Prize Marketing; Another Way To Capture Audiences
Monday, August 22, 2011
Imagine a customer at their local store, wanting to buy a chocolate bar, but they do not have a particular one in mind. Do they choose the one with the brand name, wrapping and nothing else, or do they choose the one that tells them that a dream holiday may lie just on the other side of the foil wrapper?
Prize marketing involves the use of promotional items such as holidays, products, electronics or any industry-specific items of value that give the customer an extra incentive to buy a particular product.Today’s prize marketing is bigger than ever with prizes that range from small rewards such as a free pen through to a dream job or lifetime product supply. Take for example of Queensland Tourism. There “‘best job in the world”[2] campaign, where people were invited to apply for a dream job as a caretaker in one of the world’s most beautiful spots, was well publicized worldwide. The campaign was reported in many news outlets at the time and received a lot of PR coverage.
Brands that have competitions or engage in prize related marketing gain a number of benefits in the marketplace. For one, it is simply more eye catching to see packaging or PR that outlines a great prize to win, and also helps foster positive associations in the mind of the consumer. It also gives a great PR opportunity down the line when someone does win the prize (if it is especially large and valuable).
Take the example of the McDonald’s Monopoly campaign, which gave visitors who entered the restaurant the ability to win prizes, ranging from televisions and consoles to entire houses and large cash prizes. Not only did it attract visitors to the store to buy something for a chance to win, but also set the stage for some great PR opportunities, such as the case of a 17 year old who won 814,000 dollars after collecting a few stickers from the food packaging.[3]
There are risks with a prize campaign if not properly planned and implemented, which is where a prize management [4] company is used to fulfill promises. A poorly run campaign can end up having negative results for a company, undermining any previous positive brand associations and numbers of loyal customers, particularly in the modern day where negative PR and word of mouth can spread like wildfire through social media outlets such as Twitter and Facebook.
A famous example of this is what took place in 1992 with Hoover offering free flights to those who purchased one of their cleaners or washing machines.[5] Flights were initially offered to Europe, and then the United States. It soon became apparent that they could not sustain this, and customers began to complain that they were not receiving what was promised in the promotion. This mistake ended up costing them tens of millions in court fees and settlements, as well as many customers and positive brand equity that had existed before the disaster.
A famous example of this is what took place in 1992 with Hoover offering free flights to those who purchased one of their cleaners or washing machines.[5] Flights were initially offered to Europe, and then the United States. It soon became apparent that they could not sustain this, and customers began to complain that they were not receiving what was promised in the promotion. This mistake ended up costing them tens of millions in court fees and settlements, as well as many customers and positive brand equity that had existed before the disaster.
Prize marketing can also help in what is one of marketing’s most valuable assets; details. Most consumer prize marketing campaigns give a code within the product and then invite the consumer to enter it at the company website, together with their contact details. Not only does this drive traffic to the website, but it also gives the company their contact details which can be used in future email campaigns.
References
[1]http://www.ndlgroup.com/Promotional_Marketing.awp
[2]http://islandreefjob.com/about-the-best-job/
[3]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1379847/Happy-Meal-Teenager-scoops-500-000-jackpot-eating-McDonalds.html
[4]http://www.ndlgroup.com/index.awp?index
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hoover_free_flights_promotion
Marketing Blog founder and top-selling author Michael Fleischner has been featured on The TODAY Show, ABC World News, and Bloomerg Radio. 
9 comments :
Prize marketing is a new idea for me. Its great strategy to capture public's attention and positive responses in less time. Great article.
its cool news.. like this new.. and obviously thanks to share this one good info.
Complete agree with your text as we have been also executing same strategy to get the success in eCommerce business in compare to our competitor product. Thanks for sharing pricing strategy in-depth manner.
Great article on prize marketing..I think the McDonalds Monopoly campaign is one of the most successful prize marketing efforts ever. It will be interesting to see how the internet is leveraged with PM.
There's no greater way to engage your customers. We encourage our clients and prospects to visit our Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/BBEX.MARKETING) and claim a prize with just one click.
Even if you cannot afford to give away a big prize like a holiday or a television, this is still a useful strategy for many businesses. I have a client who used prize marketing as a strategy to get her customers to fill out a survey that was instrumental in developing her next line of products. What was the prize? A $25 Amazon gift card. It's surprising how much more willing people are to give you their email address and engage with you when they know something free is involved - regardless of the value of the prize.
Superb article. A great way to market online. Something to seriously consider doing. At the moment I am not doing any marketing myself, I am using a new software that has fully automated all my marketing. http://superautobot.com
Thanks a lot for this awesome sharing. Your information enchanted me and this will definitely be helpful for other people who are searching such information. Thanks again.
Excellent post..thanks.
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