnered with the manufacturer to run a campaign spotlighting rookie players and its Ruffles potato chips, as well as a "Dew Inner Circle" promo, in which shoppers earned points for each Mountain Dew or Doritos SKU purchased. Where is your new electricity?  Are you looking a customer ahead?

Are you trapped doing what you have always done and doing it the same way?  Interested in learning how www.FoodserviceSolutions.us can edify your retail food brand while creating a platform for consumer convenient meal participation, differentiation and individualization?  Email us at: Steve@FoodserviceSolutions.us or visit:  www.FoodserviceSolutions.us for more information.