SALES PROMOTION SPECIAL REPORT

Why there's no shame, and a lot of sense, in updating successful promotion ideas. By Brian aliver

Cook ... 'if one partiCular scheme provides the right creative solution, why not make full use of it?'A few years ago, the gloom ofharrassed motorists was lifted by aspate of car stickers which featuredcopywriters' gems such as: "Oldgolfers never die, they only losetheir balls". If such a sticker hadbeen produced for sales promotionexecutives, it would probably haveread: "Old sales promotions neverdie, they are simply dusted downand used again ... and again ...and again".

Not quite as funny, admittedly.But, as most sales promotionexperts seem to agree, it is true.

Over the past 12 months inparticular, there has been a notice-able turning back of the clock as faras the sales promotion activities ofa number of major brands areconcerned. Forexample, McVitieshas launched a modern version ofthe "Tide man" promotion firstseen in the 1960s; Shell has relaun-ched its "Make money" scheme;and Esso has responded by bring-ing back its famous free glassespromotion.

Meanwhile, the latest printingtechnology has enabled spot-the-ball competitions to make a signifi-cant comeback in the form ofsophisticated scratch-card promo-tions. Even trading stamps -which fell out of favour in the

inflation-ridden late 1970s - areback. And old-style collectionpromotion techniques - such asPG Tips's picture cards and Kensi-tas cigarette coupons - are stillgoing strong.

As if to prove that "old isbeautiful", Kelloggs has evenstarted putting free novelties in-side its cereal packs again, for thefirst time in ten years.

"Old sales promotion ideas nev-er really die because there are nonew promotional techniques -just variations on old themes," saysKelloggs's sales promotion mana-ger, Jeremy Sandys-Wynch. Hebelieves there are only a few basictechniques - such as coupons,free offers, competitions and col-lections.

"Just as people associate Procterand Gamble and Daz with plasticdaffodils, Kelloggs Cornflakes isprobably best remembered forin-pack giveaways," says Sandys-Wynch. "We decided to use thistechnique again because we ha-ven't used it for so long."

He points out that lenticulars(3D-printed images that appear tomove) are currently being givenaway free inside packets of Corn-flakes; Letraset transfers are beinginserted in Rice Crispies packs;

free badges were offered withpacks of Ricicles last spring; andBMX stickers are being includedwith Frosties.

But instead of simply puttingnovel giveaways inside each pack,as in the past, Kelloggs is nowlinking the free inserts more close-ly with the creative themes of itsvarious TV commercials. For ex-ample, the Rice Crispies transfersfeature cartoon characters fromthe brand's TV advertising, andthe badges offered with Riciclesfeatured Henry's Cat - the BBCTV cartoon character which isusedon Ricicles packaging and in itsmerchandising. Similarly, FrostiesBMX stickers (which feature thebrand's long-serving Tony Tigercharacter) also tie in with Kelloggssponsorship of televised BMXraces

"There is a sort of cyclicalpattern to sales promotion any-way," says Sandys-Wynch. "Butwe have found it more cost effec-tive to get back into inserts nowbecause we have installed mecha-nical droppers which reduce thehigh labour cost of manual inser-tion."

Similarly, Shell's "MakeMoney" scheme - which wasoriginally launched in 1966- was

updated last year by promotionalgames specialist Don Marketing.Through the use of the latestprinting technology, the 1984 ver-sion was produced for one -third ofthe cost of the original promotion."We redesigned the game piece sothat it formed part of the envelopeitself and then used a specialcamouflage design and securityinks on the reverse side to preventpeople from seeing through theenvelope," explains John Dono-van, chairman of Don Marketing.

"We normally pride ourselveson developing new ideas andconcepts - but the 'Make Money'scheme had been so successful thatwe felt it could be used again," addsDonovan. "It took us four years topersuade Shell to run it again."

Ironically, Shell's relaunch ofthe "Make Money" scheme forcedits arch-rival, Esso, to respond byresurrecting another old-stylepromotion - a free glasses offerwhich had been enormously suc-cessful in the early 1970s.This typeof promotion - first launched in1971 - offers free glasses tomotorists who spend a certainamount on petrol in Esso fillingstations. The only change from theold scheme was a reduction in theamount of petrol which had to be

Thursfield ... 'flowers are alive'bought to qualify for a free giass.

"It was the first time we had usedthe promotion on any scale since1973," explains Esso's sales prom-otion manager, Tony Wingrave."We started again because Shellfired the first broadside with therelaunch of the 'Make Money'promotion and we felt we had torespond with appropriatestrength. We decided to launch afree glasses offer again because weknow it works for us."

Meanwhile, Steve Cook, adirector of sales promotion consul-tancy Francis Killingbeck Bain,observes: "If a promotion has beenenormously successful, and hasshown that it works, there is noshame in repeating it. If oneparticular scheme provides theright creative solution, why notmake full use of it?"

Cook cites the example ofMcVi-ties, which launched a free musiccassette offer two years ago. Thepromotion proved to be so success-ful, he says, that the companydecided to repeat the music offerthe following year. "Obviously thetime scale for repeating an oldpromotion will vary according tothe product concerned," addsCook. "For example, a petrolcompany may feel a change of ~

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was in an area of the market whichis not known for running salespromotion activities," he says."But it was effectively a free trialsample for London Transport."

While sales promotion special-ists are now developing new ver-sions of old techniques, Thursfieldnotes that this is often becauseconsumers' needs and require-ments are also changing. He pointsout that the offer of free plasticdaffodils is, on the face of it, one ofthe few old promotional ideas thathas not been resurrected so far.However, Thursfield says the freeflowers technique isstill very muchalive.

"Plastic flowers have been re-placed by fresh flowers or plantsbecause that's what consumerswant," says Thursfield. "Freehouse plants, tie-ups with Interf-lora and 'uni-rose' promotionshave all evolved from the plasticdaffodil."

One old-style technique whichhas not survi.ved is the "divi" - thedividend payments that had beenpart and parcel of the Co-opmovement for years. Like theRobertsons golliwog, the Be-RoRecipe Book and the Miss Pearscompetition, the Co-op "divi" hadbecome part of the image of thebrand being promoted. In theCo-op's case, however, it washampering efforts to update itsold-fashioned image. So it had togo. In early 1984, several societiesbegan to phase out the scheme and,last September, the Co-operativeWholesale Society introduced astring of more modern promotionsand incentives - such as money-off vouchers, discount cards andeven a special offer funeralscheme.

Some long-running promotions,such as the picture cards offered inBrooke Bond tea packets, arechanged on a regular basis andtherefore manage to retain con-sumer interest. The first freepicture card was inserted in quarterpound packets of Brooke Bond teain 1952- shortly after the war- ~.

Stephen Callender, associatedirector of sales promotion consul-tancy Kingsland Lloyd Petersen,admits that the discovery of newideas is very difficult. There areonly a handful of basic techniques,he says, and most sales promotioncompanies are simply developingthese ideas and making them tie inwith a client's marketing needsmuch more closely.

"There have been tremendousleaps forward in the way thesebasic techniques are being used,"says Callender. "In the past fewyears, people have been makingolder ideas work much harder.They are showing that sales prom-otion is another medi'um which cantalk about the client's product atthe point of purchase."

As an example of this approach,Callender points to the "Clapper-board" promotion which his agen-cy recently ran for Truman's Hol-sten Export brand. The promotionwas basically an old-style competi-tion - although it was closelylinked to the "X-Certificate" lagertheme used by Holsten in itscinema advertising. All elementsof the promotion carried a movietheme.

For example, Holsten drinkersin pubs received a free "Clapper-board" containing several simplequestions about films and partici-pants who got the answers rightwon free drinks. But the promo-tion also involved a competitionfor cinemagoers, which ran incinemas in which the HolstenExport commercial was beingscreened. Point-of-sale displayswere set up in cinema foyers, andcinemagoers could either use thecompetition entry to claim a freedrink at the nearest Holsten stock-ist or enter a competition to win atrip to Hollywood.

Meanwhile, BLP's Thursfieldpoints to the "Free trip home"promotion which his companylaunched on New Year's Eve onbehalf of Hofmeister and LondonTransport. "It may have seemedhighly novel and original because it

...pace is necessary at certain timesof the year. Looking at the situa-tion laterally, it could decide tooffer free tankards as a differenttype of collectable, instead of freeglasses."

According to David Thursfield,managing director of Wimbledon-based sales promotion consultancyBelow The Line Projects (BLP):"The vast majority of promotionsinvolve dressing up an old techni-que." He points to the McVities"Money maids" promotion ]8months ago which, he says, wassimply a modern version of the"Tide man" scheme that had notbeen seen for 20 years. Under theold promotion, a white-coatedman from Tide would call atrandom on houses in 'a particulararea. If the housewife could show apacket of Tide and answer a simplequestion, she received a reward. Asimilar mechanic was used in theMcVities promotion, says Thurs-field.

"This technique has probablynot been resurrected as muchbecause of the high costs in-volved," says Thursfield. "To do itproperly, you need to have peopleon the road and you also have toadvertise the promotion to letpeople know that itwill be happen-ing in their area."

Thursfield also believes that oldpromotions never die: "They cansimply become too commonplaceand consequently go out offashion. In such a situation, theyeither need a well-earned rest orthey have to be dressed up in someway to make them look new andfresh again."

He firmly believes that promo-tions which have shown they can beeffective should always be "takenout of the cupboard again" if theyare likely to be appropriate to aparticular client's brief. "There isno reason to ignore a particularmechanic just because it has beentried and tested by a lot of people.A way has to be foundofbringingitup to date and making it relevant tothe brand concerned."

"Make Money" ... so successful that Shell was persuaded to use it again

CAMPAIGN 14 JUNE 1985

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... time rationing of tea was ended- and picture cards are still beingoffered with Brooke Bond's PGTips brand. A new series is laun-ched every nine months.

As in the past, collectors canrequest a copy of a free album inwhich to keep their cards.Although albums are now mostlymailed direct from Brooke Bond,they were originally sold for a fewpence each through traditionalgrocers. But since the distributionof tea products began to spread tomore sophisticated retail outlets(which were not interested instocking the albums), the numberissued each year fell from a peak ofnearly 2.4 million copies in 1968(for the History of the Motor Carseries) to 750,000 in the mid-1970s.About 300,000 albums are ex-pected to be mailed out this year.

But Brooke Bond's marketingmanager, John Nicolson, says thecompany has continued to usepicture cards because research hasshown that they still work for thebrand: "It isvery expensive to printhundreds of millions of picturecards each year and wewouldn't doit if it wasn't worthwhile. Eachseries of 40 cards has some educa-tional value and this has becomepartofthe brand. PGTips isseen asa safe, reliable brand for the home.

That wouldn't be the case if weoffered bubblegum-type picturecards.

"The theme of each seriesoften enables us to run otherpromotions which can be related tothe picture cards."

Cigarette coupons are anotherexample of the collection promo-tion technique. They were highlysuccessful in the 1960s, when mostcigarette brands were runningcoupon schemes. This tactic wasabandoned by many tobacco com-panies in the early 1970s, when theadvent of added-value kingsizebrands prompted amajorreview ofpromotional strategies.

However, Gallaher's Kensitasbrand has never stopped offeringcoupons. A new Kensitas giftcatalogue is produced every twoyears and, while most coupons areredeemed by mail order, Kensitaseven has its own gift showroom inGlasgow (Scotland is the brand'sstrongest market). "Kensitas hassuch a strong following - especial-ly in Scotland - that we decidedsome time ago to retain the couponscheme," explains Gallaher'sMike Jenkins.

The trading stamp - which stillaccounts for eight per cent of allpromotional activity in the US -was another collection promotion

1'HEq",Donovan ... stamp comeback?technique which flourished in theearly 1970s but was later badly hitby cut-price wars and inflation. Italso looks like making a comebackin the UK.

In August 1983, the Associationof British Travel Agents put itsbacking behind the launch of a new

company, Holiday Stamps, whichoffered consumers stamps withgoods bought through selectedoutlets, including grocers, CTNs,off-licences and filling stations.These coupons could be redeemedagainst holidays booked throughABT A travel agents.

Last November, Don Marketinglaunched what it hopes will be thefirst national trading stamps opera-tion since the demise of GreenShield.

According to chairman Don-ovan, the company has alreadysigned up several hundred gar-ages and grocery outlets and istalking to amajor chain of butchersand "a large retail organisation".To avoid the heavy financial bur-den of setting up Green Shield-style national redemption centres,Don Marketing has tied in itstrading stamps with Bonusplan'sBonusbond scheme.

"This gives us maximum flexibil-ity at the redemption stage," hesays.

"Consumers can save up thestamps by visiting a particularretailer, then, when their saverbook is full, they can exchange itfor Bonusbonds which can beredeemed at any Bonusbondoutlet. "

Donovan says the scheme is

being promoted through TVadvertising in the South West. "WewiU extend the TV advertising aswe build up outlets inother parts ofthe country. We aim to have anetwork of 1,000 sites by thesummer and our long-term objec-tive is to establish a new nationaloperation for trading stamps."

He adds: "Inflation was one ofthe biggest problems facing tradingstamps companies, but that nowappears to be under control. Wefeel the climate is right again fortrading stamps."

Sales promotion specialists be-lieve that the rapid development ofnew technology -such asvideotexand Viewdata - is likely to have asignificant impact on the way inwhich "old" promotions are re-vamped and re-used.

For example, BLP director RoyClouter points to a recent retailpromotion in which a treasure huntwas organised to promote PrestelTV sets: "Customers were invitedto use a Prestel terminal inside thestore to pick out the 'square' inwhich the treasure was buried," hesays.

"It was an electronic versionof a hole-punch card competition,which in turn was an updatedversion of the old spot-the-balltechnique." •

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