TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online
Email
Print
Hey There, Want Some Free Gas?
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: July 9, 2008
Related Links
TAMPA - Free gas anyone?
A growing number of businesses are asking that question in hopes of snagging more customers in an economy hammered by skyrocketing fuel prices.
With gas prices at or above $4 a gallon, free gas has become the hot marketing tool of this summer.
From banks and car dealerships to supermarkets and apartment complexes, businesses of all types are using and testing marketing strategies that promise to lower the cost of filling up. Some gas-giveaway programs have been big hits with customers while others do little to bolster sales.
The Florida Lottery and the Tampa Bay Rays have joined the marketing craze. The state lottery is offering participants a chance to win free gasoline for life under its Summer Cash lottery promotion, and the Rays are offering $5 gas cards to everyone who attends the game against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 18.
"It definitely gets your attention, with gas prices where they are," said Anand Kumar, an associate professor of marketing at the University of South Florida. "The key thing is will they continue to purchase your product."
With a gallon of regular unleaded averaging $4.07 in Florida, Tampa-based Sweetbay Supermarkets said it may start offering free gas cards to customers at all of its 107 Florida outlets.
"A promotion like that could make a lot of sense," Kumar said. "People are coming back to purchase something every week. It's an essential purchase."
From June 1 to July 1, a Sweetbay store in Sarasota offered its customers a gas voucher each time they spent at least $50. Six vouchers earned the customer a $50 gas card. The response far exceeded the company's expectations.
In just one month, the store gave away $70,500 in gas while sales rose 45 percent, said Robert Therault, the store manager.
"We immediately noticed a drop off in sales after it ended on the first," Therault said.
Altogether, the store issued more than 1,400 gas cards to customers.
Offering free fuel to Sweetbay customers worked, Therault said, even though the store did little to promote the offer. A full scale advertising campaign would have generated even stronger results, he said.
"I think we would have done another 500 or 600 cards easily," he said.
Sweetbay hasn't decided yet whether to offer free gas cards at all of its Florida locations. The company plans to test the program at two locations in Naples beginning Aug. 6 before making a final decision.
"They want to see how other stores react to this," Sweetbay spokeswoman Ashley Lansdale said.
Car dealerships were among the first to start offering free gas to their customers.
Chrysler recently extended its Let's Refuel America Program to the end of this month. Launched in May, the promotion locks the price of unleaded or diesel fuel at $2.99 per gallon for up to 12,000 miles a year for each of the next three years after the purchase of a vehicle.
"Neighbors and friends who have heard about it ask me what's the catch," said David Gonzalez, general sales manager for Jerry Ulm Dodge Chrysler Jeep in Tampa. "There's really no catch to it."
Potential car buyers are asking about Chrysler's offer, but the incentive hasn't generated a notable increase in car sales, Gonzalez said.
"We haven't had a huge take-rate on it," he said. "Right now, people in general aren't spending any money, regardless of what the offers are."
Banks, too, are launching marketing campaigns that help consumers pay for the soaring cost of fuel.
BankAtlantic will be giving a $1,000 gas card to five randomly chosen customers this summer. Dubbed the summer "Tanks-Giving" celebration, the contest requires customers to sign up for the bank's free online bill pay service and make at least one payment online between July 1 and Aug. 31 to become eligible.
"People are very interested in gas prices," said Tony Parker, BankAtlantic regional president. "If you had a chance to get a $1,000 gas card, why wouldn't you?"
If gas prices remain high, the bank might offer gas incentives to encourage participation in other banking services, he said.
Looking for an apartment to rent? Chances are it will come with a free tank of gas.
Apartment managers are offering free gas cards on Craigslist, a free online service that features classified ads, to entice potential tenants.
Lincoln Shores, an apartment complex in St. Petersburg, is offering a $100 gas card to new tenants who pay their deposit and move in within 24 hours. Anyone who leases a loft apartment from Newport Villas, an apartment complex in South Tampa, will also receive a $100 gas card.
In the Tampa Bay area, regular unleaded is averaging $3.999 a gallon, up from $2.833 a year ago, according to AAA's daily survey. Nationwide, the average pump price is $4.108 a gallon, up from $2.965 this time last year.
If gas prices continue to rise, consumer interest in free-gas promotions will grow, said Kumar, the marketing professor at USF. It's an opportunity for businesses to reach new customers.
"If you can get a small percentage of those customers to switch and become permanent customers, that's great," he said.
Reporter Russell Ray can be reached at (813) 259-7870 or rray@tampatrib.com.
Email
Print
TBO.com - Tampa Bay Online Member Agreement | Privacy Statement | Work With Us
