Franchise Giant Makes 2 Dumb Marketing Mistakes!

This morning I made the typical daily stop at McDonalds for my morning Diet Coke. 

Hey don’t judge… some drink coffee-I drink Diet Coke.

OK back to McDonald’s.

When I arrived at the window I was handed a little rewards card.  You know
the punch card type.

Being in the Marketing Biz, my natural instincts force me to view everything
through marketing goggles (my wife thinks it’s a curse). Anyway, I’m always on the
lookout for ideas that are new, unique, and effective to pass on to you and
our clients.
 

I noticed right away two very glaring problems.

One…The card was for espresso drinkers.  I don’t even drink coffee let alone
these fancy espresso drinks they were promoting, and the young lady at the window
knows this. I’ve seen her Monday thru Friday for the last 4 months and I always order
the same thing. 

Two…There was an expiration date for December 31st of 08′.

So I had to ask.

Why did you feel compelled to give me a card when I never order an espresso, and why
did you give me a card that was expired?

Here’s what she said…Wait for it!

“Last year we were only handing them out to espresso drinkers, but then we realized we
had too many of them so we were told to hand them out to everyone.  And even though they
are expired we are still accepting them.”

I drove away thinking to myself.  Wow!

So what’s my point? Two marketing lessons!

First lesson, Be Frugal but Don’t be Cheap.

In certain situations it’s OK to spend as little money as possible. BUT never give away
something that is going to give people the impression that you are cheap.  Handing out
a card that has already expired screams “I am too cheap to reprint these” and “I really don’t
care if you use it or not”.

If the card works then keep using it, but make sure you don’t give the impression you
are handing out something that people won’t be able to benefit from.

Remember–not everyone will ask, they’ll just assume it’s expired and no longer valid!

The Second lesson, Don’t Waste Your Time and Money–Chasing.

We all know that chasing is NEVER good, poor positioning right out of the gates.

The chasing I am referring to here is when you chase someone that does not fit your
targeted prospect. (Side Note) If you are introducing a new product WITHIN the same
product category it’s a good idea to try some type of free giveaway just to incent your
customers to give it a try.

But back to today’s example…I am NOT and never will be a coffee drinker. I understand you
may not always know your customer or prospect well enough to know if they have an interest in
your offer but it’s really easy to find out.  Just ASK! It would have been very easy for the
nice girl in the window to just say…”Do you like coffe drinks? Know anyone who does? You get the
point. Short of that…it doesn’t make sense to reach out to me with a coffee incentive? It’s
a waste of time and a waste of money.

So if you ever decide to create a reward program or a punch card please remember this…make
sure you target properly and do not hand out something that is expired.

Dedicated To Increasing Your Cash Flow,
Chad & Karry
PS Just for the record this punch card was designed well, so if you are thinking about doing
one–this is a good model.  The First espresso was free, buy the next four and get the
fifth free. <<< there’s more >>>  Keep the card, buy the next five and get the sixth free. 
That is three free, when everyone else is only giving one for the same amount of purchases.
(I especially like the FIRST ONE FREE)