Promotionally Convenient

A brand goes out there and blows its big brand trumpet. It waves its big brand flag. It bangs its big brand chest. Everyone knows about the big brand. Big ads on TV. Big billboards. Big everything.

Of course lots of brand marketing can lead the proverbial horse to water, but this writer believes that it’s a good promotion that will result in the horse having a drink! Eighty per cent of grocery purchases are impulse. Research also suggests that anything bought in a convenience store is consumed within 15 minutes of purchase, on average.

Many things influence why I would think of buying a product that isn’t on my shopping list – availability, visibility, price, what sort of mood I am in, and whether I am aware if there is a promotion running. Of course a promotion is just part of the equation. It is the part of the equation however, that the vendor can influence heavily, can seduce support from the retailer and which can drive visibility and as a result, celebrate availability. The best promotions are the ones the consumers buy-into.

If they get it and want to take part, surely it is a winner. Too often we see the big brand, big idea and it gets lost in translation because the vendor has ignored the very nature of the purchases being made in convenience.

A memorable example would have been Coke’s Rugby World Cup Thrill Seeker promotion 2003 – David Campese in a helicopter chasing down anyone who finds a mobile phone in their bottle of Coke. When he found the winner via a GPS tracker in the phone, they would win a car, cash and VIP tickets to the RWC final. Nice mechanic. Nice prize. Nice theme. But impossible to bang it all together under one simple message and engage consumers impulsively in convenience.

Make the promotion straightforward to understand, enter and evaluate. Give the consumer added value and offer something that can be brought to life in-store with energy and presence. Indeed, IMI Research’s Promo Track Report 2009 quotes: “… today’s busy consumer is placing greater emphasis on ‘ease’ of participation. Consumers want promotions that are easy to understand, easy to enter and easy to buy.”

For me? I still love the ‘one in six wins a free bar’ from Mars which ran a few years back but so captured the essence of what I am trying to convey. It was simple. It offered achievability and value. It was bought to life in-store. Of course the best is still to come. I think we have some work for Lipton Iced Tea on its way out of the door soon. Watch this space.