Martin Croft explores why holiday and leisure prizes and incentives have even more impact on consumers during a recession.

The latest Retail Price Index figures, published in mid October 2011, have shown a rise in inflation to over 5%, news which has seems to have come as a shock to the UK media – but which will have come as no shock at all to the average UK family.

With the recession continuing to bite, more and more UK consumers are responding to promotions which offer them the chance to win a luxury holiday or even just enjoy savings on a day out with the kids.

As Zoe Elie, head of sales, travel & leisure promotions at P&MM Sales Promotion, observes: “With household budgets continuing to be stretched, families are looking for ways of maintaining the lifestyle they used to have by searching around for the best deals and promotions which gives them the opportunity to experience something either for nothing or at a reduced price, whether its free flight vouchers or a trip to the cinema.”

Will Redfern, director of incentive specialist Golden Goose Travel, agrees that “people have had to cut back on their holidays so, for consumers, the chance to win a free holiday is more appealing than ever.”

As a result, he adds, “brands have recognised that holidays, or financial help with them, is high on the list of what the consumer wants.”

That doesn’t mean marketers can afford to be lazy, however: in fact, with the explosion in holiday and leisure related activity, brands and their agencies have to work even harder to get cut-through in an increasingly crowded promotional landscape.

Zoe Elie argues that prizes and incentives need to be “aspirational locations that reflect the lifestyle of the target audience. This means offering something that will engage and excite the consumer, but that is not so far removed from what they usually do that it creates a ‘it’s not for us’ attitude.”

For example, Elie suggests, “if the target audience usually holidays at a budget UK holiday park, then offering a similar experience but at a more upmarket resort is likely to attract a high level of interest. Likewise, if the target demographic is likely to holiday in Tuscany, then offering them two weeks in Benidorm isn’t going to motivate them to enter the competition.”

And it’s no longer just a matter of where a holiday may be or what kind of accommodation is on offer: marketers recognise that consumers are now far more likely to be attracted by the idea of something tailored for their own special needs.

Simone Moretta, managing director of prize and incentive company IMS, points out that “in the past eighteen months, we have seen an increase in the number of requests for more complex and open-ended holiday and travel-related prizes.”

For example, IMS recently worked with a major beer brand on a promotion where consumers could win dream weekends individually tailored to the winner’s requests. These ended up including parties in a bar in Cardiff, a murder mystery weekend, a reunion for ex-soldiers in Liverpool and a weekend stay at a lodge in Scotland, all including a drinks reception and subtle branding for the beer brand.

Moretta says: “The winner was given control over their destination and input into their activities, accommodation and how many guests they could bring. This allowed the winner to feel that they created their own exciting experience and was also a great way to secure shelf-space and coverage, while remaining a cost-controlled exercise for the brand and for us as the prize creation and fulfilment agency.”

Justine Clement of prize and incentive specialists Unmissable stresses that “offers that gets consumers really excited are those that are highly targeted to them and bring the brand ethos alive. So the question is, does the brand know who their consumers are? That’s important information to decide upon before choosing the right prize.”

For example, she says, Unmissable has been working with promotional marketing agency Wax Communications on the McVities VIP Club “which features prizes carefully tailored to the target audience, each with a VIP element.”

Nick Deyong, managing director of prize management company NDL, agrees that brands should do more than simply pick a random holiday location and slap it on pack. There should be some connection between the brand or its main marketing message and the prize on offer, he argues – so, for example, Kit Kat’s ‘Perfect Break’ promotion, running until the end of May 2012, ties into the brand proposition – ‘Have a Break, Have a Kit-Kat’ – with 10 ‘Perfect Break’ packages worth up to £10,000 each.

Deyong admits that “the big trend right now seems to be anything that is either aspirational, indulgent or financially unobtainable to the consumer, such as New York, Hollywood and Cape Town, as well as long haul beach destinations.”

However, travel-related promotions do not have to involve a long-haul flight to an exotic location, Deyong adds. “Family holidays are also featuring much more. As with the beach holidays, we are really shopping around when it comes to destinations that will offer the usual ‘sun, sea, sand’ that families are after for less budgets.”

He concludes: “Finally, if there isn’t the budget to send winners abroad, we look to places in the UK which can offer more, such as a hotel which perhaps features activities such as golf courses, bike hire or spa facilities, to enhance the prize and make the overall value seem much higher than it actually is to the consumer.”

Michael Chambers, a director of Cloud Nine Incentives, argues that because consumers have had to tighten their own belts due to financial constraints, that actually means brands can get much more impact without a significant increase in their budgets.

Chambers observes: “In the current climate, you can offer very exciting headlines for a relatively low budget. It is often the additional extras in the package that can add that unique headline-grabbing element. These can be far more cost effective than expected and also a give a higher perceived value. This can apply to everything from weekends away in the UK to holidays across the globe.”

Golden Goose’s Will Redfern says, “what really gets the consumer excited is adding a holiday discount voucher reward, alongside the holiday competition. The discount voucher offers a reward to all the consumers that enter the prize draw. The number of entries for the competition increases, making the promotion more successful for the brand, and the consumer will make a saving when they book their next holiday. Holiday discount vouchers are an extremely cost effective way of enhancing a holiday competition promotion, as they can be offered on a fixed fee basis.”


Case study

Epson free flights offer

Printer company Epson tasked incentives company Inspire with achieving two important goals. Firstly, Epson wanted to encourage customers to trade up and buy genuine ink multipacks as opposed to buying cheaper, lesser quality inks on an ad hoc basis. Secondly, Epson wanted to dramatically increase the sales of selected printer models across its network of pan-European retailer partners.

Inspire’s solution was a European free flights offer, covering 20 European countries. The genuine inks campaign went live on October 1, 2011 with the offer on selected printer models going live on November 1, 2011. The promotion will run on almost one million Epson products.

Inspire is providing an end-to-end service managing all customer travel requests and booking flights across a network of flight paths and airlines. The agency has set up localised postal services, website support and local care line contact paths within each of the 20 participating European countries.

The terms and conditions for customers are very transparent with a simple qualification process and solid, well planned fulfilment. Inspire has taken advice from both the IPM and the ASA on setting up and communicating the promotion.

The promotional mechanic drives customers to a website tailor-made for each participating country so enhancing brand awareness and affording elements of data capture which Epson will be able to use to drive future product development and product and service enhancements.

In-store POS support has been developed and the promotion will be backed with press advertising across Europe and radio support in select European countries.