| “Why delivering prizes
with standout for a promotional campaign is paramount
to a it’s success”
Which has more “standout” as
a prize?
1) A driving day around a race track
2) A night out in London at a movie premiere
Which is more expensive?
I’ll give you a clue it involves a car!
Although the question is perhaps a little superficial,
the essence of it is extremely relevant. The point
is this that whilst it’s easy to be creative
on a huge budget the real challenge is creating a
prize which has “standout” regardless
of the budget, it’s all about the perceived
value combined the ability to think laterally and
buy effectively.
The fundamental principle of any sales promotion
activity is to acquire, retain or reactivate customers.
The question is how does one achieve this objective?
The art of an effective promotion is to tap into the
motivations of the consumer and create a campaign
with “talkability”. With any promotion
that offers an incentive or prize, the actual prize
on offer is critical to the overall success of the
campaign and to its level of “talkability”.
The reason for this is that it is this element that
is at the core of the consumer’s motivational
psyche i.e. is that prize on offer stimulating me
to buy that product?
More and more brands are using promotions as part
of their marketing strategy and with the development
of new and innovative routes to market such as SMS
consumers are being inundated at every turn with promotional
offers. The increase in activity within the promotions
sector has created a more competitive environment
for brands to create the required levels of “standout”
for their brand.
In addition to which consumers have become more savvy
to the promotions sector with a far better understanding
of the industry and more importantly the experiences
available and as such have become far more demanding.
They are no longer impressed, by regurgitated off-the-shelf
products, which can be found on high streets across
the length and breadth of the country and are looking
to be wooed with spectacular experiences and life
changing trips.
This shift in consumer attitude is highlighted in
a report we commissioned to investigate a phenomenon
dubbed the ‘Experience Economy’. We discovered
that 60% of people had compiled a list of ‘must
do’ experiences before they die, the vast majority
of which were travel related. The ‘experiential’
sector has developed extremely rapidly over the last
4 or 5 years to the point now where experiences, which
were once deemed ‘once in a lifetime’,
such as swimming with dolphins or staying in the Ice
Hotel, have quickly become passé. The key to
the development of this sector is the ability to continually
provide innovative products, which can’t be
found ordinarily on the high street and which more
importantly don’t necessarily cost the earth,
as can be highlighted by my somewhat flippant question
at the beginning of this piece.
Companies are gaining far more ROI by offering imaginative
and unique prizes, which because they are tailored,
allow the brand to extend its identity throughout
all the elements of the promotional campaign. It’s
this bespoke approach combined with creating “standout”
prizes within budget, which is paramount to the success
of a campaign.
In this market there are two rules. Never underestimate
the power of dreams when motivating consumers and
never limit your imagination on what can be achieved.
A pound for every time I’ve heard someone say
“you can actually do that?”
- ENDS -
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