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Three successful promotions you can take inspiration from

There are more and more promotions that use the same “Enter your ticket and you could win” communication and often the focus falls on the prizes. However, every promotional campaign that is predominantly about prizes, is a wasted opportunity to connect with the consumer, to tell them about your brand, and offer them excitement.

Ever since I started this endeavor of coming up with ideas and suggestions for campaigns that would go beyond the “Enter the Ticket” sphere, my urge has been to break out of inertia and take a bold approach. And that is because, in the future, the difference will be in how we tell the story and in how we engage the consumer. So, in this article, I’ve chosen to talk about three promotional campaigns that have had remarkable results in sales, but also in brand and communication metrics.

Campaign 1: Mondelēz and Macromex – TOP Snack (local campaign)

In short: Mondelēz and Macromex launched a large-scale joint campaign, bringing together three different brands with different taste profiles: Philadelphia cream cheese, Oreo, and Tuc biscuits.

Communication concept: The three products can be combined in unique and suitable ways for different occasions. If you are shopping online, perhaps a snack that keeps your hands busy so you don’t have to put products in the basket would be good. The campaign humorously addresses multiple everyday communication occasions, for each of which there is a suitable snack, i.e. a T(uc) O(reo) P(hiladelphia) snack.

Storytelling: The campaign talked about a new science – snackology, and Chef Dexter prepared recipes for 16 different moments. The imagery in the campaign was delicious, and the website was a visual and interactive experience.

Promotional mechanism: Buy any of the three products worth at least 10 lei, enter the ticket and you could win the Tefal OnePot multicooker or Tefal vertical mixers.

The ratio of commercial to brand communication: Communication was balanced and well constructed. Online, the balance was more tilted towards brand communication, and in-store, it was focused on promotion. An interesting aspect is that online communication started even before in-store materials were placed in the store, thus building curiosity and interest.

Amplification: the campaign had three communication spots produced only for online, whose focus was on consumption occasions, but also integrated promotional communication. It also benefited from social media communication, various banner formats, a dedicated landing page, releases in-retailer magazines.

Why this campaign is unique:

– Collaboration between three brands is difficult to achieve and especially to communicate to the consumer, and here the creative concept joined all the dots coherently.

– The mix of storytelling, humor, eye-catching and appetizing imagery, and prizes was balanced.

What inspires us here:

– The focus is on the brand and not the awards.

– Identifying unique but brand-appropriate consumption opportunities in addition to the classic ones used by everyone in the category.

– The courage to take on a creative concept (snackology, in this case) and bring humor to communication.

– The importance of creating dedicated content for the online environment, where the battle is now in communication – real product pictures, real recipes, not from databases, quality video production, even if not complex.

Campaign 2: Advil & Dollar General (global campaign)

In short: Advil, the leader in the pain management category, ran a tailor-made campaign in Dollar General – a retailer dedicated to low-income earners. Such a store is not the first place you go when you want a painkiller, but rather the pharmacy, so sales stagnated.

Communication concept: Advil realized that the audience visiting Dollar General was a special one. Many had physical jobs and had a multitude of aches and pains that were causing problems in their daily lives and even at work. So Advil adapted their aspirational communication to a message that suited this audience.

Storytelling: Unlike Advil’s general spot commercial that talked about pain from the gym or pain that doesn’t let you enjoy the moment, the messages for Dollar General were much more realistic. They focused on types of pain that people were familiar with – back pain, muscle contractions in the shoulders, stiff neck. So they changed the imagery – using people representative of Dollar General shoppers in the visuals – and highlighted these types of pain.

Promotional mechanism: end-of-shelf gondola, made for the first time for an OTC, along with a specially designed, limited-edition family pack offering 12 free capsules (36 for the price of 24).

The ratio of commercial to brand communication: The communication was well balanced – the visuals were relevant, the pain categories mentioned were representative, and the limited edition with 50% extra was the endpoint of the shopping experience.

Amplification: In-store presence was based on the gondola and mini-displays of the product. The campaign was visible through social media, geo-targeted banners, a dedicated landing page.

Why this campaign is unique:

– We’re getting more and more requests for differentiated campaigns by the retailer and this is an example to keep in mind. Because tailor-made doesn’t just mean different prizes or rewards, but a real adaptation to the specifics of the shopper.

What inspires us here:

– Understanding the shopper well and implementing that understanding through the message, visuals, and retail offer.

– Campaign simplicity – a relevant, easy-to-understand message, multiplied across relevant channels.

Campaign 3: Bottle & Bow (Diageo Brand), global campaign

In short: Diageo has a broad portfolio of alcoholic beverages – and knew that people choose to give these products as gifts. But it identified a very pertinent insight – people didn’t know which product was right for the recipient.

Communication concept: Funny personality quizzes, we’ve seen before. Diageo did something different – the consumer answered a few questions and discovered the product that matched a certain personality type.

Storytelling: The whole campaign revolved around the idea of the right gift, under the message “Offer a gift that says it all”. The product portfolio was divided into 4 main categories of recipients: the daring one, the easygoing one, the motivated one, and the confident one. This made it easy to choose the product and even gave you a story to tell further.

Promotional mechanism: The mechanism came from the in-store experience. Displays included postcards, elegant unstamped paper bags, and gift bows, consistent with the communication. The planogram was modified to group products by category. There were QR Codes on the displays, so you could quickly get to the website and take the quiz.

The ratio of commercial to brand communication: The campaign didn’t offer prizes,  but a useful product selection and packaging experience, in a season where a suitable and visually appealing gift matters more than the chance to win a prize.

Amplification: In stores, there were multiple placements. Online, there were banners, social media communications, and a well-built landing page.

Why this campaign is unique:

– The campaign does a great job of identifying the buying (not consuming) opportunity – the gift-offering, as well as the tension – of not knowing how to choose the right product.

– The in-store communication is very well structured – grouping the portfolio into the 4 product categories, as well as integrating the packaging directly onto the placements.

What inspires us here:

– The ability to understand the shopper and their tension. How many Christmas campaigns do we not see now that ask us to enter the ticket, instead of helping the shopper in their approach?

– In-store execution – Simple, coherent, and most importantly, in line with the campaign message. That detail of providing the packaging perfectly supports the whole construction.

Article written by Ioana Mucenic, CEO Minio Studio

ioana.mucenic@minio.ro

 

Source: Revista Progresiv