Come Fly with Me

FRESH IDEA:  I love when “would it be great if we…” ideas actually come to life. And this is a great example in gaining press buzz.  Delta Airlines is the Official Carrier of the NY Rangers.  The Rangers are currently in the Stanley Cup playoffs with the NJ Devils.  Delta is offering a a free charter flight for select Rangers fans Saturday, May 19th.  The Delta flight departs from LaGuardia, NY for Newark, NJ at 10 a.m. And the flight is going to take all of 17 minutes total.  These fans will then be whisked to the next Rangers/Devils playoffs game in Newark via ground transport.  Indeed, there is a return trip back, too.  In order to qualify, you needed to have:  filled out a form online by yesterday; have tickets to Game 3; and qualify to fly with FAA regulations.  Winners are chosen first come, first served to fill the plane.  And there is an overlay to win two game tickets for next NY Rangers playing season.

Now, what I like about this program is that: it’s just fun PR…no payback, no sales bumps, just press buzz.  And what a great, once in a lifetime opportunity!  For a fan, this is excellent!  Particularly as the NJ Devils had a “no blue” campaign in place for keeping Rangers fans away from their home ice on Saturday.  Nice leverage of a partnership!

Hey, hope your weekend is equally as delightful and lightheartedly fun.  TASTY TREND:  Buzz Baby

Leap It

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  Happy Leap Day to you!  I’ve got the balloons out in the blog post to make it look festive –nice, right?!  Leave it to marketing folks to turn a unique, once-every-four-years day into a reason to talk about your brand.  I love it!  Here are some of the ideas I’ve seen.  I have not included the numerous free shipping and 29% off deals, nor the creative headlines and subject lines.  Rather, I’ve chosen to focus in on some of the more brand-activating and buzz worthy.  Feel free to save these ideas for the next go ’round in four years…

Many happy returns: Zappos — But anything on Zappos.com on Leap Day and get four years to decide if your merchandise is a keeper.  Zappos typically offers a one-year-365-day return policy, and they are known for excellence in customer service. So nice little PR, service-slant idea/offer.

Pah-leassse…just one more day: Disney — Disney Land and the Magic Kingdom are making families’ dreams come true by keeping the parks open for 24 hours — 6am today until 6am on March 1st.  It’s a nice, feel-good offer that clearly takes a uniquely timed day and makes it more magical.

Happybirthleapyearday:  Outback — With over 1.7 million Facebook fans, Outback has chosen to celebrate one of their fans’ birthdays today — her name is Jenn, she was born on Leap Day, and her picture is now up in their profile shot.  Become a fan of Outback and post a birthday wish to Jenn on the Outback page, and get entered to win one of four, once-a-month Outback celebrations for the next four years with Outback (i.e., until the next Leap Day).  Four years worth of free food once a month!  Nice means of positioning Outback as a monthly-let’s-celebrate destination for consumers.

You can google leap day offers and you’ll see the numerous codes and percentage savings and freebies (including free cookies at Subway, yay free cookies!).  Hope your day is leapin’ good!  TASTY TREND:  Brand Activators, Socially Acceptable

More Pinterest

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  There’s Pinterest again…being mentioned in the press today with a lil’ 101 tutorial in USA Today: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/news/story/2012-01-17/how-to-pinterest-mark-smith/52615856/1

But alas…today’s post isn’t about belaboring the what’s, how’s and why’s, but rather, the what-now and what-else for Pinterest.  Specifically as it relates to marketing.  Go back with me to yesterday, sit at my desk, and read my Facebook newsfeed.  And a post for Threadless on Pinterest comes across.  It’s a sweeps:  re-pin a specific Threadless t-shirt design on Pinterest (which you can also purchase, by the way), and you may be selected to win the t-shirt.  Now sure, it’s simple, but what makes it so darn crunchy is that as marketers and marketing types try and get a hold on what on earth to do with Pinterest, here is a brand not only using it, but driving additional engagement and interest through the channel.  Sorta like a retweet sweeps.  Helps spread the word about a brand to others through influencers, hopes to gain momentum through an incentive, and is quick and easy for the consumer.  I like it!  I like it a lot!  What struck me was the “duh” factor…in that again, while trying to get a hold on the basics of this site, here is an easy, really good way to do more beyond boards and pins.  May I please also add that Threadless is a big first-to-try brand.  So they’re a really good one to friend/fan/follow/like just to see what they’re up to.  That…and they have super cool tees as chosen by their community.  When promotion meets Pinterest…love it!  TASTY TREND:  Social Curation

All That and…

FRESH IDEA:  …a bag of chips for charity!  You know me, I’ve seen my fair share of promotions and offers and marketing messages.  So when something new and fresh comes my way, it’s a good day!  Food Should Taste Good is the brand I can thank for making my day today, with a really cool twist on trial-advocacy-cause-social-sweeps.  Give this great idea a crunch…

Save. Snack. Support.  Not only has Food Should Taste Good turned their chip packaging pink in support of breast cancer organizations, but they’re raising $100k, too.  Here’s how:

Go to their Facebook page and click on the “Fight Breast Cancer” tab.  Accept an app to send your friends bags of chips for $2.50 each — $2.00 each if you buy 10+ (nice, low price point).  Decide how you wish to divide up the crunchy free goodness:  number of coupons/bags, and through a mailing address or through a Facebook post to the recipient’s wall.  (Yes, you can, and are encouraged to buy/send a coupon for a bag to yourself, too).  Share your information, including purchase details (credit card number, etc.).  Opt in (or not) to hear more from Food Should Taste Good.  And in 4-6 weeks — if you mailed it, your recipient will get a coupon good for a free bag of Food Should Taste Good chips.  Plus, you the giver are entered into a sweeps to win a year’s worth of free chips. too.

Now…some folks may say “But no one wants to give out their friends’ info.”  Here, I think they would  because 1. the friend is getting a “gift”, and 2. 100% — yes, 100% — of the $2.50 (or $2) goes toward a $100k being raised for breast cancer.  Wow…that’s good.  You gotta love a win-win-win-win (consumer, friend, cause, brand) all-round.  This program takes a feel-good and uses it to get passionates/fans to share the love and drive trial among potential new users.  My only complaint comes from the user experience when you’re done buying and sending and entering:  you’re stuck at a dead end.  No link back to Facebook.  No link to the Food Should Taste Good website.

Here’s the URL if you want to send someone a lil’ chip lovin’ and do something good: https://store.foodshouldtastegood.com/facebook

Feel free to send one my way on Facebook!  TASTY TREND:  Feeling Good About Doing Good; Experiential Traditional

Social Takeover

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  I got an email from Sharpie yesterday — love Sharpie markers.  And it told me about a YouTube homepage takeover planned for this Saturday, August 27th.  Basically, anyone, anywhere can submit (upload) a Sharpie-drawn image.  It can be anything…a doodle, a thought, a real drawing, anything.  So long as it was started with Sharpie — playing back their newest campaign (“Start with Sharpie” – ah ha!).  These images will then be streamed this Saturday on YouTube.  Again, anyone who submits gets posted.  You can also view submissions and give them stars, too.

Now, why is this so cool and crunchy?  Because it’s a first of its kind takeover from a brand.  And not only does it bring to life the new campaign, but it does so using its own fans and followers.  So whereas prior campaigns integrated celebs, this one is all about the real-life users.  No matter what your level of artistic skill…go ahead and try (or continue to use) our product, is what is being said.  Very nice invitational feel to drive trial and loyalty.  Very nice means of supporting a brand benefit of self-expression.  Love.  I think I need to draw a heart and submit it.  At the very least, go and check out the submissions.  They’re beyond drawings and into shoes and other creations.  They’ll make you smile.  TASTY TREND:  Here and Now; Socially Acceptable

Customization Craving

FRESH IDEA:  My Agency peeps are very intrigued by this Facebook offer from Jose Cuervo.  And I must admit, having seen my share of coupons and savings and rebates and the like throughout my career, this particular execution, indeed, is really quite unique.  It comes from Jose Cuervo, and you can go see it live on their facebook site.  But no worries, mi amigo, I’ll explain what makes it muy crunchy.  Here’s how it works:

“Coupon Confession” is a tab that lives on Jose Cuervo’s Facebook page.  It encourages you to “Admit you suck at making margaritas” in order to get savings on Jose Cuero’s pre-made margaritas.  You start by either snapping a shot of yourself using your web cam, or uploading a photo of yourself.  This image then gets plugged into your offer.  So if you’re in a state where the offer can be a coupon, your coupon will have your photo in a “frame” of sorts stating “suck-status” along with all the coupon copy and images.  If your state (like mine) requires a rebate, same deal.  The customized aspect is truly an interesting component because not only does it get printed on your redeemable offer, but you can also post it to your Facebook page — and if you share you “suck-status,” hey, you get rewarded with an extra dollar in your savings for your efforts!  Again, a coupon and a rebate are true hard-working promotions.  But the lil’ somethin’ somethin’ of the share-reward and the customization make the Jose Cuervo offer oh, so unique, ole!  I thought this execution was a nice, borrow-worthy idea for your next brainstorm.  Here’s the URL if you’d like to go check it our for yourself:  https://www.facebook.com/#!/cuervo?sk=app_169136079800111  And don’t feel badly…I don’t think you suck, at all.  TASTY TREND: Experiential Traditional

Facebook Facing Reality

CRUNCHY NUGGET:  I spent most of my career (almost 20 years *cough cough*) working at a marketing firm, specializing in consumer promotions.  It’s where I started and what I know and don’t even try and use the terms “sweepstakes” and “contest” interchangeably or I’ll have to correct you.  Anyway…So here I am.  In a non-promotional environment, working on a potential sweepstakes with Facebook.  And I’m faced with a dilemma.  Specifically:  in order to run any sort of promotion on FB, you need to use a third party application.  That’s what they say in their current parameters.  If you don’t oblige, you run the risk of your page and your work being taken down.  But what if the client doesn’t have the money to pay for an app?  What if they just want something simple and down and dirty?  And so you think…what about all of the sweeps and offers we’ve (or at least I’ve) seen that DON’T use an app on FB?  Post a photo of your home stocked with our product to win (no rules, no legal, just email us for more info; photos used as ongoing content).  Leave a comment on our wall about our product, how you’d use it, and one random winner will get a prize (no rules, no legal, no app, nada).  So…how come they can do it and get away with it?  *sigh* These are the two, real-life, very recent examples I shared with my sweeps admin, asking “why not our client, too?”  Well, my dear readers…here is where I want to share a piece of wisdom that one of my most trusted, favorite sweeps admins passed along to me.  Facebook promotions are like the highway.  There is a speed limit.  Sure, you can drive on it and go the speed that’s posted.  OR You can go 80 or higher or well beyond the limit, no one will stop you.  And you might get away with it.  Or…You may get caught. That’s the risk you take.  Alas…I’m sure many of my former colleagues already know this and live it.  But I thought it was a really good comparison and means of framing it out for a client.  That’s all for today. Live and learn.  TASTY TREND:  Socially Acceptable

Birthday Bargains & Brainfood

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  Hey, so yesterday was my birthday. Oh, thank you!  And as expected, over the past month I have received numerous customer marketing generated offers from among my favorite retailers and brands.  Did any strike me as “wow, that’s so unique and different!” Um…no, not really.  They all pretty much wanted me to spend money to save money, which is fine.  I’m good with birthday bargains.  But here’s what I did note and wanted to share:

Timing is everything – The communications I received were mostly through email.  A few postcards/DM pieces were received, too.  And most were sent well in advance of my actual birthday, giving me all of June to shop.  I did get a few exactly on the day, though, which can be seen as “hey that’s nice!” — limited time offer, compelling, feels much more personal than “to all June babies,” reason to use immediately, drives lots of slippage.  Or “where’ve ya been?!” — not much time to use the offer.  I dunno, I could be swayed either way by the timing issue.  But I guess I was the most surprised and delighted by the emails on the actual day as they felt the most “personal.”

No options to share – In today’s very social world, I think it’s a missed opportunity for brands and retailers to not give a share option to customer-specific offers.  Sure, you help limit your redemption costs by sticking to the list of loyals.  But as a consumer, there’s a nice, feel-good for being able to spread the love in your own honor to friends and family, whether or not they choose to use the deal.  Because at the end-of-the-(birth)day, a share option drives advocacy.

Low cost reason to shop – Having received so many offers to save while spending, I must say that I found the most compelling to be the ones with a $5 or $10 “gift card.”  I was more likely to act when the offer structure gave me the “gift card” to spend, rather than percentages off or free merchandise that the brand/retailer had selected as a gift.  Small bait to come on in and spend much more than five or ten dollars.  But again, one birthday girl’s opinion.

Gift to go – And in this age of smart phones, I must say that I was surprised not to receive any mobile offers.  Not even a traditional offer with a “send this to your phone” opportunity.  Oh well, there’s always next year.

So there you have it.  My two cents on this year’s birthday bargains.  No, need to send me a gift or a card.  Your readership is your gift to me (oh that’s good..right?!).  TASTY TREND:  Socially Acceptable; Go Mobile

Royally Wrong

CRUNCHY NUGGET:  Today’s post is a teaching moment.  Specifically:  when good ideas go wrong in execution.  Now, I’m trying not to be a bitter consumer here, so bear with me through the good, the bad, and the ugly…

The Good:  As a Gap shopper I received an email today letting me know about their “Royal Treatment” sweepstakes.  Indeed, leveraging the whole Will & Kate buzz in a non-linear way, nice. Go to any Gap store.  Get a special URL.  Find out if you’ve won their employee discount: 50% off for a whole year!  Wow, no wonder those Gap employees wear the clothing!  And sure enough…I had a little time today for myself.  So I could absolutely check it out.  Nice traffic driver.

The Bad: One sign at the front of the store, no other reminders.  None at check-out.  I had to ask the sales clerk about the sweeps.  Her response:  “Um…huh?  Oh.  Wait a second.”  (Goes to the back of the store and come out with a slip of paper.  Hand writes a copy of a URL from the slip of paper.)  “Here’s the web site.  There’s some sort of scanning code, but it’s really complicated.  Just go online and use this.”  I walked away with a handwritten slip of paper with a URL. Nothing printed.  And no smart phone/QR code instant experience as I later read was involved.  Zero employee support or enthusiasm.

The Ugly: Went home, went online, and the URL was bad.  No link, no entry, nada.  And when I googled the program, the only support was a PDF of the rules, which said that I needed to get a code at check-out and/or scan a code in store using my smart phone.  Oh, for the love of London.  What the what?!  Even though I do this sort of thing for a living, and absolutely knew my odds were horrible,  I felt cheated.

So…what can we learn from this royal mess up?  1.  Educate your sales teams – OR – leave them out of it.  Let POP do all the work and make it completely idiot-proof, e.g., I could have walked away with a printed piece and the rules and the URL from a simple take-one piece.  2.  Reward everyone – OK, so a coupon isn’t legally an “everybody wins” prize.  But it’s a good reason to feel OK as a loser, and gives you reason to come back and/or spend money.  3.  QR Codes still have a learning curve – Even the young and hip early-adopter-looking sales rep said it was “complicated.” I applaud the attempted usage, but come on…if that’s what it requires, make it big and bold and obvious and easy to all those who step foot into the store — employees and shoppers, alike.

By the way, I did what any bitter consumer would have done:  complained about it on their Facebook page!  We’ll see if this royal promotion has a fairy tale ending or not! Cheers!   TASTY TREND:  Experiential Traditional

Wedding Watchers

CRUNCHY NUGGETS:  Well hello there – I am BACK!  Although I was in London, I had to fly all the way across the Atlantic to come home to see this promotion from UK clothing retailer Boden.  Boden started in the UK, but is now primarily a catalog-driven business, offering clothing for Women, Men, Kids, etc.  Appealing to Anglophiles – pop culture fans – wedding lookie-lous, etc., Boden has developed a Royal Wedding themed sweeps and activities.  So just in time for the big day on April 29th, you can:

• Enter to win a Union Jack designed scarf.  It’s actually fun and pretty.  Simply select who, on a list, was NOT invited to Kate and William’s wedding. No worries, you click ’til you get them all correct — the beauty of a sweeps!
• Download Broadcast Bingo boards.  With phrases such as “fairy tale wedding,” “his mother’s ring,” listen closely while watching the wedding broadcast to hear what Boden feels are expected phrases (“stock phrases, platitudes, and cliches,” as the bingo rules suggest) to be uttered by journalists covering the big event.  And mark off on a bingo board (you supply the prizes).
• And for the Mini Boden crowd (i.e., kids), there are also activities such invitations, crown and castle making, and other spot-it/ticket-it games (an easier version of bingo).

The materials are a fun, low-cost, engaging means for a brand with UK roots to leverage a big UK happening.  And drive data capture, of course, with the sweeps component — an important element for a retailer that needs data.

So how about you?  Do you plan on getting up early to watch the coverage or just see the recap later in the day?  It’s at 11am London time — that’s five hours ahead of the East Coast, peeps.  CNN is starting at 4am EST, oof!  TASTY TREND:  Pop Culture Promo