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SEAN FARRELL, AP Sports, has a great article I have to share about with you, as it gives us some great lessons in marketing our business or product.

Here is the headline:

Ottawa's High-Octane Offense Costing Pizza Joint

Senators Fans Get Free Slice of Pizza When Team Scores Six or More Goals

A Toronto-based business called Pizza Pizza has probably made their marketing director look like a genius. The promotion used to kick in when Ottawa reached five goals in a home win, but the deal was renegotiated earlier this season when the high-scoring Senators accomplished that in each of their first three games. Now it is every time they score six goals in a game.

Now you hear things like the Senators are in the pizza delivery service with their top line being known as the Pizza Line or the Delivery Boys. It is estimated that it costs the company an average of $8,500 in free pizza each time Ottawa reaches the magic six-goal mark. The restaurant chain has no intention of adjusting the promotion again.

"We love it," said Pat Finelli, vice president of marketing for the Toronto-based Pizza Pizza chain. "It's great. They've got a spectacular team and they're doing phenomenal this year."

Senators president Roy Mlakar said it is one of the most successful promotions he has been involved with in more than 30 years in professional sports.

"When you hit Sports Illustrated, when you hit a national television audience and you see your name as often as they do, they're not complaining," Mlakar said of Pizza Pizza.

"We joke about it but we're fine at six," Finelli says. "That's what we agreed on and that's the deal."

Finelli said he gets a thrill out of attending a Senators home game and hearing fans start to chant, "Pizza! Pizza!" once Ottawa reaches five goals. The feeling, he said, is worth all the free pizza.

When you consider the popularity of hockey in Canada and fans entering into a chant of "Pizza! Pizza! every time the the Senators are closing in on six goals, and the media coverage they are getting over it, this is one promotion that seems like a bargain, even at $8,500 a pop.

For the full story go here