Industry
Retail
Goals
Schnucks sought to expand its owned audience by growing its marketing database and capturing actionable audience insights to support more targeted, segmented marketing. The initiative aimed to generate awareness, drive attendance, and increase ticket purchases for the St. Louis Food & Wine Experience, attracting new consumers and strengthening engagement with existing shoppers. At the same time, the campaign positioned the event as a must-attend celebration for food and wine enthusiasts, offering a premier tasting experience that brings the community together.
Results
Through the collaborative sweepstakes campaign, Schnucks achieved a 44% opt-in rate—691 new email opt-ins—giving Schnucks valuable first-party audience insights. The campaign generated more than 365,000 impressions, attracted 1,560 entrants, and drove 2,476 total engagements. The campaign elevated the Schnucks brand among a regional audience, with a focus on shoppers, household decision-makers, foodies, and wine lovers.
Key Product
Sweepstakes
The Solution
A Strategic Sweepstakes Built to Deliver More Than Entries
Schnucks partnered with St. Louis Magazine to launch a St. Louis Food & Wine Experience sweepstakes campaign — offering two VIP tickets to the event (a $300 value). The prize was designed to build excitement around the event, encourage participation, and give consumers an elevated tasting experience—all while creating a compelling incentive to engage with the Schnucks brand.
Distributed through St. Louis Magazine's newsletters, social media, targeted email audience, and run-of-site digital impression campaign, the sweepstakes reached consumers across the St. Louis region who matched the St. Louis Food & Wine Experience attendee profile.
What The Data Revealed
To better understand prospective customers, Schnucks embedded two survey questions designed to learn how entrants prefer to shop and which features of the Schnucks Rewards app they find most valuable. The contest collected more than 4,000 total responses:
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In-Store Shopping Still Leads: The majority of respondents prefer shopping in-store, with curbside pickup and delivery serving as important convenience options for a smaller segment of customers.
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Rewards Drive Engagement: Among Schnucks Rewards app users, earning points is the most valued feature, followed by personalized coupons, reinforcing that savings and personalized offers are key customer motivators.
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A Strong Local Customer Base: Contest entrants were concentrated in communities surrounding Schnucks' St. Louis headquarters, with ZIP codes 63122, 63021, 63017, 63109, and 63119 generating the highest participation.
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An Opportunity to Grow App Users: While the Rewards app provides significant value, 306 respondents indicated they don't currently use it, representing an opportunity to increase adoption through awareness campaigns.
Why This Matters
These opt-ins represent a highly engaged audience—691 shoppers actively chose to hear more from Schnucks! Because both the survey questions and the email opt-in were optional, every response reflects genuine, self-selected interest.
The audience data collected gives Schnucks the ability to deliver more relevant messaging, strengthen loyalty program adoption, tailor offers to specific customer segments, and build stronger connections with potential shoppers. Most importantly, Schnucks can immediately activate this audience, turning contest engagement into long-term audience development.
What To Do With This Information
Schnucks added 691 new marketing opt-ins, creating a valuable audience for ongoing customer engagement. By nurturing these leads through a series of targeted email campaigns, Schnucks can encourage first-time shoppers to become loyal customers while using the collected first-party data to deliver more relevant, segmented marketing messages over time.
Ways Schnucks could segment their follow-up campaigns:
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306 respondents indicated they do not currently use the Schnucks Rewards app. This audience presents a strong opportunity for targeted campaigns highlighting the benefits of the program, including earning points, accessing personalized coupons, and creating digital shopping lists—while providing a simple path to download and register.
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1,525 respondents indicated they prefer shopping in-store, reinforcing the importance of the in-store experience. Future campaigns could highlight seasonal displays, fresh departments, in-store tastings, limited-time promotions, and exclusive events that encourage customers to visit their neighborhood Schnucks.
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1,210 respondents identified earning rewards points as the most valuable feature of the Schnucks Rewards app, making points-based messaging an effective way to encourage repeat shopping. Future campaigns could emphasize bonus points events, limited-time point multipliers, and personalized offers that reward customers for shopping more frequently.
Ready to partner together?
