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.