2025 Category Excellence in Overall Partnership: 7-Eleven Inc. & The Hershey Co.
7-Eleven and Hershey connected with a third iconic brand — Super Mario — as they sought a fun and exciting way to drive foot traffic and meaningfully connect with shoppers. Not only is the Nintendo-owned brand the top-selling video game franchise of all time, but video gaming is a popular occasion for families and the Generation Z/millennial demographic with which 7-Eleven overindexes.
The 7-Eleven Confection Team led the internal efforts to bring a Super Mario Kit Kat Promotion to life, working with the marketing department to develop point-of-purchase (POP) and signage to display in-store; the merchandising team to secure a secondary display location for the initiative's custom merchandising unit; and the omni and digital team to create and execute banner ads on the 7NOW platform and social media. The confection team also worked closely with operations to inform and engage the 7-Eleven franchise network ahead of program implementation.
Meanwhile, Hershey collaborated with its supply chain partners, demand planning, merchandising and omnichannel marketing team to create a 360-marketing program that included a sweepstakes offering consumers more than $250,000 in prizes, digital media support, an in-store endcap with POP and header card, and a custom merchandising display to support the program at 7-Eleven.
The results proved to be as super as the program's namesake character. Kit Kat king-size sales at 7-Eleven increased 22% throughout the promotion, and the initiative contributed to confection trips being up 3.8% during the program.
Click here for the full winners' list for the 2025 Convenience Store News Category Excellence Awards.