Prize sales promotion
From any other sales promotion mechanism described in this book, bonus promotions are different in that the consumer benefits only if he becomes the winner of the promotion. A discount voucher of 20 pence is a guarantee that you will pay less than 20 pence when you buy this product. A free mail bonus is the promoter’s commitment to giving you a bonus in exchange for a certain amount of proof of purchase. But the participants of the prize promotions do not receive such guarantees. In addition, the prize shares have three more features.
- These are offers, the maximum cost of which can be calculated in advance, and it does not depend on the number of participants in the action.
- The participants of the prize offer have the opportunity to get a much greater benefit compared to the participants of the action, where everyone remains in the gain.
- Prize promotions are strictly regulated by the British Advertising and Sales Promotion Code, the Law on Lotteries and Entertainment Events of 1976, the Law on Gambling of 2005 and other difficult to interpret legislation.
It’s hard to stick to the “golden mean” when writing about bonus promotions. On the one hand, this is an incredibly effective sales promotion mechanism. Consumers always want to take a chance to win a car, a tourist trip or a large amount of money, while spending mere pennies, or even nothing at all. The Reader's Digest edition has been fixed on the market due to prize shares, which annually cost him almost £ 3 million.
If you pay too much attention to legal subtleties, the promoters will decide that it is better not to get involved with the prize promotions. However, if you think only about the effectiveness of these actions, you can forget about caution. In this chapter, we want to clarify to you that the prize promotions are a minefield, but it is worth going through; you just need to bring a mine detector.
There are five types of prize promotions: contests, free draw, instant winnings, games and lotteries. From a legal point of view, they have clear differences, and they are subject to different legal and sectoral restrictions. These promotions also differ in the winning mechanism. Although it is not easy to understand the intricacies of individual types of prize promotions right away, it is worthwhile to devote time to this. Taking into account the forecasts of Philip Circus, in the future definitions may change.
Consider industry wording.
- Contest participants are offered prizes for successfully completing an assignment that requires remarkable intellectual or physical abilities, or non-standard judgment. Those wishing to participate in the competition may have to pay or make a certain purchase.
- When conducting a free draw, the prizes are distributed according to the principle of randomness. Winning ticket is determined by a separate procedure after the distribution of tickets. The draw participants do not need to show any ability or make a judgment. Participation in the draw must be completely free, not involving cash contributions or preliminary purchases.
- They distribute a certain number of winning tickets to consumers, and the lucky ones will immediately find out about their instant winnings on the spot. To participate you do not need to show any ability or express judgment. Participation in the lottery must be completely free, not involving cash contributions or advance purchases.
- Games are a form of free toss or instant winnings. Although formally to participate in the game supposedly need to show their abilities, but in fact the gain depends on chance. Prize games can be based on games with a brand name, such as Monopoly or Happy Occasion, or well-known and having no brand, for example, Bingo or Snakes and Ladders.
Since the participants do not need to show any ability and make a judgment, participation in the game should be completely free, not involving cash payments or preliminary purchases.
- Lotteries are conducted in the same way as a free draw or instant win, but participation in them is paid. The differences will become apparent if we consider an example of a prize promotion that a local travel agency could hold. Such a promotion could be called “Win a weekend with Sunshine Travel”.
- If the participants were required to name the capitals of the five countries, and then emerge victorious in the “final,” that is, beat all other geography experts, this would be a contest. The promoter will not violate the law by adding the following clause: “When ordering a tour from Sunshine Travel”.
- It would be a free draw, subject to the following condition for participation: "Just write your name and address and drop the note in the box." The promoter would break the law by adding: "... when you book a tour with Sunshine Travel." The opportunity to take part in the draw must be provided to all visitors to the agency.
- It would be an instant win if the agency printed the numbers hidden under an erasable protective cover on the booking confirmations of the tours, and additionally indicated the winning combinations. By law, every visitor to the agency can become an equal participant in instant winnings.
- It would be a game if the offer looked like this: “Come to our agency Sunshine Travel and take part in the game" Snakes and Ladders "to win a weekend tour." It is allowed to use the dice and offer the participants to show certain skills. In this case, the rules governing the conduct of a free draw.
- It would be a lottery if the subtitle looked like this: "Buy lottery tickets for only 10 pence."
In reality, commercial companies were wary of lotteries. The exceptions were small lotteries held during a separate event (for example, dinner), with non-cash prizes worth up to £ 50. The proceeds in full were transferred to charities.
Prize promotions of the other four types are governed by special rules. The date of completion of the promotion, the selection process for winners, a description of the prizes, the procedure for announcing the winners and other points are agreed. Each organizer of the prize promotions must be completely sure that he observes all the complex laws governing these methods of sales promotion.
Contests
Sentence
In order for your event to be categorized as a contest, and also so that you can, without breaking the law, make the purchase of a certain product a condition for participation, you need to determine the winner by the skills or judgments expressed.
There are many forms of contests. Consider the main.
- Ranging. "Sort the following five things in order of importance."
- End the advertising slogan. "Complete this sentence using no more than 10 words."
- Question plus slogan. “Answer the following five questions and complete this sentence using no more than 10 words.”
- Find the differences. “Find the 12 differences between the pictures" a "and" b "."
- Rate the sizes. "Determine how many product packages fit in this car."
- Find the ball. "Find the soccer ball in this photo."
- Get to know a famous person. "Get to know the celebrities by taking pictures of their eyes."
- Show creativity. “Draw a picture, take a photo or write a story.”
- Treasure hunt. “Use the clues to find the hidden treasure.”
Undoubtedly, the most popular competition is “question plus slogan”. The message about it is easiest to place on the limited area that is allocated to the organizers of the event. The conditions for such a competition are the easiest to explain to potential participants and then the easiest to determine the winner. Compared to the competition, where participants only need to create an advertising slogan, the advantage of this is that eliminating with questions can limit the number of slogans that will eventually have to be assessed. However, contests without a filter in the form of questions attract consumers with simplicity, so there will be no end to those who want to participate. The competition, where you need to come up with a caption for a photo, is an excellent one-time test of talent and the ability to judge. Many people like to participate in such events.
Approximately 3% of consumers always take part in contests, and 40% - from time to time. Previously held a huge number of different contests. According to Reader's Digest publications, in 1988 promoters offered prizes to winners of competitions totaling £ 1 million. The November issue of the Competitor's Companion magazine for 1988 contained a list of 27 contests held only at Tesco supermarkets in the fall, and a list of 63 contests that were planned to end on November 30. Among the prizes were 40 tourist trips, cash prizes in the amount of 60 thousand pounds, 12 cars and 40 thousand smaller prizes.
Now competitions are held much less frequently. Their place was taken mainly by instant winnings. And if we talk about prizes, then any contests fade against the background of the national Lotto lottery. Radio stations often hold contests, the participants of which are asked a series of simple questions, but the final draw is not held: the winner is the one whose name will be written on the first letterhead that was pulled out of the hat with the correct answers. In fact, this is a free draw. In general, the outcome of the competition should depend on the skills and judgments demonstrated during the final.
As you know, “professional players” willingly participate in contests. Obviously, such participants are in the minority, but it is wrong to think of “professionals” and those who do not participate in competitions as representatives of different categories. A properly organized event should be interesting not only for those 3% of consumers who enthusiastically enter all competitions in a row, but also for 40% who do not regularly participate.
How it works
Contests usually have a low level of participation. It is believed that if 0.5% of consumers who had the opportunity to participate, used it - this is already very good, even a lot. Therefore, Hugh Davidson, the former vice-president of Playtex for Europe, is confident that the contests "absorb an unreasonably long time among management and sales staff, without bringing any returns." However, it is a one-sided look. We must not forget about people who are interested in the offer, although they did not take part in the competition. They should be borne in mind when assessing the growth of other marketing indicators: consumer brand awareness, interest, and the ability to influence the consumer in the outlet. These are also important sales promotion goals, and the level of sales also depends on them. Offering unusual prizes, You can cause a significant public outcry, but the standard prizes will not be ignored - local newspapers will tell about them. For these reasons, contests are an effective means of sales promotion. In addition, they are used to draw attention to the characteristics of the product. Promotional organizers for the drug Zantac 75 used an unusual competitive mechanism just to achieve this goal.
The cost of such a promotion and the need for bonuses are known in advance and will not rise above these values. This is the advantage of contests. Picking up prizes and paying for promotional materials, you already know that you will not have more expenses. It should be noted that this is a general characteristic of all types of promotions described in the current chapter, and it is especially appreciated by those companies that, because of their internal features of forming a marketing budget, cannot cope with unforeseen expenses.
There are many different instructions that it makes sense to use when preparing a competition. Remember that you are not inventing a supercomplex game like the intellectual “Quick and resourceful” (Mastermind), which since 1972 has been held weekly by the BBC channel 1. There are contests where participants have to jump through hoops - so that the eternal host of the intellectual game Magnus mentioned Magnusson froze in admiration. It makes no sense to confuse consumers with super-complex tasks. Nevertheless, tasks should be interesting and entertaining for your target audience. This is important because contests still attract children and, very often, consumers of specialized markets.
Choosing the type of competition you want to hold, come up with such a scheme to determine the winner was not difficult. If participants only need to answer a series of questions, then most likely you will receive a huge number of correct answers. The winner can not be determined by random choice, because in this case your contest will turn into a draw. Therefore, usually the promoters offer participants who have passed the first round (answers to questions) and come out to the "finals" to come up with an advertising phrase (slogan), which becomes the decisive criterion for selecting the winner. Creative competition is good because it makes it easy to identify the standout. The organizers of any other competitions need to come up with a method for determining the winner among the participants who gave the correct answer (for example, they estimated the size,
It is important from the outset to provide for the jury the opportunity to evaluate the results of the competition. Legally, the competition recognizes a prize promotion, where participants "demonstrate skills or express judgment." However, in such competitions evaluation may be subjective. Therefore, it is important to stipulate the criteria for evaluating “skills and judgments”. Instructions for contestants should contain wordings like "the most successful and original way" or "the most entertaining, fun way." Each independent expert will want to know what the selection criteria are for the winner, so it’s worth determining them from the very beginning.
Advertising texts with an invitation to participate in the competition should be written in an accessible language. This applies to all that the participants have to do: from gathering the necessary amount of proof of purchase to completing the task in the final. Immediately tell the participants about all further activities, starting with the process of selecting the winner and ending with his responsibilities to participate in promotional activities.
The level of consumer response largely depends on the prizes offered. It is best to start with a budget - find out how much money you have the right to spend on the competition. After that, use one of the suggested ways to select prizes. It is believed that one large prize is able to interest more consumers; but there is an opposite view: by offering many small prizes, you give participants more chances to win at least something, and this attracts more people. In fact, no one knows the exact answer. Partly because of the appearance of the national Lotto, the popularity of the conventional multi-level prize structure has been shaken. According to this system, the prizes were distributed as follows: one main prize, three minor ones, five prizes of the third category, etc. Now it is considered that this approach reduces the impact on consumers and increases the cost of competition. Probably the best solution is one main prize and many (maybe a hundred or more) minor ones. There is also a competition where each participant gets something worthwhile, for example, a discount coupon on the next purchase.
But if you decide to hold such an event, be careful - do not call these prizes "prizes". If each participant receives something, then it is a “gift”, not a “prize”. There are a number of "time-tested" prizes. Travel vouchers and automobiles are always popular - such prizes are to everyone's liking, and the promoter can afford a more expensive voucher or car than a consumer can afford. However, your prize package risks being lost against the background of a huge number of prize tours that are offered at the same time. Therefore, you need to come up with something special as a bonus, for example, “your own tropical island”, as the food producer Golden Wonder did, or the opportunity to become the owner of an estate in an English village. However, “special” offers are usually nobody is interested. It is probably best to choose a standard prize, but with some kind of "twist", for example, to offer the winner "to make a haircut in New York."
Here, the standard prize is combined with a “special” offer, which (this is important) relates to the product being advertised - in this case, the hair care product. `Often the competition rules do not provide for the possibility of receiving a cash equivalent instead of a prize. This may be due to two reasons: firstly, you as a promoter could already buy the desired prize and, secondly, it is possible that you will buy it not at a standard price, but with a substantial discount, and you don’t want the winner found out how much you paid for the prize. If the rules do not exclude the possibility of obtaining a cash equivalent, then a conflict may flare up due to the cost of the prize, and in this case there will simply be no reason to refuse to issue a cash equivalent. And on the contrary, there are such situations when you need to offer a cash equivalent, such as, for example, in the case of a delightful, but almost unnecessary tropical island. In this case, the amount of cash equivalent must be specified in advance.
The winner of the contest should be used as a hero of a small advertising and information campaign - this will benefit your brand. Usually local newspapers are happy to publish photos of the winners and notes on this topic and, as a rule, they will not refuse to print a short article of the sectoral publications. True, some winners reluctantly agree to such a role as an “advertising person”, and one must treat the wishes of the person with respect. Therefore, if you are going to attract the winner to participate in promotional activities, mention it in the rules of the competition and make it a prerequisite for participation in the competition.
What to look for
If you are holding a competition, you need to keep a number of points in mind, some of which require particularly close attention. The judicial part of the competition can bring you a lot of trouble, especially if the number of participants is several thousand people. Do not be tempted to approach the judging formally, as in the case of the draw, and choose the first slogan you like. It is possible that later you will have to deal with dozens of participants claiming that they came up with the exact same slogan. Even before the start of judging, eliminate all ambiguous interpretation of the rules. For example, how to interpret the expression "21"? How two words ("twenty one")? One word? Do not take into account, because it is a number, not a word? And the word which is written with a hyphen is one word or two? A good way to reduce the number of potential winners will be, for example, the rule: "The sentence should consist of no more than 12 words." And by interpreting this rule rigidly, you will get rid of complainants with similar statements: “If we knew that“ the word “means” a word or a number, ”we would have written another version of the answer.”
Often, the organizers of competitions require that the slogan was "accurate and original." So imprudent promoters themselves are preparing a trap. If two participants sent you the same slogans, then none of them can be called more original. And how to choose the best of them?
Slogans that echo the well-known advertising of your brand (such as, for example, winged advertising phrases about “Cadbury Roses” chocolate sets), are not original either, even if you are as flattery as promoters.
Veteran judging competitions for consumers, James Porthos, advises to involve a team of eight people on the jury. At the first stage, each judge selects from a pack of entries the ones he likes, and transfers the rest to his neighbor, who does the same: he chooses several to his liking, passing the remaining work to the next judge. When the fifth expert copes with the task, it is already possible to say that the contest finalists are selected by a majority vote of the jury members. At the second stage, you consider one at a time the options that have passed the preliminary selection, but perform the reverse procedure: you reject those answers that at least one judge didn’t like.
After these two stages, you will receive a small number of applicants for winning the competition. At the third stage, you need to choose the only one among them. To do this, use the question: "How is this option better than another?" In the third stage, experts work together. If you need to select one winner, then, conditionally accepting the first option in the pile for the winning one, read the slogan. Then take the next option, read the slogan and ask the question “Is this option better than the previous one?” If not, discard this second option and go on to the next one. And if the jury recognized the second more sonorous, then now the potential winner becomes its author.
Процесс продолжается до тех пор, пока вы не рассмотрите все варианты, дошедшие до третьего этапа. Последний из претендентов становится победителем конкурса. В случае, когда вам нужно определить 10 призеров, делайте все точно так же, но потенциальными победителями условно признайте первые 10 вариантов в пачке. Если какой-нибудь из следующих вариантов вам покажется более удачным, то из первой десятки удаляйте наиболее неудачный вариант, положив на его место «новичка». Продолжайте процесс, пока не рассмотрите все варианты. При использовании такого метода оценки вариантов любое большое задание, которое сначала обескуражит вас своими масштабами, легко и просто становится выполнимым. Как правило, у судей не возникает двух мнений относительно кандидатуры окончательного победителя. Если же вам нужно провести голосование, предложите каждому из судей распределить 10 очков между претендентами на победу. В большинстве случаев оказывается, что если первое место каждый судья отдает своему фавориту, то второе почти все судьи отводят какому-то одному участнику, который в итоге набирает больше всего голосов и становится победителем конкурса.
Invited experts participate in refereeing, and also serve as living proof that the contestants are evaluated objectively.
A large number of participants is an excellent proof of consumer interest in the competition, but not of the effectiveness of the sales promotion event. Mass in this case may be in no way connected with the goals of sales promotion. Consumer interest depends on how attractive your event seems to the target audience. There will be more people willing to compete for the prizes if participation in the competition is free or does not require any special expenses, and the competition itself is easy. Interesting word games will attract the attention of some (or almost all) consumer groups. However, the goal of sales promotion that you set may be relevant to the sales process — for example, you want to ensure that the product is displayed in retail outlets. Once the goal is reached, the number of participants no longer matters.
Free draw
Sentence
Winners of free draws are determined solely by chance. Participation in such sweepstakes must be completely free and without a condition to provide proof of purchase. Unlike the case of instant winnings, the participants of the free draw will not know about their winnings or losses immediately. The second stage of the free draw can take place in different ways.
The first option: the participant is waiting for the end of the promotion to see if he has won anything. Second option: the participant sends his numerical combination to the processing company to check whether it is on the list of winning numbers (this option is often used by mail-order companies). And finally, the participant simply waits for him to get the second half, for example, banknotes, when he next time comes to the store where the action is being held. Why should promoters hold free toss-ups instead of contests and deprive themselves of the opportunity to demand proof of purchase? What is the benefit of giving out prizes to random people who may have never bought your product at all? There are four reasons for making free toss.
- > They can be a very effective means of creating interest, building consumer awareness and attracting people to participate in the action. In particular, it is an excellent "bait" for buyers of retail stores and a proven way to expand the readership of newspapers. In free draws there are no qualifying rounds, so they attract 20 times more participants than contests.
- From an organizational point of view, a free draw does not pose any problems for the promoter, just to take part in it, the prize fund remains unchanged. In addition, so you easily and quickly create a base of regular and potential customers.
- Free draws represent a hidden incentive that encourages consumers to make a purchase. However, care must be taken here. The newspapers always indicate (as it should be) that consumers can check their tickets without buying a newspaper. Petrol stations always claim (as it should be) that tickets are available to all visitors to the petrol station, and not just those who buy gasoline. This is a participation scheme "from scratch". But, as practice shows, in reality, approximately 80–90% of the participants in the drawing also make a purchase.
- Organizers can fully demonstrate their creative abilities. Unlike contests, which are the main alternative for promoters who want to deal with a fixed level of costs, free draws are held by simplified rules, participants do not need to ask questions, there is no need to conduct tests, but you can use any games.
Free draws are somewhat similar to contests: there is also a fixed prize pool; participants are offered a number of prizes; conditions for participation should be understandable. Therefore, we will not consider these points again. This section focuses on features that are unique to the free draw. They are not related to the offer itself, but reveal the mechanism of action of this method of prize sales promotion.
How it works
Here is the simplest version of the free drawing: prepare cards, where each participant must write down his name, address and any other information of interest to you, put a box where participants will drop the completed cards, and tell the date of the draw. In the case of corporate clients, everything is even simpler: just put a box and ask people to drop their business cards there. It is important that the winner is determined by someone who is not related to your company, in the presence of witnesses who confirm that this is really a man "from the street."
Another option: distribute to consumers cards with unique combinations of random numbers. These combinations should be openly printed on the cards, without the use of latex coating. Winning numbers are announced separately. For example, you can put information about winning combinations on a stand in a store or publish it in a newspaper. It is enough for participants of the promotion to check the winning combinations with their card number, and if the numbers match, contact the promoter and get a prize. Such card schemes are often used by newspapers that print winning combinations daily in the latest issue. With this scheme, the promoter kills two birds with one stone, because you first need to buy a newspaper to get a card, and then buy another fresh issue in which winning combinations are printed. True,
The third option: the cards with the numbers marked on them should be sent to the promoter so that they can be checked against a list of predetermined winning combinations. This scheme is often used by Reader's Digest and other direct mail operators, because it allows consumers to be interested - and they are more willing to respond to direct mailings.
There is another fourth method: you need to distribute among the clients a series of different cards, which are separate parts of one whole. The consumer who collected the entire set automatically becomes the winner of the promotion. Gas stations successfully carried out such actions, offering customers to collect halves of banknotes. There were many left halves, but the right halves were extremely rare.
We have explained to you only the most basic points of each type of free draw. Real free toss-ups are sometimes more complex sentences that combine the characteristics of two or three different types. For example, you use an instant win ticket, which at the same time (when sent by mail) is a card with a predetermined number and part of a single set of cards that the consumer needs to collect. Numbers can be replaced with characters or words, and you can also use any other options.
What to look for
In the case of "hat" toss, everything is very simple. They are often carried out by retailers, car dealers and exhibition organizers in order to “lure” consumers, collect information and attract attention. Such a promotion can be organized without much effort and with minimal time, and for this reason alone, “hat” draws are very popular among promoters.
The organizers of the same free draws of other types need to pay special attention to protection against fraud and even distribution of winning tickets among the participants. Contact a specialized printing house - this is a guarantee that duplicate winning tickets will not be in circulation. It is recommended to provide prize tickets with hidden and unique tags as a means of authenticating. Winning tickets must be distributed evenly so that they do not accidentally hit only one store. Do not involve in their distribution people who have access to information about the winning numbers and can use it to their advantage. It is best to assign the distribution to a stranger - so you protect yourself from public accusations of fraud.
To solve the problems of possible fraud and even distribution of winning tickets, three conditions must be met.
First, contact a specialized printing house. Secondly, think about the feasibility of insurance against the risks associated with sales promotion. Thirdly, you can use the services of a good sales promotion agency that will surely fulfill these three conditions. The three “golden rules” of successful prize promotions are even more applicable to instant winnings, which we will look at in the next section.
Instant win
Sentence
For several years now, promoters have held prize promotions with instant winnings. They use scratch cards (these are game tickets with the so-called “scraped” sector, that is, an area covered with an easily erased layer of opaque latex) or tickets with a “window” that hide winning or losing combinations. The number of winning tickets is limited, and participants in the promotion can immediately find out if they have won a prize.
In the late 1980s, there was a surge in the popularity of instant winnings: Heinz held a campaign “Win by car every day!”, And Pedigree Petfoods invited its consumers to check “Is there a car in this bank?”. Some promoters believe that this is the only truly new sales promotion technique in recent years. Unlike participants of free draws, consumers, attracted by the promotion with instant winnings, will find out whether they got the prize right after they open the bank. Each time, opening the bank, the buyer freezes in the exciting anticipation, hoping to see an image of the car on the inside of the lid. When such an event was held for the first time, consumer interest was simply enormous.
Why did food manufacturers not use instant winnings until the late 1980s? Just promoters doubted the legitimacy of such promotions, because the buyer will have to buy a bank to get the opportunity to look under the cover. It seemed to promoters that such an action would have to be considered a lottery, and banks - lottery tickets. Using the scheme of instant win made possible thanks to competent legal justification. In the terms of the action it was necessary to make a reservation that consumers are given the opportunity to instruct the manufacturer to open the bank on their behalf. This formulation means that the manufacturer does not force consumers to make a purchase for the sake of participation in the action. Before Heinz and Pedigree Petfoods conducted their promotions, it was believed that promoters should organize a contest, if you are going to print the offer “Win by car every day!” on the bank. Thanks to the opportunity to participate for free or “from scratch”, shares with instant winnings were legally equal to the offer on the package.
Still, promoters need to be careful. It is important to provide a real opportunity for free participation absolutely for everyone. In 1995, the telephone company Interactive Telephone Services (ITS) was accused of saying that their promotion is actually a lottery, as it has the signs described in the 1976 law "On lotteries and entertainment events." The action was called Telemillion ("Telemillion"). Consumers had to call the phone number with payment at a premium (increased) rate and answer a simple question. If the answer turned out to be correct, the subscriber became a participant in the action. The organizing company said that their event was not considered a lottery, since it was possible to become a participant not only through a paid phone call, but also in one more, completely free way. However, the court disregarded this objection, because the monthly share of consumers who used the second, free way to become a participant in the action, never exceeded 0.184% of the total number of admissions. If the promoter offered a real opportunity for free participation for everyone, this percentage would be much higher. Promoters will always cautiously publish data on the percentage of free admission to participate, although a figure of 10–20% is considered normal.
How it works
The best results from the use of instant winnings are obtained by manufacturers of inexpensive products of large-scale production with a relatively low level of individualization. Such companies can afford to offer solid prizes, and the opportunity to win the prize becomes for the consumer a decisive argument in favor of buying a product of this brand. Thanks to three different promotions using instant winnings, which were conducted from August 1992 to August 1994, Walkers chipmakers managed to increase their product share in the food market from 57% to 63%. Instead of gaming tickets, promoters used a blue paper bag, which was put in a bag of chips and served as a reminder of those times when the chips were produced without flavorings and a blue paper bag of salt was attached to them. In 1995-1996, the company continued to stimulate sales, conducting similar in essence, but different in form, promotions “Call and win a prize”, “Instant check” and others. All of them were held on the background of a thematic advertising campaign with the participation of football player Gary Lineker.
However, manufacturers of Walkers chips noticed that each time the level of consumer response to their shares with an instant win decreases. In fact, this is a common phenomenon faced by all promoters. At one time, Camelot also marked a gradual decline in consumer interest in its Instants shares (Instant Fortune).
If you want this mechanism to not lose its effectiveness, you need to constantly change the format of stocks with instant winnings. Refer to specialized printing companies that issue lottery tickets and game tickets with scraped sector (scratch cards). They will tell you better than others how to present the same idea in different wrappers. Reader's Digest will also serve as an excellent guideline in the field of sales promotion: the technique will not have time to lose its effectiveness by the second time, but by the twentieth it will most likely happen.
What to look for
The organizers of actions with instant winnings should take into account the same factors as the organizers of free draws, paying particular attention to protection against fraud and the uniform distribution of winning tickets. There is an important additional circumstance: the main prize can be won at the beginning of the action. From this point on, you will actually begin to mislead your customers if you continue to tell them about the possibility of winning a prize. The same thing happens if the promoter releases packaging with the main prize for sale after the end of the promotion. It may be worthwhile to offer two or three large prizes, but in the eyes of consumers they will not look as attractive as the only super prize.
Games
Sentence
From the position of sales promotion, “the game” can be anything at all: from the football league invented by the newspaper, the search for words, the game “Monopoly” with deletions to predict the air temperature at Christmas. Some game organizers require confirmation of purchase, others do without such a condition. The offers to “play” are poured on the consumer from the packages and advertisements, he finds them in his mailbox, he is handed playing cards. Everyone knows what the games look like, and this mechanism can be extremely effective. However, as will be shown below, the game is, in fact, nothing more than the option of a free draw, instant win or competition.
How it works
Many people believe that the game is an activity, the participants of which need to show some skills. However, in English law there are two categories of games: those where skills and abilities are required (skill games), and those where the gain depends on chance (gambling). And in the first category are very few games. Even complex card games, such as whist and bridge, in fact requiring participants to have a subtle mind and other abilities, are officially considered to be gambling. The element of mastery prevails over the element of chance only in such games as, for example, the double bridge, chess, darts (darts) and snooker (a kind of a billiard game). And, as you already know, a promoter offering to take part in a game of chance is not entitled to demand any payment or confirmation of purchase.
А разве люди не платят, чтобы поиграть в бинго, рулетку или сделать ставку на футбольном тотализаторе? Это ведь тоже азартные игры. Да, игроки платят, но проведение таких мероприятий регулируется соответствующими законодательными актами. У этих законов общая цель: ограничить доступность и привлекательность азартных игр, а также заставить их организаторов платить налоги и работать в рамках действующего законодательства.
As a rule, two types of games are used to stimulate sales. These can be instant winnings or free draws offered under the guise of a “game” in “Monopoly”, “Scrabble” (to make words of letters), “Lucky Occasion”, Ludo or “Snakes and Ladders” (these are two children's board games with playing dice and chips). Also possible are contests that are held under the guise of a “game” in words, predicting the upcoming state of affairs or another test of a person’s skill or his ability to evaluate a phenomenon. From this it follows that in reality such a separate category of “game” in sales promotion does not exist. It is more correct to say that under the guise of games free toss-ups, promotions with instant winnings or contests are held.
What to look for
If you are going to hold a free draw or a share with an instant win, a talented organizer can make this offer more interesting for consumers if they present their idea in the form of a game. In this case, apply all the rules that apply to the two named mechanisms for sales promotion. First of all, you should give everyone a real opportunity to participate free of charge. And the success of the promotion depends on whether you can come up with a game with an original, simple and exciting storyline.
If you intend to hold a contest, the participants of which must provide proof of purchase, you must take into account all points regarding the contests, although your promotion is “disguised” as a game. Be careful: you can not ask for anything, no payment, except for confirmation of the purchase. This is the case when you can take advantage of promotions with a probability calculation. We will talk about them in the next section.
Promotions with probability calculation
Sentence
Golf clubs have long held a hole-in-one competition, offering generous prizes to the lucky ones who manage to hit the ball in the hole with one punch, which happens very rarely. The golf club is insured against possible bankruptcy by specialists who calculated the probability of such a rare strike and for a certain fee agreed to take the risk of paying out prizes. The same principle can be used to stimulate sales, suggesting that game participants rank in order of priority 10 elements or predict the temperature that will be on the street on a certain day.
How it works
Basically, participants in such games are offered to rank a certain number of elements in order of importance, for example, to list outstanding cricketers in order, starting with the very best, or to rank factors in importance without which good rest is impossible. An independent expert determines in advance the “correct” answer option, which will be stored in a sealed envelope. Participants in such a game must demonstrate their skills or make their own judgment. For example, it is impossible to suggest to the participants of the competition to arrange several numbers in order of importance, because in this case the correct answer can only be guessed.
It is impossible to objectively, in the only correct way, arrange according to the degree of importance of the best cricketers or factors contributing to a good rest. After all, each compiler of such a rating has his own opinion, therefore, each answer reflects someone’s subjective point of view. (On the other hand, it is possible to objectively, in the only correct way, order, say, the countries of the world depending on their size or population density.) Therefore, the specialist’s answer, recorded on paper and sealed in an envelope, is conventionally considered objective in such games, and is checked against it options proposed by the participants of the action. The “correct” answer to the task of cricket will be asked to write a journalist writing about this sport, and a representative of a leading travel agency will provide a list of factors without which good rest is impossible.
A promotion, if participants must, say, place 10 elements in order of importance, is based on calculating the probability (or low probability) that one of the players will be able to propose the correct option (we emphasize again: the option prepared by an expert is considered to be conditionally correct). The probability of the correct decision depends on the number of elements that need to be ordered (table 1).
Table 1. The probability of the location of elements in a certain sequence depending on their number
It is obvious that the probability of a correct answer decreases exponentially. If participants need to be ranked according to the degree of significance of the 10 elements, the chances of success are regarded as 1 of the more than 3.6 million options. Therefore, you can safely offer a prize of £ 1 million by paying the insurance company as an insurance premium (calculated as the inverse of the probability) of only 28 pence. You risk about 1000 times more if 1000 people take part in the action, but even in this case, your insurance costs will be only £ 278. Of course, such a small amount will not satisfy the insurance company, which still needs to cover its administrative costs, provide compensation for possible losses due to fraud, take into account reinsurance costs and insure against if more consumers are participating in the promotion than expected. Typically, the minimum cost of insurance of a prize fund of £ 1 million is 25 thousand pounds. There is a practical method of calculating the cost of insurance: you need to divide the estimated number of participants by the probability value, multiply the resulting number by the cost of the prize and double the result.
There are more and more original cases when expensive prizes are combined with a high probability of winning, and less valuable prizes - with low chances of success. For example, participants in a football theme competition may be offered a valuable prize for three correct answers to the following questions.
- Name the number of goals that will be scored during the match. (Chance - 1 out of 4).
- How many players will be issued a warning (will they show a “yellow card”) during the match? (Chance - 1 out of 20.)
- What time of the match will the teams score the first goal? (Chance - 1 out of 90.)
Although individually each question is fairly simple and the probability of guessing the correct answer is quite high, the chance that all three answers provided will be correct is one of several millions. However, for greater consumer motivation, you can offer a coupon for a discount or a souvenir to those participants who answer correctly one or two questions. You can also take a chance (and insure your risk) by offering more prizes, guided by the idea that less than half of the people who won the prize bother to check the results of their participation in the competition.
What to look for
Promoters who use this sales promotion mechanism need to remember that such offers can cause negative public outcry and give the impression of fraudulent schemes. Example 43 tells how Faber & Faber solved this problem by offering such a valuable prize and so little chance of winning that it seemed that no one would get the prize at all.
Brooke Bond trademark with its “Millionaire Tomorrow?” Promotion in 1995 was less fortunate. Participants had to make their own combinations of numbers and letters, then giving them to participate in the free draw. If the proposed combination coincided with what was subsequently shown on television, its author as the winner of the competition would receive a prize of £ 1 million. The Advertising Standards Committee received complaints from participants who claimed that the chance of winning was 1 in 6760 million. The committee condemned the Brooke Bonds trademark for the insufficiently transparent conditions of the action: “It was not easy for readers to evaluate and even imagine how low the chances of winning are.”
Especially carefully you need to plan actions when participants need to predict the future. If you want to hold a competition, requiring the participants to confirm the purchase, then consider the difference between predicting the event (this is illegal) and predicting the future state of affairs (the law does not prohibit). However, note: both options are valid if you do not ask for proof of purchase. Specialized insurance company, can calculate for you the cost of insurance of the prize of any of these stocks. At your request, the insurer will make a countdown, that is, it will explain to you what prize and what chances of victory you could offer the participants of the action, if you have, say, £ 30,000 to pay for the insurance policy. You will also be given a real forecast on the possible number of participants in the action.
As in the case of any other promotion, here you need to follow the “golden rule”: treat future participants in your competition as potential regular customers with whom you want to build a trusting long-term relationship. People have nothing against the low chances of winning (the probability of winning a prize in the Lotto national lottery is also low), but they don’t like being misled.
Examples
Many promotions to a certain extent are prizes. The main mechanism used by the organizers of the promotion for Maxwell House is the free draw. Zantac 75 and Range Rover brands have chosen to hold a competition. The promoters of Gale's honey and the organizers of the action for Smirnoff used the mechanism of instant win. These examples give an idea of the wide variety of prize promotions.
Among the six examples below, there is, among other things, a special way of combining an instant win with a product and an effective promotion with probability calculation.
Example number 1
Sarson'sVinegar can not be called a product that excites the imagination of consumers. The leader of the vinegar market, Sarson's brand, is constantly looking for the reasons why traders should exhibit their products, and consumers agree to pay more for Sarson's vinegar than for similar products under their own supermarket brand. One of the differences between Sarson's vinegar is the lid that makes it possible to use the slogan “Shake Sarson's” based on a word-play.This feature, in combination with the new paint application technologies, allowed SMP to develop a promotion that became the gold medalist of the competition of the Sales Promotion Institute in 1995. On the bottle labels were applied special paint, entering into a chemical reaction with vinegar, hidden inscriptions. The label had to be sprinkled with vinegar, as a result of which a message appeared about the winning prize in the amount of from 1 to 1000 pounds sterling. Also offered coupons for 1 pound sterling at purchase of goods of the McCain's trademark and coupons for a discount of 20 pence at the next purchase.Promoters had far-reaching plans: to increase sales, stop the decline in market share, increase consumer interest, justify the premium cost of products, offer an incentive to make repeated purchases, increase the use value of the product, highlight it against the store brands of vinegar, and strengthen advertising appeal . The organizers even managed to increase Sarson's market share. The "highlight" of the promotion was the original use of the new paint application technology in order to offer a standard set of prizes. An interesting and relevant solution.Questions for self-testCan you call a prize a 20-pence discount coupon on your next purchase?If the producers of Sarson's vinegar wanted to offer the participants the main prize in the amount of £ 1 million, what conditions would they have to meet?Example number 2
The virtual stock game from the Times newspaperIn 2001, PIMS-SCA, together with the Times newspaper and the financial news agency Bloomberg, conducted a virtual stock game, whose members got a chance to become a millionaire. The action was a tremendous success for the Times, Bloomberg and everyone. More than 154 thousand people took part in the game, more than 300 thousand portfolios of securities were registered.The Times newspaper provided a password for participating in an online game. Anyone could, by going to the game's website at www / thetimes.co.uk / fantasyshares, register their securities portfolio, which had 10 shares with a total fund value of 1 million pounds sterling. At any point in the game, participants could register an unlimited number of portfolios. Over the next 10 weeks, the newly-made “stock speculators” sold and bought stocks, trying to get the maximum profit.For 10 weeks, one Tim Mitchell won £ 100,000, increasing the initial value of his virtual shares by 30%. If Tim were among the best players in any three categories at the same time, he would also receive a bonus of 900 thousand pounds and the status of a millionaire. Weekly prizes were awarded to participants whose stock prices rose the fastest. These bonus prizes, which cost £ 250,000, were insured by PIMS-SCA and included the Sunseeker model yacht, a luxurious weekend gastronomic tour at Hennessy's Château de Banole and a whole garage of Lotus cars. The total value of prizes offered to participants in this promotion was £ 3 million.PIMS-SCA helped the Times and Bloomberg achieve their goals, and for a fixed fee. She participated in the development of the game in a safe online environment and insured a large-scale prize pool offered by promoters to consumers.Example number 3
How to make a million in a break in the Worthington Cup final matchOn February 25, 2001, Worthington, the beer sponsor of the English Football League Cup, offered three lucky people a chance to win £ 1 million.Eighty thousand spectators watched as the most large-scale promotion in the company's history ended during the half-time break. The insurance of the prize money, the development and evaluation of the agency engaged in PIMS-SCA. The opportunity to become the protagonists of the grand event was received by two participants of the “on package” type promotion, which was held for the bitter beer Cream Flow Bitter.To win £ 1 million, two finalists needed to cope with five tests of football skills.- Task 1. To score a soccer ball into the goal from the 25-yard line (23 meters).- Task 2. The participants competed with each other, punching a penalty shoot-out at the gates of the former goalkeeper of the England football team Chris Woods. The winner of this stage immediately received a cash prize of 25 thousand pounds sterling and proceeded to the next task.- Task 3. It was necessary for the ball to fly through a given target. For this, the winner received 50 thousand pounds.- Task 4. The task is the same as in the third stage, but the diameter of the target is reduced, and the cash prize is raised to 200 thousand pounds sterling.- Task 5. To win £ 1 million, the participant had to score five penalties out of five possible at the gate of Chris Woods.With the support of the audience, the participant won 50,000 pounds sterling, and the Worthington brand achieved a high level of consumer awareness and caused a huge public outcry.Example number 4
Cadbury Txt'n'Win Promotion When Cadbury chocolate manufacturers decided to hold a “on package” promotion to stimulate sales of their chocolate bars, without resorting to traditional methods, but using new technological solutions, they turned to PIMS-SCA and Triangle agencies Communications.Due to the fact that the UK residents send more than one billion text messages from their mobile phones every month and this way of exchanging information is becoming increasingly popular among representatives of all age groups, companies are now actively using this means of communication to stimulate sales. Among the major manufacturers, Cadbury was one of the first to use the advantages of such a means of communication and applied it during its promotion Txt'n'Win (“Send a text message and win”).To be able to win one of the cash prizes (a PlayStation gaming console, Palm PDA, DVD player, or TV), participants simply needed to buy a Cadbury chocolate bar in an action package and send a message with text printed on the wrapper from a mobile phone. The winners of the promotion learned about their winnings from an incoming SMS message.Cadbury took advantage of the professional competence of PIMS-SCA, thereby raising consumer awareness of the brand, reducing its costs and insuring against financial risk. Consumers liked such an entertaining way to join the promotion, and Cadbury became the leader in consumer interaction.Example number 5
Diageo Diageo Company conducted promotions using SMS-advertising to promote their brands Guinness and Smirnoff. This included a contest, the participants of which were required to answer three questions. The prize - a free portion of an alcoholic drink (or two servings for the price of one) - was received at one of the indicated bars at a certain time and on a certain day, showing an SMS to the bartender on his mobile phone informing him of the winnings.In the future, instead of an SMS message, it will be possible to send a special code to the winners, which the bartender considers using a special device attached to the bar counter. Many promoters have nothing against such mass mailings of their offers and are glad that this “viral marketing” provides an opportunity to increase sales.Example number 6
Faber & FaberIn some market sectors, sales are rarely used to stimulate sales, and this allows manufacturers to use unusual methods in other areas. One such sector is the book trade. Publishers face a number of problems: 60% of bookstore visitors do not make purchases; people usually buy books on impulse; it is difficult to make a separate book more noticeable against the background of other books on the shelf. The solution is to release several major books that need to be placed on the most prominent places in stores to convince consumers to browse and then buy these books.On behalf of Faber & Faber, the agency Triangle Communications took over. Its specialists came up with the book tower team, using twenty-five titles, four copies of each, as building materials. The tower was crowned with the work with the expressive name "How to become a millionaire." Consumers were invited to take part in the competition, and to complete the tasks it was necessary to use tips from the books of the "tower". The participants who passed the qualifying stage had to fight in the final: it was necessary to read a brief content of a certain book, and then come up with a name for it. The winner was guaranteed a cash prize of 10,000 pounds sterling, and it was also given the opportunity to get not 10,000, but 1 million pounds, just attending the awards ceremony (the writer Melvin Bragg was appointed as the moderator). At the ceremony, the winner had to choose one of 100 books arranged in the form of a tower. At nine in nine of them, there was a check for 10 thousand pounds, and only one on the check contained a sum of 1 million pounds sterling.The organizers of the action did not ignore the resellers, who were also invited to participate in the action of a similar thematic focus. Bookstores needed to send photographs of book exposures. For this, the merchants were guaranteed a cash prize of £ 500 and were given the opportunity to "convert" this amount of £ 10,000 through the same mechanism that was used in the case of book store buyers. And already out of competition a prize of 500 pounds and the ability to turn them into 10,000 were provided to the most successful reseller.This action "took by storm" the book market, increasing the level of sales of books by the publishing house Faber & Faber by 15% during the campaign. The promotion received significant support from individual stores and chains, and the Dillons chain of stores held it for two months. The action caused a wide public resonance - among other things, the question of how one of the authors who fell into the “tower”, the famous poet and playwright Thomas Eliot, was actively discussed. According to the writer's widow, Mr. Eliot would take such an event positively.In our time, contests are held quite rarely, since it is believed that ordinary consumers do not like literary tasks. However, literature lovers who buy books in stores are among the people who enjoy these tasks. So, taking into account this peculiarity of their consumers, the organizers did the right thing, choosing a competition from all the varieties of prize promotions. In addition, it gave them the full right to require proof of purchase to participate in the promotion. The competition was designed in such a way that the participants had to familiarize themselves with the presented books and make a purchase - this was exactly what the customer of the promotion wanted.Faber & Faber made no secret of the fact that players have little chance of getting a million pounds sterling. Newspapers told how the company managed to compensate for the risk by betting with the bookmaker Ladbrokes. The company did the right thing by not hiding information about the low probability of winning the top prize. Buyers would still “figure out” this, but Faber & Faber’s reputation would have been dealt a serious blow. Openness avoided this, and the company's image has even improved.In many other sectors of the market, such a promotion could be considered old-fashioned. But from the point of view of representatives of the book market, this solution was notable for its novelty and efficiency, as well as a clear focus on achieving specific goals.Questions for self-testIn what other retail sectors, in your opinion, could this type of promotion be held? And in which sectors would it not succeed?What do you think, is it effective to use the scheme of instant winnings to stimulate sales of books, and the contest with the final stage - for the sale of vinegar?
Conclusion
Each of the five types of prize promotions has its advantages, and each can be used to achieve different sales promotion goals. It is extremely important to understand what are the differences between the prize shares of different types. This is one of the most effective methods of sales promotion, but, as a rule, their potential is quickly exhausted.
Advertising texts must be carefully checked. In most cases, it does not hurt to issue the appropriate insurance. Organizers of prize promotions can show their creative potential. The main advantage of such activities is that most of the costs remain constant. The legal framework governing the implementation of the prize promotions is complex and lack clear language. States make separate laws governing the organization of gambling, lotteries and tote. But all these laws are made without taking into account the needs of promoters.
Prize promotions are an extremely effective means of stimulating sales, as major British newspapers have seen on a national scale, starting with the Times and ending with Sun. It is necessary to follow their example and seek recommendations from specialists before conducting any prize promotions, except the simplest ones.
