Marcomm.info

From MediaLife:

Handing out free samples to promote your services is pretty old hat. But then there’s never been a free sample quite like this.
The box itself looks like any other home pregnancy test. But this pregnancy test isn’t for women. It’s for men.

It’s called the ReadyDaddy pregnancy test, and it was distributed on the streets of towns across Israel in May as part of an alternative media campaign for Israeli HMO Clatit, one of the nation’s major medical services.
The HMO wanted to promote its pregnancy services among young couples, but it knew that its message would get lost if it reached out to young women, who are already bombarded with pregnancy-related promotions and advertisements.

“The tests were active, and if a men took the test, the result would always come out ‘not ready’ (unless the man was pregnant),” Eyal Gan-mor, ReadyDaddy was a bit hit with those who received it. A few men actually took the test, and many more logged on to the associated ReadyDaddy web site, which directed surfers to information about Clatit pregnancy services.

“The top sticker is a coupon for $5 off any $20 purchase at CVS. The coupon pulls off to reveal a second sticker, an ad for CVS that stays on the bill when it leaves your wallet and goes back into circulation.”

Well done, very targeted.

I think that the current crisis should stop the “forcing to consume” attitude which naturally create more waste than richness. We have the opportunity to “falsely” embrace environmental issues while still forcing our public to buy.

Earlier this year the European Court of Justice ruled that member states cannot ban BOGOF promotions. That was said to Belgium, but later in the UK the Department of Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs began to put pressure on stores to target food waste: they ask supermarket heads to offer half-price discounts on perishable foods instead of BOGOF deals.

Now, in appearance there’s no difference between “Buy One Get One Free” and “Buy One Pay Half”. The money transit between shops and customers is the same.

On the other hand, the two options are very different.
Besides the fact that the customer perception of the first one is highly more positive, that one put the client into a buying loop that tends to provoke a double-buy (or the buy of larger-packages) for almost everything possible. Which means, obviously, more turnover for the shop.
So, it’s not so easy to force distribution channels avoid such promotions: you’re simply telling them to cut revenue.

But people are smarter, and even more now they have less value in their pockets.
So, why not:

• make the BOGOF mechanism work with multiple accounts (one consumer pays, another consumer gets the second item)?
• limit these type of promotions to “organic”, “natural”, “environmental friendly” products?
• enlarge the BOGOF to set of products (you buy a toothpaste and get either a tuna can or a pack of cereals or …)?

Marketing has to evolve, give solutions to social problems and embrace the new trends.

Smarter people need smarter shops, who need smarter companies.
I’m not talking about environment, that’s only an excuse.
I’m only trying to suggest an even better way to do business selling a lot of stuff to people.