Would you go Online for Half a Million Bucks?

RealTime Media, Inc., an online promotions company, and Frontline Marketing, an in-store marketing company, have partnered on an instant-win promotion in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and New York City supermarkets this fall to evaluate how many consumers can be driven online by in-store marketing. Frontline Marketing will post lighted contest signs at checkout lines in high-volume supermarkets in these cities, directing consumers to a new web site, www.try4more.com. After registering online, they can play an instant win game for a chance to win $500,000 and other prizes. "There is a real need to determine how effective in-store promotions can be at driving consumer traffic to specific web sites to evaluate e-commerce opportunities," says Boni Liss Wolf, director of promotions for RealTime. "In each store, our in-store main aisle marketing system reaches about 6,000 households an average of 2.5 times per week. And we know that the impact on awareness and incremental sales has often been dramatic."