‘Is there such a thing as promo fatigue?’
Q: We’re a struggling medium-sized consumer company. We were early in joining the bandwagon of those who are into consumer promos. Generally speaking, they’ve been working for us although we noticed that while sales continue to increase, the size of those increases has become lesser and lesser.
There was one time when your column said that promos do not damage brand equity. And that’s why we went heavy into promos. However, recently we were in a country club gathering of business friends and one of the guests, an expat ad agency head, mentioned that we ought to be careful because of “consumer promo fatigue.”
Is there such a thing as promo fatigue? Will consumers really get tired of the same promo campaign like the now very popular raffles?
A: We take it that one reason you’re worried is because you must be heavy in raffles. If indeed you are, and as you hinted you are on that SAME promo again and again and again, you should be worried because your raffle will soon be hit by promo fatigue among your target consumers. How soon? Most likely it will be determined by what you’re seeing in “the size of those (sales) increases becoming lesser and lesser” with each repeated raffle promo.
That previous column of ours where we said that promos do not damage brand equity actually already talked about promo fatigue although we did not use that term. Here’s our more direct answer to your two related questions.
Your promo is more likely to be a victim of consumer fatigue when your choice of consumer promo device is based on a successful past experience or on what your competitors are doing. This is what’s happening to raffles. You know this because you referred to these promo devices as “now very popular” among your circle of competitors.
Too much of the same thing is bad. In your case or the case of repeated raffles, this same common sense tells you that it’s only a matter of time when consumers will get tired of them and stop buying.
So what’s the more valid and correct basis for choosing a promo device? Our research on this issue tells us that the right basis is the target consumer response your promo campaign is after.
Once you’re set on this target response, it’s then that you choose the promo device that fits or best fits that target response.
For example, if you’re after creating and enhancing awareness, raffles are appropriate.
But suppose you’re after getting non-customers to try your product, raffles won’t work as well as product sampling. Or let’s say you want to enhance brand image or build goodwill, raffles are unfit for that purpose. It’s sponsorship that’s more suitable. This is the prescription that Bob Blattberg who wrote the best-seller book on sales promotion recommends based on his own research on promo effectiveness.
So as you can see, to start the promo choice process by selecting immediately the consumer promo device is like putting the cart before the horse. It assumes that the same promo device will work for other purposes or for other target consumer responses. Sometimes that’s true but most of the time it’s not.
What if your competitors are also after enhancing awareness and they’re also into raffles? How do you avoid promo fatigue?
Here’s what our research experience say. Choose a different promo device that’s also known to enhance awareness. Sweepstakes or lottery will serve that purpose as well.
Or if you’re going after goodwill building and competition is already into sponsorship, then allocate your promo budget for advocacy support which will gain for you goodwill as well.
What’s peculiar about consumer promo as a marketing mix lever is that there’s so many of them. And because there’s a lot to choose from, you should be careful about your basis for choosing.
Previously successful promos or success promo of a competitor is a flawed basis. Both assume that your target consumers will do what you want them to do even if what you want consumers to do now differs from what you or your competitor wanted from them before.
To summarize then our Rx’s and for you to inoculate yourself against the promo fatigue virus, do the following:
1.) Avoid choosing your promo device based on what succeeded in the past or what competitors are up to.
2.) Instead, start the choice process from defining your target consumer response or responses in going into a promo campaign. It’s only after you’ve made specific your target consumer response that you should then select the appropriate promo device.
3.) If a competitor or competitors are also after the same target response and are also into the same promo device, then be different. Select a different promo device but which is known to serve the same target consumer response.
Keep your questions coming. Send them to us at [email protected] or [email protected]. God bless!
