Brief:
- PepsiCo snack brands Tostitos and Sabra launched a Cinco de Mayo push that offers as much as $10 off the ride-hailing service Lyft. The brands are promoting the Lyft discounts to urge people to get home safely after attending parties for the annual celebration, according to a press release.
- To get the discount, people must buy a specially marked bag of Tostitos chips or pack of Sabra guacamole, scan the Facebook Messenger code on the packaging, enter the code when prompted to get a Lyft code and then use that Lyft code to get a credit of $1-$10 in the ride-hailing app.
- Customers are limited to scanning one code per day while supplies last. The promotion started on April 16 and runs until June 28, while the Lyft Codes must be redeemed by July 5, per the game rules.
Insight:
PepsiCo is getting in on Cinco de Mayo festivities as consumers stock up on snack foods and beverages to celebrate the occasion. By partnering with Lyft for the holiday campaign, the food company can tap into Lyft's growing customer base and promote safe driving habits as it aims to demonstrate how its service reduces the need for people to buy cars.
The snack brands are smartly aligning themselves with an annual holiday that's overtaken the Super Bowl and St. Patrick’s Day for beer sales, making it one of the booziest celebrations in the U.S. Tortilla chip sales during the week of Cinco de Mayo rose 0.5% to $98 million in 2016, as consumers prepared for festivities, per the latest public data from researcher Nielsen.
Lyft has previously run several promotions with alcohol and snack brands. The company hosted a St. Patrick's Day deal to urge people to hail a ride and get home safely. Riders who tapped a special #LuckyMode button in their Lyft app could request a free ride and get a chance to score a gold-covered vehicle carrying a treasure chest. Riders who found a key and unlocked the chest by the end of their ride received free gifts inside the chest, per Ad Age.
Lyft's brand partnerships continue to expand, driving success for the startup: Lyft last year partnered with Taco Bell to test a "Taco Mode" in its app that instructed drivers to swing by the fast-food chain's nearest drive-thru window as they brought passengers to their requested destination. That partnership led to a 3% increase in visits to Taco Bells during the promotional window, pointing to Lyft's relatively successful history of brand partnerships.
