Penn Station East Coast Subs gets an assist on the court from Learfield Sports as nine of the collegiate marketer’s university partners participate in an inaugural “Lemon-80” basketball in-game promotion.
Penn Station and Learfield tipped off the multiyear, college hoops-centric partnership for the 2015–16 season, providing fans free lemonade and the restaurant key brand visibility in certain collegiate communities to bolster store growth.
The restaurant chain, with more than 295 locations in 15 states, has a deep presence in the Midwest and Southeast. In order to capitalize on certain locations, Penn Station looked to Learfield for an affiliation to activate “Lemon-80” with the following university men’s basketball programs: Butler, Cleveland State, Duquesne, Eastern Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Missouri State, St. Louis University, University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and VCU.
“Our signature, fresh-squeezed lemonade is extremely popular, and we wanted to leverage that among consumers and supporters of the university's athletic programs in key markets and give them an extra incentive to visit their nearest Penn Station,” says Craig Dunaway, president of Penn Station East Coast Subs. “We were pleased that Learfield had the relationships exactly where we wanted to be on such a broader scope. We felt the loyalty and partnership among our brand and great universities could benefit everyone, including most importantly, our loyal consumers.”
The in-game “Lemon-80” promotion currently under way at these nine universities enables fans to receive a complimentary, fresh-squeezed lemonade at their area Penn Station East Coast Subs restaurant when the home team scores at least 80 points. Within the 24 hours following the conclusion of the game, Penn Station will honor the Lemon-80 promotion in-store as long as the customer mentions it upon ordering. In addition to the in-game/in-store promotion, throughout basketball season the brand receives use of marks to the respective schools and support radio and in-venue inclusions.
“We’re enjoying the opportunity to collaborate with Penn Station,” says Al Connor, Learfield’s vice president of national sales. “It was critical that we met their needs and delivered school relationships in their desired footprint to help match their business objectives. The Lemon-80 promotion not only adds another fun aspect to basketball games for our fans, but it drives store traffic for our partner Penn Station.”
