Have you noticed the new Coles Sports for Schools promotion? The concept is that customers (parents) collect their Coles dockets and give them to a school. The school can then earn prizes, in this case sports equipment, based on the total value of the dockets. It is a variation on Coles very successful Apples for Students promotion of the early '90s when Coles gave away over 25,000 Macintosh computers to schools across Australia.

Everyday we're bombarded by promotions of all kinds, so what's so different about this promotion? The goal of any promotion is to change a customer's motivation to buy, but normally the benefit is customer-focussed e.g. better pricing, the chance to win a holiday or a new car etc. That kind of promotion doesn't work for many customers, particularly when there is only a small chance of winning such a prize. The Coles Sports for Schools promotion is trying to tap into a more philanthropic mindset.

For supermarket customers (who are often mothers), this promotion means that it's no longer just about best prices, fresh food, convenience and other normal buying factors. Now customers have the added factor of being able to help out their kids' school without having to dip into their own pocket.

Time will tell whether the idea of sports equipment will prove as effective as computers did nearly 20 years ago, however, it's important to note that a company such as Coles will also be running numerous other promotions at the same time that will be tapping into a range of other motivations.

And this brings me to the thrust of this blog post - what customer motivations does your marketing target?

It's worth reviewing your marketing and see what buying factors you're targeting. Maybe you'll discover that there are other motivations that potentially drive your audience (or a segment of the audience that you're not currently reaching).

PC

+ Back to blog home

Posted in: General, Strategy