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.
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