Inventory management is a critical first step

The average consumer likely gives little thought to fraud when they redeem a coupon or apply for a rebate. What’s the big deal over a 50-cent coupon? Quite a bit when you scale up the potential losses. One of the more notorious coupon fraud cases in the U.S. resulted in a conviction and lengthy prison term for a woman and her husband who were behind a counterfeit coupon scheme that resulted in $31 million in losses for retailers and brands.

Fraud is a risky business for bad actors, but too many can’t seem to resist the lure of what they hope will be a big pay-off. That’s why Arrowhead works closely with its clients to observe best practices that help prevent fraud in the first place. The first steps can begin long before you even dream up that award-winning campaign.

Securing coupon validation through inventory control

Too often we work in silos, with one department not really involved in the work of another. For manufacturers intent on getting products into the hands of consumers, the marketing team is integral to creating campaigns that delight and engage customers.

In the world of best practices, your marketing team should also be aware of the job your inventory management team is doing. Case in point, the need for an orderly product catalogue. Why? Because if your product catalogues and GS1 numbers (which identify and track your products as they move from inventory to physical and online stores) aren’t well organized, you can’t adequately target specific products for validation.

This becomes critical at the point of sale to ensure the product and offer match. It can also give you the tracking data you need to create more complex offers, such as bundled offers.

A case study in unintended consequences

The risk in not having a tight rein on inventory became apparent in the 2010s when certain Family Codes were created to give brands a way to offer coupons on products that couldn’t be properly validated using conventional methods. One Family Code created a kind of bypass that allowed for a deduction without an item scan validation–opening the door for fraudsters to copy, resell and mass-redeem coupons for any purchase. Some retailers now ban coupons using some Family Codes, which can create a poor customer experience when they find out at the cash register their coupon won’t be accepted.

Arrowhead offers family code management to all our clients with the belief a well-organized product catalogue is foundational to fraud mitigation. It is not an exaggeration to say it has saved our clients significant money, not to mention headaches when offers can’t be adequately targeted.

Your promotions partner should be working with your team to ensure your product catalogues are up to date, and orderly. Think of it this way – on the surface, coupons and rebates are a great way to incentivize consumers. They are also mechanisms to pass data back and forth. Good data going in creates good data coming out. A properly organized product catalogue means you have good data, which allows you to properly target and validate specific products, making it harder for bad actors to intervene.

Taking action against coupon fraud is an ongoing battle

We’re far from the day we can declare victory over bad actors when it comes to promotions. However, we can make progress by observing best practices, even as technology is providing fraudsters with more tools to commit fraud. By looking at your marketing efforts wholistically and working with a partner with expertise in this area, you can be in the best possible position to mitigate fraud and enjoy more successful campaigns.

Quick-to-market: a key element in promotion management 

One size rarely fits all, and that is especially true in the world of promotions. There are times when a customized campaign with layers of complexity is warranted for your brand, and there are times when budget and the need for speed dictate a simpler approach in promotion management.

That’s when considering a quick-to-market (QTM) solution can be an excellent strategy that allows you to reach your goals, stay within budget, and still give your customers an engaging experience. Promotion management can be made more effective when you utilize flexible solutions that allow for speed and adaptability.

Benefits of a quick-to-market solution

Generally, a QTM is something that can be spun up in a matter of days to a couple of weeks, as opposed to a more traditional promotion that involves detailed design work and customization that can take months to implement. Typically, QTM solutions involve a templated website that requires minimal configuration and no building.

Because the time and effort going into a QTM is a fraction of a customized build, the cost is much less. But that doesn’t mean the value your brand can derive from a QTM campaign is compromised. It might even bring you more value in the context of promotion management by enabling a swift response to market conditions.

A QTM solution allows brands to jump quickly on a shopping trend or draw attention to a suddenly popular product category. For others, it might highlight a seasonal product with a short selling window. In some cases, a brand finds itself with some additional spending and a short window in which to leverage it.

Key considerations

What are your non-negotiables when it comes to promotion management? If you are looking at a QTM solution, there are several considerations, including the trade-offs that make speed and price more attractive, as well as some non-negotiables that are never worth giving up.

The biggest trade-off is the design of the campaign. By nature, a templated solution offers fewer options for customized design. The amount of data collected will still be valuable, but you will likely have a limited number of fields for that data collection. That means customers will be entering core information, likely name, address, zip code, email, phone number, and receipt upload. Additional fields may or may not be possible. You likely can bring some branding to the design, but you will have limited options for colors and font styles.

Before you commit, ask your promotional partner what you can’t change, as well as what you can. For instance, can you have a customized URL for the site, or are you limited to one that doesn’t reflect your brand name? Do you have some flexibility in the types of redemption you can offer your customers? At Arrowhead, we have numerous efficiencies built into our promotion management process that bring value to our clients, but we constantly monitor where and when we can add additional flexibility to ensure our QTM offers as much customization possible within a templated solution.

Ensuring fraud protection and compliance

A major non-negotiable is fraud protection and compliance. Some campaigns, such as rebate promotions, have relatively simple compliance needs. Others, such as sweepstakes promotions, are highly regulated. Your QTM solution needs to ensure you are giving up nothing when it comes to fraud protection, validation of data, assurances that state and federal consumer protection regulations are observed, and that all purchases are validated.

Arrowhead’s own QTM is still backed by more than 40 years of expertise in compliance, and we are HiTrust certified, the highest level of data security we can offer our customers.

Working with a trusted and experienced partner in promotion management will always be your best bet to ensure your promotions are fully compliant. A good QTM solution will have fraud protection and compliance baked right in, along with enough flexibility that allows you to quickly spin up a winning campaign to catch the next wave of sales when the opportunity arises.

Harnessing the power of major events for brand promotion

March Madness is synonymous with busted brackets, but there’s always hope for an exciting rematch. In 2024, that hope was rewarded. The Women’s Elite 8 game between Iowa’s Caitlin Clark and LSU’s Angel Reece captivated over 12 million viewers, and the final attracted an impressive 18.7 million. For brands, this represented a goldmine of visibility. Research by Civic Science shows that nearly 30% of sports fans find advertising during major sports broadcasts “somewhat likely” or “very likely” to influence their purchasing decisions.

On the global stage, the stakes are even higher. The 2022 FIFA World Cup finale drew over 1.5 billion viewers worldwide, with social media engagements reaching almost six billion across all platforms. Brands, eager to capitalize on such massive engagement, look to attach their names to these iconic events.

But the good news is, brands don’t need to spend a fortune on TV ads to benefit from major event exposure. What they do need is a clear vision of their brand promotion strategy, an effective strategy, and plenty of time to plan and execute.

Setting clear objectives for your brand promotion strategy

The essential first question brands should ask themselves is, “What is the objective of our promotion, and how do we define success?” Whether you’re aiming to grow social media followers or increase sales for a new product, each objective requires a different brand promotion strategy.

For example, if your goal is to increase followers, a sweepstakes campaign tied to a major event may be your best bet. If you’re introducing a new product, a limited time offer, or coupon tied to the event could do the trick. Each brand promotion strategy comes with its own way to measure success, so understanding the outcome you want is crucial before diving in.

Once you have your objective set, it’s time to look at your promotional budget. It’s important to note “big events” don’t always need a big budget to match. Big splashy TV ads can score a win for brands with a big budget, but they can also flop, making the investment worthless. Likewise, a well thought out social media campaign can find success at a much lower cost.

Take Oreo’s legendary Super Bowl tweet during the 2013 power outage: “Power Out? No Problem. You can still dunk in the dark.” It went viral at no cost, effectively earning far more attention than many costly TV ads. With the right preparation, brands can create big moments on a smaller budget with a well-planned brand promotion strategy. It was the equivalent of an interception at the opponent’s ten-yard line and running it all the way back for a touchdown. The tweet went viral, earning precious media attention as it became a cultural moment. While it looked serendipitous, the brand didn’t rely entirely on luck. It had its social media team in place and prepared to jump on the right opportunity during the game. The effort had far-reaching impact and cost a fraction of the millions of dollars other brands paid for their :30 TV spots.

My company, Arrowhead, worked with a well-known beer brand during the pandemic-era that decided to skip the big game advertising. Instead, they chose to give everyone a free beer to take the edge off of the anxiety surrounding COVID. Adult consumers registered through a customer loyalty platform and got a digital payment they could use to buy a beer. The brand not only earned kudos from loyal customers, but they also achieved their objective of capturing new registrations for their loyalty program. They had a focused objective and achieved it by executing on a well-thought-out strategy.

Making the most of your budget: big event, big opportunity

Vision and budget are two key elements of a successful campaign. The other is paying attention to the details. That means giving yourself enough time to plan properly, and then working with your own team, or your agency team to make sure the elements are in place to execute flawlessly, including if or how your promotion might complement or support an advertising campaign.

That includes legal considerations, including licensing and intellectual property rights if you hope to use trademarks. This adds a layer of complexity that will require additional time to get approvals and pay any fees.

Sweepstakes, rebates and coupons all have rules and tax considerations unique to each type of promotion, and can change by state. If you don’t have a legal team well-versed in these types of regulations, consider working with a partner that does have expertise in this area.

The amount of planning time required grows with the size of the promotion as well as the technology needed to implement your promotion. Do you need to build a website? An app? What is the size of your prize pool? How will you procure and deliver those prizes? Will you need customer service support?

It’s also important to consider your team’s capacity. Can they manage all these details themselves or is it better to work with a knowledgeable third party and let your team attend to regular business?

Forget FOMO and focus on your brand

Don’t let the fear of missing out prompt you to hop on a fast-moving train to what appears to be sure fire success without thoroughly vetting the pros and cons of the campaign, the event, and associating your brand with that event. There are times when it makes more sense to sit on the sidelines. Before running any promotion, brands should be clear-eyed about potential downsides. That could include anything from being so overwhelmed by the response you can’t deliver in a timely way, to overlooking potential negatives associated with the event itself and finding yourself attached to something that sends the wrong message. This is another time where seeking an outside opinion from an experienced partner can help you make the decision that is best for your brand, including the decision to skip that event entirely if it’s not going to help reach your goals.

Big events can be a terrific way for a brand to get noticed and build loyalty. It’s fun to be a part of something the whole country is paying attention to. If you want to do it successfully, approach it the same way many coaches do: put together an expert team, have a clear understanding of your objectives and give yourself time to put together a winning strategy that will earn the results your brand deserves.

Shifting consumer habits and brand engagement strategies

Ask anyone how the economy is doing these days and you’re likely to get an eyeroll. Recent numbers point to a continued strong job market, and consumer sentiment is shifting toward a more positive outlook, but are consumer purchasing habits in alignment with government reports?

While inflation has fallen considerably, it’s not a straight line to the 2% the Federal Reserve is seeking. Consumers still feel pinched by prices that rose quickly during the pandemic but have been much slower to fall. Shoppers are taking action. A recent Kroger consumer survey found nearly 50% of U.S. shoppers prefer to buy store brands, compared to 37% who prefer national brands. Retailers have noticed too, placing in-house brands more prominently on store shelves. For example, Target just announced a new line of 400 staples, some priced under a dollar, to bring shoppers into the store and compete with more expensive national brands.

Adapting to new consumer expectations

This shift poses a challenge for brands looking to maintain and grow their customer base. Savvy brands understand that to keep shoppers onboard, they need to work a bit harder. This is a pivot from two to three years ago when high demand and supply chain logjams had brands and retailers struggling to just keep products on the shelf. Today, a solid, modernized strategy for promotional campaigns remains key to brand engagement in 2024. Brands must focus on creating lasting connections with their consumers by providing tailored experiences that resonate with their evolving needs.

For some industries, this may involve a fresh outlook on loyalty programs. Points and members-only deals aren’t just for airlines anymore. Loyalty programs help brands gain better insights into their customers, offering more customized experiences that shoppers have come to expect. From free birthday gifts and tiered rewards to friends and family discounts, loyalty programs not only tie shoppers to specific brands, but also encourage them to spend more, further strengthening brand engagement.

Promotions as a key to staying competitive

Food and beverage brands are particularly affected by inflation fatigue. These brands face pressure from shoppers jumping to cheaper store brands, and they may be losing market share to new products. As states continue to legalize cannabis, the adult beverage industry is seeing an influx of CBD and THC products hitting the shelves, just as movements like Dry January grow and alcohol consumption declines among younger generations. Rebates and coupons are especially important in these industries to gain new customers and keep existing ones.

When price is a consideration between two brands, rebates or coupons might make the difference or entice a shopper to try something new. For current customers, these offers might give them another reason to stick with their brand.

Creating a successful strategy for 2024 and beyond

How you craft and implement your promotions strategy is key to success. Are you leveraging the latest technology to ensure not only value but also a positive experience for customers? Do you require customization? A white-glove experience for loyalty program members? Are there legal considerations specific to your industry, and how will they be met? And for any brand, are you compliant with all rules and regulations in every region where your campaign takes place?

A well-planned promotions strategy will help customers find your brand and provide reasons for them to become or remain loyal. As shoppers keep an eye on their wallets, no brand can afford to ignore modern approaches to brand engagement.

Ready to elevate your brand engagement strategy in 2024?

Contact us today to explore how tailored promotional campaigns can boost loyalty, drive sales, and create meaningful connections with your customers. Let’s work together to make this year your brand’s best yet!