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!