Does it Contain Nuts?

Over the last few weeks I received about a half a dozen food gift baskets for the holidays. Many of the baskets included packaged chocolates, crackers and spreads manufactured by food companies and then marketed, assembled and shipped by gift basket specialty companies.

What I found very interesting is that many of the food packages were missing information on the ingredients. Many people today have food allergies and nuts in particular are commonly used in chocolate products. Without knowing the ingredients people with severe food allergies would not take a chance and eat the product.

What was also missing on the mixed boxes of chocolates was a description of what the various items were or contained.

The exception to what I received was a box of baked goods from Mrs. Fields. Each of the individual items had small labels on them describing the item. Also in the box was a nice clear sheet that provided the nutritional information detailed ingredients and Allergens. Everything was very clearly marked and the information right at hand.

What I also liked about the Mrs. Fields box is that it contained a small catalog sheet for gift tins, baskets and boxes that could be sent along with a 20% off coupon.

Nobody Asked Me! But…

I think that from a customer convenience standpoint the ingredients, nutritional information and Allergen information should be provided with each box or package. Mrs. Fields does it right. Why limit your audience to only the people without food allergies?

Secondly, avoid the mystery. For mixed boxes of chocolates the manufacturer should provide a key explaining what each chocolate contains. Jelly Belly does a good job of this; they include a small poster inside the box with pictures and names for each flavor.

Gift baskets from vertical operations like Mrs. Fields or Godiva, etc are only going to have a single brand of product included in them. Many other gift baskets are assembled and sold by companies that buy packaged products that they assemble and market. For these companies, once the cellophane is removed from the basket itself, they have lost all branding for their companies.

From a marking vantage point, most of the gift basket companies are missing a huge opportunity to use the baskets as vehicles to acquire new customers. Here are some quick ideas:

1. They should attach a small label to each individual package with a message: “Enjoying this product? To order more go to (web address) and type in product no. xxxx”. Here they could direct customers to the gift basket company site.

2. Like Mrs. Fields, they should include a small catalog. Here I would promote sending a gift basket for a birthday or other special occasion as it would probably be too late to send for the holiday at hand.

3. Include a discount coupon for a future order.

4. Include a message “To send a Thank You eCard to the sender of this basket, go to www.xxxxx” . Here you are providing a quick and easy way for the recipient to say thanks and you can capture their email address for future solicitation.

5. Include a message encouraging the recipient to go online and fill out a survey of what they liked and did not care for in the package. Give them and incentive to do so with a discount, free gift, etc. Maybe it’s as simple as a coupon for a free coffee at Starbucks. This would be a great way to get feedback at the individual item level and again you capture their email address. As baskets sent to offices are often shared, I would encourage more than one person to complete the survey but limit at two to four depending on the incentive.

Providing the ingredients is a customer convenience, using the gift basket to build brand awareness, feedback and as a customer acquisition vehicle is a smart marketing.

 

 

2011-12-26 Update

 

This year I received a gift basket of English Muffins and jams from Harry & David's http://www.wolfermans.com/ . What I liked about it was the basket included a coupon for 20% my next purchase.

Would You Like Fries With That?

A few weeks ago I celebrated my wedding anniversary. On my way home from work I picked up a few things for my wife. I started at the florist where I had a bouquet of flowers put together. I then headed to the drug store where I picked up a card and a box of chocolate. My next stop was Radio Shack where I purchased an Apple iPod and an iTunes gift card. I then ended off a yet another drug store to buy a gift bag.

All off this crisscrossing the streets back and forth got me thinking.

Nobody Asked Me! But ....

I think that some of the merchants that I visited were leaving money on the table.

Florist

This is easy. Instead of just offering those small blank business card size notes for free, they should carry one small line of greeting cards. I would suggest a serious line with two or three cards per occasion on good quality paper stock that sell for $3.00 to $5.00 a card. If I am spending $40 or more on flowers another $5.00 for a nice card is easy.

In addition I would carry a premium brand of chocolates like Godiva that come pre-wrapped and with beautiful ribbon all ready to gift. Here all that they would need to offer would be a selection of two to three sizes ranging in price from $15 to $40 dollars.

Another easy addition would be to sell a small selection of gift cards for department stores, clothing stores, iTunes, Amazon etc.

Between the cards, chocolate and gift cards the merchant would not have to worry about anything going out of style, etc. as they are all basic items. A deep inventory would not be needed as they can all be easily replenished.

Having just these few line extensions could easily add another 25% to 100% to the sale. In addition it would make it incredibly convenient for customers like me that failed to adequately plan to play catch up and walk in the house looking like a hero.

Radio Shack

They already have many items that could be used as gifts. They should add greeting cards and gift bags in various sizes.

I am not suggesting that every store should be a department store and carry everything but rather by tweaking assortments with “related” products some retailers may be able to increase sales while providing a more convenient experience for their customers.

BP Should Run A $10 Million Contest For Ideas To Stop The Spill

On Wednesday June 2nd The NY Post ran an article about Alia Sabur, she is a 21 year old Ph.D. student in engineering at Drexel University. She discussed with the NY Post an idea she has for stopping the BP oil spill in the Gulf.

It got me thinking about the contest that Netflix ran in 2006. They awarded $1 million to a team that was able to improve their movie recommendation program by over 10%.

Nobody Asked Me!

Here is an idea for BP. They should offer a $10 million dollar prize to anyone who comes up with an idea that is attempted and ultimately used to stop the spill.

They can put up on their website the specifics of the spill that people can use e.g. depth, size or equipment, water pressure, etc. They can even post ideas that were thought of but not executed and the reasons.

An impartial third party accounting firm can be used to run the contest so that nobody feels like their idea will be ripped off.

It will get a lot of people thinking about solving the problem.

Thank You // Steven N Levy

New York Times: Technology: Cellphone in New Role: Loyalty Card

New York Times: Technology: Cellphone in New Role: Loyalty Card

By CLAIRE CAIN MILLER

Published: May 31, 2010

Using their cellphones, consumers can track their visits and purchases and earn rewards.

Loyalty cards — those little paper cards that promise a free sandwich or coffee after 10 purchases, but instead get lost or forgotten — are going mobile. And merchants are looking for ways to marry the concept to games that customers can play to earn more free items and, it is hoped, spend more money.

Instead of collecting paper cards and fumbling through wallets at the cash register, customers are increasingly using their cellphones to track their visits and purchases, and receive rewards.

Some start-ups, like CardStar and CardBank, store existing loyalty cards on cellphones with scannable barcodes. And companies including Motorola and a start-up called mFoundry are providing retailers with the technology to build cellphone loyalty cards.

Loopt is one of several start-ups — including Foursquare, Shopkick and Gowalla — that are experimenting with ways to use cellphones to bridge the digital and physical worlds and turn the tasks of everyday life, like buying coffee and running errands, into a game.

On Tuesday, Loopt, one of the first services to let people use cellphones to share their location with friends, is taking its concept a step further by introducing Loopt Star, a mobile game that rewards people for frequently checking in to particular places. People will compete to earn “achievements” and become “boss” of certain locations, and Gap, Burger King and Universal Music plan to use Loopt Star to reward loyal customers.

For retailers, these games and apps offer a new form of mobile marketing that goes well beyond a minibanner ad by rewarding consumers, individually, for their loyalty. And unlike paper cards, stores can use the data they collect from people’s cellphones to learn more about who their customers are and how they behave.

No one in advertising has ever been able to figure out how to do “one-to-one, real-time marketing,” said Drew Sievers, a former advertising executive who is now co-founder and chief executive of mFoundry. “The mobile phone is where that will actually probably happen. It’s the only thing connected and always with you.”

Loopt has offered search or banner ads on its mobile apps, but advertisers told the company that instead, they wanted a mobile loyalty card, said Sam Altman, Loopt’s co-founder and chief executive.

“Instead of advertising with a banner, it’s offering users incentives for good behavior,” he said. “They’re trying to turn existing customers into better ones.”

Loopt Star is Loopt’s effort to play catch-up with some of these other services, particularly with Foursquare. Loopt, which started in 2005, was one of the first companies to popularize broadcasting one’s whereabouts to friends. But Foursquare, founded last year, is a popular newcomer. It turned location-sharing into a game with its badges, mayorships and rewards, and into a marketing tool for businesses, including Tasti D-lite and Pepsi, to track and reward loyal customers.

Loopt has 3.4 million registered users to Foursquare’s 1.4 million users. But Foursquare’s gaming elements are quickly attracting new users. Mr. Altman said Loopt built Loopt Star in response, and last year acquired a start-up called GraffitiGeo that builds similar games.

“We respectfully just sort of knocked off those gaming elements, but added new things,” he said.

People register for Loopt Star using their Facebook log-ins, so they can share their location and compete in the game with their Facebook friends and alert their friends about recent purchases and special deals.

Retailers can choose which actions they want to reward and what the prizes will be. Gap is sending customers a 25 percent discount coupon after they check in twice to a Gap store. Burger King is offering a soda with a sandwich or a coffee with a breakfast sandwich to people who check in three times. Universal Music will send five free songs to people who check into any bar along with two friends.

Stanford University is using Loopt Star over graduation weekend. When students check in to at least two of the official school events, they will get a prize. Once they have left Stanford, they will be able to use Loopt to find fellow alumni, said Ian Hsu, Stanford’s director of Internet media outreach.

Starbucks will use Loopt Star to give frequent customers an honorary barista badge, symbolized by a green apron. Starbucks also offers a barista badge on Foursquare, where people compete to become “mayors” of places, and the coffee chain is giving mayors $1 off Frappuccinos.

Starbucks has its own iPhone loyalty card, built by mFoundry. Customers collect stars in a cup on their phones every time they make a purchase and get a free drink every 15 visits.

Starbucks could use the data from the cellphones to send personalized offers, like a chai Frappuccino coupon in the afternoon to people who drink chai lattes in the morning, said Brady Brewer, vice president at Starbucks overseeing brand loyalty and the Starbucks card.

“We’ve tried to build a program around recognition — knowing who you are and what you like — and in some ways, that relevance comes from knowing about purchases from data” collected from the loyalty program, he said.

Shopkick is creating a program, expected to begin later this year, that will reward people for showing up and spending money at any of the partner stores, which include American Eagle Outfitters, Best Buy and Macy’s.

Cyriac Roeding, Shopkick’s co-founder and chief executive, says these types of mobile apps are a counterweight to comparison-shopping apps, like RedLaser, that drive people to other stores. “You have to find new ways to keep your customers engaged and bring them back, because you know there are apps that drive them out of the store instead of into it,” he said.

Another competitor, Gowalla, is getting traction. InterContinental Hotels Group is using Gowalla to give gift cards and airline miles to loyal customers of its hotels, and the New Jersey Nets gave prizes like jerseys and tickets to fans who checked into the arena or sports bars to watch games.

Tristan Walker, head of business development at Foursquare, said, “Everybody will be doing similar things in the future, but we hope to really build compelling solutions and innovate in ways that other people aren’t.” Businesses “see Foursquare as their new digital loyalty card of choice,” he added.

Most users will eventually choose one service, because they are unlikely to pull out their cellphones and check in using multiple services each time they arrive at a destination. And many other people are uncomfortable publicly sharing their location at all.

Mr. Altman is convinced that they will change their minds if they are rewarded for their patronage. “People are getting more comfortable so fast,” he said. “They see the upside is huge — run-ins with friends and cool specials.”

Turkish Airlines: Nice Advertisement

I have seem this print advertisement for Turkish Airlines a few times, I think it's pretty cool.

Thanks // Steven N Levy