I recently shared some thoughts on marketing and promotions with Stuart Crawford of Ulistic Orange Files.
If you agree to the comments, let me know. Or share your experience on what is needed to make promotions stickier.
CF Marketing sources and delivers unique, innovative promotion solutions that will ensure your next marketing promotion is memorable and interactive. Just as important, you will be able to measure the results generated from your investment. We specialize in delivering sports, auto and retail contests and promotions. Contact me at 403.452.2699 or email me to discuss your upcoming sponsorship event, game day contests, trade show promotion or direct response campaign.
Subscribe To
Posts
All Comments
Wednesday, August 25, 2010
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Clever Sports and Auto Cross Promotion
Just ran across a clever cross promotion idea for an English football (soccer) team. Anyone driving an Audi can apply to have a FREE parking spot at any game during the current season. The article doesn't say if this promotion is sponsored by Audi or a local dealer but it is a brilliant activation strategy for the sponsor.
Assuming the fan profile closely aligns with the Audi owner profile, it provides great profile for Audi, provides a high perceived value for the fan and offers a great way to cross promote both parties throughout the season.
This type of promotion offers real value to the sponsor as they get more than simple name recognition at the game. Among the Audi owners, there will be a willingness to promote this among friends through social media including Facebook or Twitter. For Audi, this will help solidify the relationship with customers and reinforce positive opinions about the brand.
It is likely many sports franchises don't have surplus capacity to offer free parking. There are other ways to execute this idea that still offer opportunities to add value to their sponsorship packages. These might be free shuttle service to and from game from an offsite parking area, exclusive seating area in arena or stadium, or exclusive pre or post game networking event with members of the team and sponsors.
This type of promotion is really well suited for product or service brands which customers already have a strong affinity to. It is more likely to be of value where there is an existing core of customers that "love" the product (e.g. Saturn owners would have been a great target) but is exclusive enough to offer value to the sponsor (Jeep owners, Volkswagen Jetta owners, etc).
This example clearly highlights the opportunity to stand out and offer sponsors something different. I'd be interested in hearing of other creative sports sponsorship ideas you have deployed or have run across.
Assuming the fan profile closely aligns with the Audi owner profile, it provides great profile for Audi, provides a high perceived value for the fan and offers a great way to cross promote both parties throughout the season.
This type of promotion offers real value to the sponsor as they get more than simple name recognition at the game. Among the Audi owners, there will be a willingness to promote this among friends through social media including Facebook or Twitter. For Audi, this will help solidify the relationship with customers and reinforce positive opinions about the brand.
It is likely many sports franchises don't have surplus capacity to offer free parking. There are other ways to execute this idea that still offer opportunities to add value to their sponsorship packages. These might be free shuttle service to and from game from an offsite parking area, exclusive seating area in arena or stadium, or exclusive pre or post game networking event with members of the team and sponsors.
This type of promotion is really well suited for product or service brands which customers already have a strong affinity to. It is more likely to be of value where there is an existing core of customers that "love" the product (e.g. Saturn owners would have been a great target) but is exclusive enough to offer value to the sponsor (Jeep owners, Volkswagen Jetta owners, etc).
This example clearly highlights the opportunity to stand out and offer sponsors something different. I'd be interested in hearing of other creative sports sponsorship ideas you have deployed or have run across.
Friday, August 6, 2010
The Importance of Aspiration in a Promotion or Contest
There are lots of reasons to run a contest or sales promotion - increase brand exposure, create customer database, test market new product, encourage trial, or drive web/store traffic. Whatever the objective, a key element of a successful promotion is offering something of high perceived value to consumer. This can be cash, trips, merchandise, or unusual experience.
The Honey Nut Cheerios is a great example of a contest totally missing this aspirational component. Win a year supply of cereal doesn't inspire or motivate. What's worse, the prize is actually only one box of cereal per month - a total value under $100.
This example really looks like the idea was generated in the boardroom without any consideration of the customer. What would motivate them to participate? How can we stand out? What is the return on promotion we want to achieve?
It also appears to have been developed with an eye to minimizing cost rather than maximizing results.
The Honey Nut Cheerios is a great example of a contest totally missing this aspirational component. Win a year supply of cereal doesn't inspire or motivate. What's worse, the prize is actually only one box of cereal per month - a total value under $100.
This example really looks like the idea was generated in the boardroom without any consideration of the customer. What would motivate them to participate? How can we stand out? What is the return on promotion we want to achieve?
It also appears to have been developed with an eye to minimizing cost rather than maximizing results.
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
The impact of real world experience on social media campaigns
I know, you probably have heard enough about the Old Spice viral marketing campaign. It has consumed the marketing world and is all over the internet with over 100 videos touting the advantages of this old brand.
CR562PVEQHFSThe results to date have been quite underwhelming. Sales have dropped by about 7% since the campaign's inception despite the unbelievable amount of exposure in all forms of social media and traditional media sources.
I won't try to analyze the campaign or identify the reasons for the failure to generate increased sales (this had to be the primary goal). I'll leave this up to others. But the campaign does highlight a few misconceptions about the ability of social media to convert awareness into sales success.
While working with clients and in discussions with other professionals, it is clear there is a growing belief that "owning" social media (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc) is a sufficient strategy for generating increased sales. But as the Old Spice campaign highlights, it isn't enough. There still needs to be a real world component - instore couponing, product trial program, purchase incentives that build on the exposure provided by the online communication.
This is especially true for a tangible product and old brand like Old Spice. It has name recognition but also lots of baggage - grandpa's after shave lotion, your dad's brand,or what you buy when you can't think of anything else. Not exactly inspiring.
Along with the super awareness of generated, a key piece of the strategy has to be to get it into the consumer's hands. Let him experience it first hand through samples distributed by direct mail, instore sampling, and trial offers. This allows her to provide approval or reject the notion of the campaign.
And until an alternative delivery vehicle is discovered, this has to happen in the real world, not the virtual world.
CR562PVEQHFSThe results to date have been quite underwhelming. Sales have dropped by about 7% since the campaign's inception despite the unbelievable amount of exposure in all forms of social media and traditional media sources.
I won't try to analyze the campaign or identify the reasons for the failure to generate increased sales (this had to be the primary goal). I'll leave this up to others. But the campaign does highlight a few misconceptions about the ability of social media to convert awareness into sales success.
While working with clients and in discussions with other professionals, it is clear there is a growing belief that "owning" social media (Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, etc) is a sufficient strategy for generating increased sales. But as the Old Spice campaign highlights, it isn't enough. There still needs to be a real world component - instore couponing, product trial program, purchase incentives that build on the exposure provided by the online communication.
This is especially true for a tangible product and old brand like Old Spice. It has name recognition but also lots of baggage - grandpa's after shave lotion, your dad's brand,or what you buy when you can't think of anything else. Not exactly inspiring.
Along with the super awareness of generated, a key piece of the strategy has to be to get it into the consumer's hands. Let him experience it first hand through samples distributed by direct mail, instore sampling, and trial offers. This allows her to provide approval or reject the notion of the campaign.
And until an alternative delivery vehicle is discovered, this has to happen in the real world, not the virtual world.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Preventing your contest from turning into a PR nightmare
In most North American jurisdictions, there are well established rules and regulations promotional contests must abide by. Most common of these include clearly stating the odds of winning, the process for selecting winners, detailed prize descriptions and publishing of winners names.
If you have run a contest, you are probably very familiar with these. If you haven't, do some homework or contact a promotional consultant or agency to help you through the process. Not following the rules can lead to hefty fines and some bad press.
But what about terms and conditions of the contest. How should these be handled?
From my experience, this is often a tricky part of the promotion. Restrictions or details of the promotion are often added by others outside the marketing department and at the last minute. For example, Finance will add restrictions to limit financial exposure, the legal department will want wording restrictions and senior management will provide advice on large contests. Frequently what seemed like a very simple concept begins to resemble the preverbial horse designed by a committee. It turns out to be a zebra.
So what? Why should this be a concern?
These additional terms or restrictions often add complexity to a contest. And can, on occasion, backfire turning positive results into a negative experience for the consumer. and can create a PR nightmare for the company..
The Toshiba World Cup promotion is a good example. In several European countries with teams competing at the World Cup, Toshiba ran a promotion offering to refund the purchase price for selected televisions and laptops if the home team won the World Cup. Great idea as it builds on the excitement and hype around the World Cup. And the contest stimulated increased sales.
Somewhere along the way, someone decided it was a good idea to add a deadline of June 17th to register the purchase eligible for refund. This was one week into the tournament but before all teams had actually played.
The problem? This restriction was not clearly publicized at point of sale. Apparently even on the contest website, this restriction was buried.
The result?
When Spanish purchasers tried to apply for their refund, they were refused as many registered after the cutoff date. And Toshiba has steadfastly refused to honour the refund requests even though it is clear the cutoff date was insufficiently publicized.
In Spain, the backlash against Toshiba has turned a positive promotion into a PR nightmare. The damage isn't contained to the Spanish market. Through social media channels, this story has been carried worldwide and forced Toshiba to dedicate time and resources to counter the negative press. It is likely, Toshiba's brand has been negatively impacted, at least for the short term. What a wasted opportunity over a seemingly small detail!
It is prudent and good business policy to add terms or conditions to a contest or promotion that limit financial exposure. But they need to be thought through carefully to ensure complexity isn't added or the attractiveness of the promotion diminished. Don't hide behind the conditions or use them to prevent awarding prizes or incentives. More importantly, if they are important enough to be added, make the effort to ensure consumers are made of aware of those that impact eligibility.
The problem with the Toshiba promotion wasn't that they had established a deadline for registering a purchase. Rather it was that it was hidden from the consumer and then used to justify not providing the refund. This approach antagonizes consumers which can quickly turn a positive promotion into a PR nightmare.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
The Myth of Just Being There
I was reviewing the benefits of using the snapNwin contest card with a prospective client for an upcoming instore contest. One of the important features of the product is it gets noticed. I was taken aback with the following comment - "we don't need the card to be noticed as they are being handed out by the staff".
This comment surprised me as a key foundation of creating a promotion with stickiness is getting noticed and capturing the attention of customers longer to engage them in the contest. We have a simple rule - customers need to be engaged for at least 3 seconds otherwise they will throw the contest piece away or ignore it all together.
So why would an experienced marketing professional make this comment? From my perspective they have bought in to the myth that just by being there (ie. in the store and handed a game card), customers will take the time to look at the card, scratch it off and then follow the directions to enter the PIN code on the client's website.
Our belief is different. Being there isn't enough. With the thousands of commercial messages bombarding consumers every day, dozens of games, contests, discount offers they encounter and other distractions like text messaging, Twitter, Facebook and other social media, contests and promotions need to work even harder to get noticed.
Getting noticed isn't easy and requires more creativity and unique ways to break through the clutter to get noticed and engage the consumer. The longer you can capture their curiosity and interact with your contest device, the higher the participation rate will be.
This comment surprised me as a key foundation of creating a promotion with stickiness is getting noticed and capturing the attention of customers longer to engage them in the contest. We have a simple rule - customers need to be engaged for at least 3 seconds otherwise they will throw the contest piece away or ignore it all together.
So why would an experienced marketing professional make this comment? From my perspective they have bought in to the myth that just by being there (ie. in the store and handed a game card), customers will take the time to look at the card, scratch it off and then follow the directions to enter the PIN code on the client's website.
Our belief is different. Being there isn't enough. With the thousands of commercial messages bombarding consumers every day, dozens of games, contests, discount offers they encounter and other distractions like text messaging, Twitter, Facebook and other social media, contests and promotions need to work even harder to get noticed.
Getting noticed isn't easy and requires more creativity and unique ways to break through the clutter to get noticed and engage the consumer. The longer you can capture their curiosity and interact with your contest device, the higher the participation rate will be.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Viral Video Can Really Add Stickiness
Taking a little diversion from my regular posts to share some very clever viral videos from Toyota. The Swagger Wagon is great as it takes on the negative perception mini-vans have. Really funny if you have had or still drive one.
Share any other viral videos you find that other auto manufacturers are posting.
Share any other viral videos you find that other auto manufacturers are posting.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Delivering Promotions That Are Sticky and Legal!
I get asked from time to time to provide advice on the legal requirements of running a promotional contest. While familiar with most of the legal requirements for running a contest in Canada (outside of Quebec), I encourage clients to seek advice from their lawyer to ensure the promotion they are planning doesn't contravene the Competition Act nor the Criminal Code. Infringement of either of these can be very costly - in terms of fines and reputation of your company.
To assist you in the planning of your next promotion that includes prizing, following are some resource sites you can reference.
1. Competition Bureau Pamphlet on Promotional Contests: http://bit.ly/csYaYj
2. Competition Bureau current summary of requirements including purchase requirements: http://bit.ly/akqfXR
3. Norton Stewart blog outlining recent infringements of rules by marketers and interpretation of requirements:http://bit.ly/9akF51
4. Canadian Marketing Association offers seminars and guidelines for members on running promotional contests: http://www.the-cma.org/?WCE=C=47|K=225856.
The purpose of running of contest is to generate increased sales, generate new customer leads, and engage consumers with your brand. But ensuring it meets the legal requirements and doesn't mislead consumers is a critical part of the planning process.
If you can recommend other resources or can share your experience, post a comment on our blog.
To assist you in the planning of your next promotion that includes prizing, following are some resource sites you can reference.
1. Competition Bureau Pamphlet on Promotional Contests: http://bit.ly/csYaYj
2. Competition Bureau current summary of requirements including purchase requirements: http://bit.ly/akqfXR
3. Norton Stewart blog outlining recent infringements of rules by marketers and interpretation of requirements:http://bit.ly/9akF51
4. Canadian Marketing Association offers seminars and guidelines for members on running promotional contests: http://www.the-cma.org/?WCE=C=47|K=225856.
The purpose of running of contest is to generate increased sales, generate new customer leads, and engage consumers with your brand. But ensuring it meets the legal requirements and doesn't mislead consumers is a critical part of the planning process.
If you can recommend other resources or can share your experience, post a comment on our blog.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
New concept in mobile promotions
Just found an interesting mobile idea on YouTube from City Green Advertising. Use of old technology (bicycle) and new (solar power) that really can deliver a sticky promotion. Memorable and interactive.
Could be an interesting way to launch new product - online game, software, entertainment site. It will be interesting to watch if this concept spreads to other markets.
Could be an interesting way to launch new product - online game, software, entertainment site. It will be interesting to watch if this concept spreads to other markets.
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Trade Show Marketing is more than paying for a booth
I spent a few hours at the Global Petroleum Show in Calgary yesterday. Have to say it is a pretty complex business which I understand very little of.
But I do understand the importance of measuring results to determine if the investment of time, money and staff resources generates real value. Many of the exhibitors appeared to be there because they felt they had to be seen. An incredibly small number really made the effort to engage or attract visitors to their booth or provide a reason to visit (and track visitors) to their website after the show.
There were the regular tradeshow giveaways - pens, mints, hand sanitizer, key chain flashlights, etc. I still don't understand why items like these are handed out as they are not memorable in anyway, don't make an impact nor generate measurable results.
And of the course the mandatory draw for hockey jerseys, golf games, gift certificates and the like were everywhere. But few exhibitors I saw or spoke with really seemed intent on standing out or trying to create a buzz among both visitors and other exhibitors.
The approach we take for our clients is to identify a promotional vehicle that is totally unique, engages attendees curiosity and offers an incentive that only can be redeemed by visiting the client's website or dedicated landing page. It might be a music card, an instant win with online redemption or even an entry for an online promotion. Plus every booth visitor would walk away with a unique keepsake that would reinforce the brand.
To stand out and be noticed at large tradeshows, takes effort, planning and willingness to not do the ordinary. But interestingly it doesn't have to cost more.
For some other thoughts on how to increase your tradeshow ROI, I highly recommend downloading the white paper from Active Conversion.
But I do understand the importance of measuring results to determine if the investment of time, money and staff resources generates real value. Many of the exhibitors appeared to be there because they felt they had to be seen. An incredibly small number really made the effort to engage or attract visitors to their booth or provide a reason to visit (and track visitors) to their website after the show.
There were the regular tradeshow giveaways - pens, mints, hand sanitizer, key chain flashlights, etc. I still don't understand why items like these are handed out as they are not memorable in anyway, don't make an impact nor generate measurable results.
And of the course the mandatory draw for hockey jerseys, golf games, gift certificates and the like were everywhere. But few exhibitors I saw or spoke with really seemed intent on standing out or trying to create a buzz among both visitors and other exhibitors.
The approach we take for our clients is to identify a promotional vehicle that is totally unique, engages attendees curiosity and offers an incentive that only can be redeemed by visiting the client's website or dedicated landing page. It might be a music card, an instant win with online redemption or even an entry for an online promotion. Plus every booth visitor would walk away with a unique keepsake that would reinforce the brand.
To stand out and be noticed at large tradeshows, takes effort, planning and willingness to not do the ordinary. But interestingly it doesn't have to cost more.
For some other thoughts on how to increase your tradeshow ROI, I highly recommend downloading the white paper from Active Conversion.
Saturday, May 29, 2010
GMR Marketing Blog
GMR Marketing Blog
Discovered this blog recently which contains some invaluable insight. Let me know if you find it of value.
Discovered this blog recently which contains some invaluable insight. Let me know if you find it of value.
Monday, May 17, 2010
Text messaging increases interactivity
I just ran across a very interesting service provided by CBS Outdoor. It is so new, there is no mention of it on their website. They have partnered with the folks at RipRoad who developed the text application used by American Idol.
What's interesting is the platform offers a practical way to add text messaging capabilities to a promotion without having to add more internal resources or infrastructure. It looks like it is easy to implement, offers exclusive keywords, and is relatively inexpensive to test. If your demographic is young and you need to engage them, text messaging is the channel to use.
And combined with the interactivity offered by snapNwin cards and incentive of free music downloads, promotions can be alot more sticky and help engage the consumer in a relevant way.
If you need more information, give Melody a call at CBS Outdoor - 403.235.6194 or email her. Let her know I suggested you talk.
What's interesting is the platform offers a practical way to add text messaging capabilities to a promotion without having to add more internal resources or infrastructure. It looks like it is easy to implement, offers exclusive keywords, and is relatively inexpensive to test. If your demographic is young and you need to engage them, text messaging is the channel to use.
And combined with the interactivity offered by snapNwin cards and incentive of free music downloads, promotions can be alot more sticky and help engage the consumer in a relevant way.
If you need more information, give Melody a call at CBS Outdoor - 403.235.6194 or email her. Let her know I suggested you talk.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
Web dwell time increased by promotion stickiness
A new study published in Marketing Profs focused on the benefits of keeping a visitor longer on your website. No surprise that the longer someone stays on your site, the higher percentage of conversions you get - as much as 45% higher based on minimal increases of 5% to 15% in "dwell" time.
I was excited to see these results. Dwell time is a measure of stickiness which is a fundamental principle we believe in. The longer you have someone engaged, interested and paying attention, the more effective your promotion will be.
So why do we continue to see promotions that are boring, offer no interactivity and don't drive responses, including web visit?
I was excited to see these results. Dwell time is a measure of stickiness which is a fundamental principle we believe in. The longer you have someone engaged, interested and paying attention, the more effective your promotion will be.
So why do we continue to see promotions that are boring, offer no interactivity and don't drive responses, including web visit?
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Take the "grudge" out of grudge purchases
I ran across a promotion run by Superior Propane late last year. Superior is a former employer of mine and I can assure you marketing a commodity like propane can be challenging. It is in a category I call "grudge purchases" - products and services that you need to spend money on but would prefer not to. Included in this category are items like electricity, water and sewer, home and auto insurance, transit passes, gas for your car, or tires.
So when I saw ran across this promotion, I was curious as the company was not prone to use promotions as a way to acquire new business. What I discovered is an unfortunate reality of many promotions - conceived in the boardroom, designed by the lawyers and offering very little to excite or motivate customers to participate.
The premise of the contest is to generate referral leads from existing customers. The prize - 1500 litres of propane valued at $1200. To be eligible, you had to be a Superior customer with a minimum usage of 500 or 1000 litres - can't tell which as the rules specify two different amounts. Not sure of the legality of restricting to certain customers but this is a topic for a different day.
As well, you need to provide your complete details including postal code, phone number and email address. And the same information for the person you are referring.
It is isn't clear how the contest was promoted and what communication was done to support it. But I suspect the response by customers was low.
Why?
Consider the effort required to submit an entry. Customers need to collect information from the person they are referring, ask their permission, and then submit the information. This requires a lot of effort and dedication. This effort is asking alot from customers who probably have very little emotional involvement with the product or the company.
But even more of an obstacle is only one of the two parties receives anything. What is it for the person being referred? Why would they want their name submitted knowing full well they will get a sales call as a result?
And what about the prizing? I suspect the thinking was why not use our own product since customers use it anyways. But where is the aspirational element to this prize? There are dozens of contests and instant win promotions available at any time for customers to participate in. And many offering travel, cash, or other high value prizes. The chance to win a grudge product does not motivate, excite or even draw attention.
The shortcoming of this promotion is based on several factors including:
1. Over estimation of the value placed by customers for the product. Few products inspire customers or motivate them to go out of their way to promote the company.
2. A complicated entry process will guarantee reduced response rates. Make it easy to enter..
3. Prizing is critical. It needs to offer real value and have aspirational elements. I don't think more propane is it.
4. Invest in communication. Consumers are inundated by promotions. The budget needs to be sufficient to promote the contest. If not, why bother?
So when I saw ran across this promotion, I was curious as the company was not prone to use promotions as a way to acquire new business. What I discovered is an unfortunate reality of many promotions - conceived in the boardroom, designed by the lawyers and offering very little to excite or motivate customers to participate.
The premise of the contest is to generate referral leads from existing customers. The prize - 1500 litres of propane valued at $1200. To be eligible, you had to be a Superior customer with a minimum usage of 500 or 1000 litres - can't tell which as the rules specify two different amounts. Not sure of the legality of restricting to certain customers but this is a topic for a different day.
As well, you need to provide your complete details including postal code, phone number and email address. And the same information for the person you are referring.
It is isn't clear how the contest was promoted and what communication was done to support it. But I suspect the response by customers was low.
Why?
Consider the effort required to submit an entry. Customers need to collect information from the person they are referring, ask their permission, and then submit the information. This requires a lot of effort and dedication. This effort is asking alot from customers who probably have very little emotional involvement with the product or the company.
But even more of an obstacle is only one of the two parties receives anything. What is it for the person being referred? Why would they want their name submitted knowing full well they will get a sales call as a result?
And what about the prizing? I suspect the thinking was why not use our own product since customers use it anyways. But where is the aspirational element to this prize? There are dozens of contests and instant win promotions available at any time for customers to participate in. And many offering travel, cash, or other high value prizes. The chance to win a grudge product does not motivate, excite or even draw attention.
The shortcoming of this promotion is based on several factors including:
1. Over estimation of the value placed by customers for the product. Few products inspire customers or motivate them to go out of their way to promote the company.
2. A complicated entry process will guarantee reduced response rates. Make it easy to enter..
3. Prizing is critical. It needs to offer real value and have aspirational elements. I don't think more propane is it.
4. Invest in communication. Consumers are inundated by promotions. The budget needs to be sufficient to promote the contest. If not, why bother?
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Delivering Sticky Promotions - Clarity of purpose
The authors of the book, Made to Stick, developed a simple acronym of the key elements needed to make ideas of all types stick - SUCCESs. I think some of these are particularly relevant to marketers who really are looking for ROP - Return on Promotions.
One of the requirements to create promotion stickiness is Simplicity. This shouldn't be confused with simple or uninteresting. But it does mean "why I should care" and "what do I need to do" questions need to be clearly answered and understood quickly.
At the same time, simplicity applies to developing clear objectives for your promotion. Too many or contradictory objectives makes it impossible to measure your ROP.
Following is good example of a promotion that offered lots of potential but seems to not have a clear purpose. This past winter, my wife purchased a box of Sunkist navel oranges (they were great by the way). Inside the cardboard box was a cello wrapped NHL trading card. There are 10 in the series with information on well known Canadian players. So far so good.
The challenge I see with this promotion is, though simple, it falls flat in terms of creating strong brand preference or motivating purchase behavior. Do I collect all ten for a chance to win something? How do the cards motivate mom to buy nine more boxes of oranges? Or is Sunkist trying to inform buyers on different types of citrus fruits?
From my perspective, it seems like a good idea that didn't quite work. There was very little incentive to collect the cards or ability leverage the appeal of NHL players to drive sales, create a customer database, or engage consumers in any meaningful way.
It is obvious a lot work went into the promotion (working with the NHL isn't easy). But why go to all this work and expense (the cards of very high quality) without ensuring both the target audience (probably boys under 12) and the purchase decision maker (mom) are fully engaged?
It would be really easy to add an interactive element that would drive interest in the promotion and sales. For example, each time you get a new card, play an online contest for a change to win prizes - iPods, iTune cards, trip to play off game, chance to meet one of the players etc. Or create an online community through Facebook to ask questions to the players or get more product information.
The kids would be motivated to collect the cards and mom would have a reason to buy Sunkist oranges (vs other fruit).
There also was limited online support - check it out for yourself at http:ca.sunkist.com.
In an effort to be simple, it seems the reason for running the promotion was lost. If someone from Sunkist can correct my perception, I'd love to hear from them.
One of the requirements to create promotion stickiness is Simplicity. This shouldn't be confused with simple or uninteresting. But it does mean "why I should care" and "what do I need to do" questions need to be clearly answered and understood quickly.
At the same time, simplicity applies to developing clear objectives for your promotion. Too many or contradictory objectives makes it impossible to measure your ROP.
Following is good example of a promotion that offered lots of potential but seems to not have a clear purpose. This past winter, my wife purchased a box of Sunkist navel oranges (they were great by the way). Inside the cardboard box was a cello wrapped NHL trading card. There are 10 in the series with information on well known Canadian players. So far so good.
The challenge I see with this promotion is, though simple, it falls flat in terms of creating strong brand preference or motivating purchase behavior. Do I collect all ten for a chance to win something? How do the cards motivate mom to buy nine more boxes of oranges? Or is Sunkist trying to inform buyers on different types of citrus fruits?
From my perspective, it seems like a good idea that didn't quite work. There was very little incentive to collect the cards or ability leverage the appeal of NHL players to drive sales, create a customer database, or engage consumers in any meaningful way.
It is obvious a lot work went into the promotion (working with the NHL isn't easy). But why go to all this work and expense (the cards of very high quality) without ensuring both the target audience (probably boys under 12) and the purchase decision maker (mom) are fully engaged?
It would be really easy to add an interactive element that would drive interest in the promotion and sales. For example, each time you get a new card, play an online contest for a change to win prizes - iPods, iTune cards, trip to play off game, chance to meet one of the players etc. Or create an online community through Facebook to ask questions to the players or get more product information.
The kids would be motivated to collect the cards and mom would have a reason to buy Sunkist oranges (vs other fruit).
There also was limited online support - check it out for yourself at http:ca.sunkist.com.
In an effort to be simple, it seems the reason for running the promotion was lost. If someone from Sunkist can correct my perception, I'd love to hear from them.
Friday, April 9, 2010
Making Your Promotions Stickier
In their book - Made to Stick - Dan and Chip Heath outline six key elements needed to make ideas stick. Once you read and think about them, they make an awful lot of sense. Not revolutonary but a good reminder for those of us in marketing to remember the basics.
While the book isn't specifically aimed at marketers, the ideas expressed apply in many aspects of what we strive to do - be noticed, be remembered and generate response.
Their acronym is SUCCESs (last s is their for spelling correctness) and stands for:
Simplicity - strip ideas to their core
Unexpectedness - capture attention and hold it
Concreteness - helps people understand your message
Credibility - believability of the idea
Emotional - connect with people on an emotional level
Stories - help create understanding of your message
Many of the ideas expressed in the book directly will have an impact on how to create stickier promotions that really are memorable, increase their interactivity and will improve the retention levels of your key messages. Over the next few weeks, we'll discuss each one individually to gain a better understanding how each applies to the concept of "delivering stickier promotions".
In the meantime, its worth the investment of time to read this book.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Online vs. On-site Promotions
There is no question that on-line marketing continues to grow in importance to marketers. . In 2009, Forrester Research estimated $25.9 billion was allocated to on-line marketing in the U.S. And this is expected to increase to $60 billion or 21% of total marketing budgets by 2014! Of this, approximately $1.9 billion was spent on interactive games and sweepstakes. This segment of on-line marketing is expected to continue to increase as well.
Does this suggest that your promotional strategy needs to be solely focused on reaching clients through the web?
Not really as even with the growth of online marketing, almost 80% of budgets are expected to be spent off-line.
On-site promotional activity can still play a major role in your promotional strategy. For unlike the on-line world, there is less direct competition for your promotion in your retail store, special event or trade show.
For the week of March 20 to the 26th, 1326 NEW on-line sweepstakes games were listed on Online-Sweepstakes.com. I suspect this is only a fraction of all the new on-line contests, sweespstakes, instant win games, or discount promotions that were launched during the same time period.
A well executed on-site promotion has immediacy, doesn't require any special technology and can generate real excitement that non-winners can participate in. And it offers the opportunity to encourage repeat visits by employees.
But it doesn't mean chosing one promotional format for all programs. We know on-line promotions also offer some great advantages. Distribution can occur anytime and be supported by participants to virally increase reach. With the use of video and graphics, contests and games can become highly interactive. There are some truly awesome games that generate high participation rates.
So what to do?
It really goes back to the basics - who is the target for the promotion, what are the best channels to reach them, and how can you make the promotion sticky?
We see that there are tremendous opportunities for both on-site and on-line promotions. And increasingly there is the opportunity to utilize both in the goal of improving the stickiness of your promotions.
Does this suggest that your promotional strategy needs to be solely focused on reaching clients through the web?
Not really as even with the growth of online marketing, almost 80% of budgets are expected to be spent off-line.
On-site promotional activity can still play a major role in your promotional strategy. For unlike the on-line world, there is less direct competition for your promotion in your retail store, special event or trade show.
For the week of March 20 to the 26th, 1326 NEW on-line sweepstakes games were listed on Online-Sweepstakes.com. I suspect this is only a fraction of all the new on-line contests, sweespstakes, instant win games, or discount promotions that were launched during the same time period.
A well executed on-site promotion has immediacy, doesn't require any special technology and can generate real excitement that non-winners can participate in. And it offers the opportunity to encourage repeat visits by employees.
But it doesn't mean chosing one promotional format for all programs. We know on-line promotions also offer some great advantages. Distribution can occur anytime and be supported by participants to virally increase reach. With the use of video and graphics, contests and games can become highly interactive. There are some truly awesome games that generate high participation rates.
So what to do?
It really goes back to the basics - who is the target for the promotion, what are the best channels to reach them, and how can you make the promotion sticky?
We see that there are tremendous opportunities for both on-site and on-line promotions. And increasingly there is the opportunity to utilize both in the goal of improving the stickiness of your promotions.
Tuesday, March 23, 2010
Brilliant combination of video and online marketing
Imagine your customers and prospects wanting to watch your promotional video or commercial.
Impossible?
Not with the absolute brilliant application built by a UK company - e-ScratchCard. The results being achieved are incredible. Check out some of the on-line demos and let me know what you think.
Stay tuned. This product will soon be available in Canada via our company.
Talk about sticky!
Monday, March 15, 2010
Does this look familiar?
It didn't take long to find an example of a promotion that was well intentioned but likely proved to be expensive but not very effective.
As the photo indicates, the after market supplier is trying to attract traffic to their display and likely build a database of contacts. However, it wasn't clear who their target audience is or why someone should stop other than for the chance to win free gas or a car.
The concept is simple enough - use the promotion to gain attention and draw attendees in to complete an entry form. But this approach has some significant pitfalls.
Due to privacy rules, an opt in or opt out provision is needed to gain permission to contact the entrants. It is likely few of the entrants will choose to be contacted. Even worse, is the low probability the company will be remembered after the entry form was deposited. There was nothing to remind the attendee and lots of competition as there were several opportunities for enter to win contests.
So what has this company accomplished? They have spent a considerable amount of time and money renting the space, arranging and paying for the prizing, and incurred costs for manning the booth. And the results? My bet is they wouldn't recoup direct costs nor have made an impression of most attendees.
What could they have done?
First step is to identify the target audience they are trying to reach and clear objective on what will make participation at this show worthwhile. It wasn't at all clear to whom the display was targeted at.
Next ensure visitors to the booth become engaged and actually remember whose booth it they are stopping at. Anyone stopping needs to be engaged beyond completing a entry form.
Physical interaction is a great way to engage trade show attendees and stimulate memory. A simple game - golf putting, magnet darts, ball in the hoop is a good way to build interactivity.
I would also include a prize of some kind related to the company for everyone who participates. Strangely enough promotional magnets still seem to work but it could be any prize.
If being noticed and remembered is the goal, handing out a game card that not only requires the player to do something (pull, scratch, enter), but provides a reminder of who the sponsor is and contact information.
Stickiness is created when you can create interactivity and have your prospect leave with something in their hand. Because you know most of your competitors won't.
Friday, March 12, 2010
What are "Sticky" Promotions
My company recently acquired the distribution rights for a new product called snapNwin™. It is a unique and innovative approach to delivering high impact, memorable consumer marketing promotions.
As we spoke to more and more potential clients about the product and possible uses, it became obvious many marketers incorporate marketing promotions as part of the marketing mix but often didn't understand how to create or deliver a killer promotion. Too often, promotions are poorly conceived, have no clear objectives and the results can't be measured. The greater sin we encounter is false economy - if it can be done cheaply enough, any results are good.
To help our clients understand both the strategic value of promotions and the tactical requirements, I started searching for compelling data and insights on how to build really effective promotions, regardless of their size or budget. Through this process, we concluded that one of the key elements that is critical is the "stickiness" of a promotion.
The concept of "stickiness" is not new. Technology sales people understand the concept very well - the more uses a product has, the more it becomes part of daily routine, and the more difficult it is to give up using a product, the stickier it becomes. It ensures customer churn is reduced and revenue opportunities are increased.
In the context of marketing promotions, the concept is significantly different. The purpose of most marketing promotions - instant win contests, games, discount offers, chances to win, etc. is to drive immediate response - purchase, enter to win, share contact information, drive specific product sales, new product introductions or support brand initiatives. If sales go up, the promotion is considered a success. If they don't change, the marketing folks talk about inadequate budgets, need for more time, poor staff support or other "reasons" the promotion didn't work.
But in our view, promotions need to do more than drive short term sales. They need to leave a strong impression on the customer so they remember who ran the promotion, why they should come back (or try for the first time), or what value the retailer or service company offers. Even better, they actually remember who ran the promotion! In other words, promotions stick to a consumer because it is memorable, a key message is remembered, and it reinforces the brand of the company. If they don't, it is much easier and often cheaper to simply discount the product.
Here are a couple of examples to help underscore the concept of sticky promotions. Locally there is a chain of liquor stores that run weekly contests for different types of prizes - bikes, coolers, weekend getaways. Often there are two or three being run at the same time sponsored by breweries or liquor brands. You simply fill out a entry form and drop it in a box while exiting the store, Sometimes there is signage but often it is difficult to see.
I must assume there is a purpose for running these,however, it truly does escape me what the objectives are. I rarely see anyone complete an entry and I guarantee that within 5 minutes of leaving the store, no one can recollect who sponsored the promotion.
While not an elaborate or expensive promotion, why bother? Why tie up staff time to setup these promotions or spend marketing budget to fund them?
On the other end of the scale is an example of a promotion that really understood who was being targeted, what was important to the customer and created an impression lasting beyond the receipt of a game card.
Canadian Tire is an icon in Canadian retailing. As a sponsor of Nascar racing, they determined it was a good venue to appeal to spectators to drive enrollment into their e-flyer program. They handed out high quality game cards at several Nascar events (actually snapNwin™ cards I must confess) which not only gained the attention of spectators, provided them a keepsake for future reference and drove responses to the Canadian Tire website.
A typical promotion at Nascar generally produces response rates in the 8% range. The Canadian Tire promotion doubled this. To see what the program looked like, click here.
We will dig deeper into the factors affecting stickiness and continue to highlight examples (good and bad) of promotions that display these. And where appropriate, we'll discuss some tools or approaches that will help you create sticky promotions. I promise they will not just be products or services CF Marketing offers!
As we spoke to more and more potential clients about the product and possible uses, it became obvious many marketers incorporate marketing promotions as part of the marketing mix but often didn't understand how to create or deliver a killer promotion. Too often, promotions are poorly conceived, have no clear objectives and the results can't be measured. The greater sin we encounter is false economy - if it can be done cheaply enough, any results are good.
To help our clients understand both the strategic value of promotions and the tactical requirements, I started searching for compelling data and insights on how to build really effective promotions, regardless of their size or budget. Through this process, we concluded that one of the key elements that is critical is the "stickiness" of a promotion.
The concept of "stickiness" is not new. Technology sales people understand the concept very well - the more uses a product has, the more it becomes part of daily routine, and the more difficult it is to give up using a product, the stickier it becomes. It ensures customer churn is reduced and revenue opportunities are increased.
In the context of marketing promotions, the concept is significantly different. The purpose of most marketing promotions - instant win contests, games, discount offers, chances to win, etc. is to drive immediate response - purchase, enter to win, share contact information, drive specific product sales, new product introductions or support brand initiatives. If sales go up, the promotion is considered a success. If they don't change, the marketing folks talk about inadequate budgets, need for more time, poor staff support or other "reasons" the promotion didn't work.
But in our view, promotions need to do more than drive short term sales. They need to leave a strong impression on the customer so they remember who ran the promotion, why they should come back (or try for the first time), or what value the retailer or service company offers. Even better, they actually remember who ran the promotion! In other words, promotions stick to a consumer because it is memorable, a key message is remembered, and it reinforces the brand of the company. If they don't, it is much easier and often cheaper to simply discount the product.
Here are a couple of examples to help underscore the concept of sticky promotions. Locally there is a chain of liquor stores that run weekly contests for different types of prizes - bikes, coolers, weekend getaways. Often there are two or three being run at the same time sponsored by breweries or liquor brands. You simply fill out a entry form and drop it in a box while exiting the store, Sometimes there is signage but often it is difficult to see.
I must assume there is a purpose for running these,however, it truly does escape me what the objectives are. I rarely see anyone complete an entry and I guarantee that within 5 minutes of leaving the store, no one can recollect who sponsored the promotion.
While not an elaborate or expensive promotion, why bother? Why tie up staff time to setup these promotions or spend marketing budget to fund them?
On the other end of the scale is an example of a promotion that really understood who was being targeted, what was important to the customer and created an impression lasting beyond the receipt of a game card.
Canadian Tire is an icon in Canadian retailing. As a sponsor of Nascar racing, they determined it was a good venue to appeal to spectators to drive enrollment into their e-flyer program. They handed out high quality game cards at several Nascar events (actually snapNwin™ cards I must confess) which not only gained the attention of spectators, provided them a keepsake for future reference and drove responses to the Canadian Tire website.
A typical promotion at Nascar generally produces response rates in the 8% range. The Canadian Tire promotion doubled this. To see what the program looked like, click here.
We will dig deeper into the factors affecting stickiness and continue to highlight examples (good and bad) of promotions that display these. And where appropriate, we'll discuss some tools or approaches that will help you create sticky promotions. I promise they will not just be products or services CF Marketing offers!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)