Promotions

There are various modalities and senses of urgencies that flow through the upper echelons of executives at major corporations. Most of these individuals realize there is a time to grab market share as well as a time to plan a strong counter defense to against any and all plausible business, nuclear scenarios. Sometimes they’ve got to get into the boardroom and realize that the strategical direction that they are taking their company is concretely and 100% absolutely even more vital than the sugar coated, feel-good marketing messages that they continue to beam out into the ethos for all of the letdown customers to hear. Thus, drawing an even bigger divide in customer’s thought space re: the brand and what it really is vs. what they’re getting told it is. more

Consumers like when a brand ties a promotion to its namesake, like this one: the “7Wonders of the USA Teacher Tour” from Wonder Bread. First, it makes it easy to understand and immediately draws the connection between the brand and the promotion. Second, consumers like a cause-marketing campaign, and third, they like the campaign even more when it involves teachers.

So, under those unscientific consumer-marketing requirements for a promotion, Wonder Bread is serving up three stars. more

There’s a palpably upbeat energy at this year’s Direct Marketing Association Conference and Exhibition. The breakout concurrent sessions – in small rooms, admittedly – are very well attended. The hallways are packed. The exhibit hall floor –

Well, exhibitors will always complain, even if the aisles look like leftover footage from a Cecil B. DeMille extravaganza. But the crowds on the floor are thicker than they have been in years past, even if what’s bringing them out is the lure of drink tickets and chances to win a variety of raffles.

While a few vendors are offering vacation packages, the iPad 2 is the premium of choice among several exhibitors. At booth 206, United Envelope offers its raffle winner a choice of the ubiquitous iPad 2 or a dream date with a salesperson. VP of sales and marketing John R. Sorrentino admits he’s hoping the winner goes for the iPad. more

(Editor’s Note: This article was penned by Bryan Duffy, executive vice president of sales and marketing at MKTG Inc., an experiential shop and posted by Patty Odell.)



Everyone has their Sept. 11 story about where they were, whom they were with, what they were doing and how it changed their outlook on life; how it altered their sense of security or patriotism. For me, it was a day I will never forget because I was in Manhattan, working for an experiential agency and the series of events that unfolded that day were in real time. From making it off the island, to struggling to get in touch with my wife, to witnessing the second tower collapse in front of my eyes—these events will stay with me forever. It is true that Sept. 11 is a day that holds a personal emotion for every U.S. citizen, but for those of us in who were in Manhattan the day the carpet was pulled out from under us, we share a common experience that none of us will soon forget.

For those of us in the marketing industry, it impacted us uniquely as well. Immediately following Sept. 11th, the industry saw a significant decline in overall activity; corporate travel was down, meetings and events were cancelled or pushed to the following season, and in general, businesses pulled back on marketing spend. The event-marketing industry in particular took a big hit. For the next year or so we waited for the government to figure out what was happening overseas while business tried to regain its footing. more

It was last fall when the SuperFruit Juices brand tested a buy-one-get-one-free promotion at retailers in San Antonio and Austin, close to one of its Texas production facilities so it could easily supply the events. After eight weeks, sales were up 30%.

The offers have proved successful in encouraging trial and repeat sales in specific locations where a new product is introduced or sales need a jumpstart. SuperFruit didn’t just offer buy-one-get-one-free, it allowed consumers to buy as many bottles as they wanted and get the same number free. Throw in some coupons and nine weeks later sales were still up 27%. Based on the success, it expanded the promotion to other states, but remained mindful of not swamping its ROI with shipping costs by staging events too distant from distribution centers. more

The Lynx brand, known as Axe in the U.S., got a whole lot of attention from commuters last month at the London Victoria Train Station when an ad on the floor asked people to “Look up.” When they did, they were watching a large digital billboard that used augmented reality to show a golden fairy magically appearing beside them in a puff of sparkly dust. Later in the month, Lynx staged a similar event at the Birmingham Bullring Centre. The stunts launched the new fragrance Lynx Excite and got plenty of laughs as guys tried to get their arms around the winged fairy—and quite a crowd. One viewer summed it all up: “Brilliant.” Watch the video.