Export Gold Summer Gold

Background

Export Gold is New Zealand's number one selling lager beer. Over three years ago Export Gold committed to a strong digital strategy of web, email, mobile phone and sales promotions to build a base of consumers that were interested and involved with the Export Gold brand. The objectives were to build up a base of loyal Export Gold advocates and create Export Gold experiences through smart campaigns and promotions. In a mature mainstream beer market under pressure from the gaining popularity of premium beer brands, Export Gold needed to find ways to keep its brand current and add new dimensions to the beer consumption occasion, within a core segment of hard to reach consumers.

Today, this strategy has evolved to extent that Export Gold maintains a permission database, using email and txt communication as the launch pad to provide drinkers with new opportunities to get more involved with the brand. The success of this strategy can be seen today in the participation and results achieved by the recent 2004/2005 summer promotion Summer Gold.

Objectives

The principal goal was to support on-premise and off-premise sales of Export Gold over the peak summer period, using a sales promotion campaign. Secondly, to grow the number of customers opting in to receive Export Gold communications by mobile txt.

Target Audience

18- to-24 year old beer drinkers, current and prospective Export Gold drinkers

Channels

• On-premise POS
• On-pack promotion
• SMS text messaging
• Email
• Web
• Postal

Approach

Export Gold drinkers had to purchase and enter to be in to win. The headline prize was a $2,000 Garden BBQ & Bar Kit, but the grabber was that one kit was up for grabs everyday, for sixty days. In keeping with the spirit of one-to-one communication and recognising individual participation, individuals who entered five times received a personalised txt message noting the milestone; and those who entered ten times were automatically awarded prizes including tee-shirts and Export Gold product. By using a phased prize giveaway approach rather than a single major prize, the promotion encouraged repeat purchase and multiple entries to drive a consistent level of participation for the duration of the campaign. By allowing entry through both on-premise and off-premise purchases, the campaign also aimed to increase dual channel purchases.

Unique codes were embedded into Export Gold product packaging and on-premise scratch cards, offering purchasers of Export Gold entry via txt, web and postal entries.

Each valid entry counted towards the daily draw. Competition winners were automatically notified by txt or email and directed to the Export Gold web site, where they entered delivery details for prize collection.

An X-box was offered as a separate draw for those who opted in to receive future offers and communications by mobile txt.

Results and Outcomes

• The promotion generated over 50,000 valid entries from close to 30,000 unique participants
• 99% of valid entries came through digital channels (web/sms), with the majority using sms
• Over 13,000 (27%) of valid entries were from on-premise purchases, and the remaining 73% from on-pack
• A whopping 58% of participants opted in to receive future communication by mobile
• On average, customers purchased and entered 1.9 times, however
  • drinkers using both web and mobile channels purchased and entered over three times more than the average
  • drinkers who were part of the ongoing Export Gold database purchased and entered two times more than those who weren't
Close to one in ten entrants bought Export Gold on-premise then went on to purchase off-premise, or vice versa

Key Take outs

• The strategy of engaging consumers directly through web, email and mobile txt is proving to be successful, with existing database consumers participating at twice the rate of first timers
• The world has changed - with the introduction and acceptance of new channels, the ubiquity and convenience of devices like today's mobile phones, and consumer readiness, the typical sales promotion is now a new species. With 99% of all entries transacted digitally, most New Zealand marketers will realise that running a one-dimensional sales promotion, where consumers can only send in entries by post, for example, just doesn't cut it anymore. It is an endangered species
• Consumers want to receive offers by txt from brands they value. With two-thirds of all participants opting in to txt offers, there is a considerable opportunity for those brands to leverage their brand relationships by using this channel
• The right promotion can achieve widespread participation - those interested in the brand and promotions take the time to engage, and are often heavier consumers who will continue to purchase through other channels to increase participation

How Touchpoint Technology Helped

• Automated entry via SMS and web
• Managed permission database with one view of the customer across multiple channels
• Automated opt-in via web, email and txt
• ASP hosted solution, obviating requirements for Council administration, IT and database support