Happy Holidays, Here’s a Box of…Nothing!
I read an interesting case study today that involved two of my favorite things: direct marketing and bourbon.
It seems like the makers of Knob Creek bourbon wanted to let people know that their small batch supply was running very low … each batch is aged nine years. So, they wanted to inform their thirsty loyalists (Hey, why wasn’t I on that list?) of their predicament.
They turned to FedEx. Only, there was one small catch.
The box containing the bourbon housed an empty bottle. Here are the the details. ARGH!!!
Good promotion or waste of money? Let me know…
December 15th, 2009 at 1:11 pm
As a promotional marketer, I am always intrigued by giveaways. This one, not too sure. I am too part of the Knob Creek “Fan” club so I would certainly be dissapointed to receive an empty bottle. And then, what next? Who keeps empty bottles? Since I didn’t receive the package, I can’t say for sure, but it seems like this promotion was a waste of money.
On a second note, I just recently received a small package from K C containing a bung from the latest batch of Boubon with a note mentioning that they just shipped the latest batch. When I opened the package, my first reaction was—so what? But in the long run, they took the time to send me a gift (regardless of how small), I kept it, and it improved my impression of the brand. In the end I say it was a successful promotion.
January 3rd, 2010 at 12:17 pm
I would have advised the inclusion of a coupon with a discount so the promotion could have been tracked backed and measured. Even PR, like this, when done correctly, can be made more measurable.