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Everyone is all a buzz about the Denny’s Super Bowl Grand Slam Giveaway.  Adweek calls it a “Hit” in this article. But if it was such a hit, why doesn’t everyone simply give away their product in promotions?

Heck, anyone could giveaway stuff for free to millions of people, the key is doing it and making money. The main question Denny’s and anyone that does a giveaway needs to be asking is, “am I creating new customers by doing this”, or “does it get my current customers to increase their spend”?

Is Denny’s ever going to get a positive return on the $5 million they spent (according to Adweek) on this promotion? For the sake of easy math, let’s look at some easy numbers and calculate their break even point.

At best Denny’s makes $5 on each Grand Slam they sell (according to Adweek).  That means they need to sell an additional one million of them, to make this promotion break even. (They could sell higher margin product etc. but is it really gonna make that big of a difference? They’re not a steakhouse)

Does anyone believe the people receiving these free Denny’s meals were so happy with them, that they are going to come back for more? Let alone one million of them? Was the experience so gratifying or outside their expectations they had for Denny’s that they said, “dang I need to go to Denny’s more often”?

I don’t think that many people were convinced of that, nor do I think Denny’s believes it.  That is why they gave away coupons to try to get these new customers to come back.  So again they result to discounting their product to get rid of it.

The only way a company is going to make a giveaway like Denny’s work, is to exceed the customers expectations in some way. Everyone knows what a Grad Slam taste like, why didn’t Denny’s introduce a new product and give that away? At least that way customers might find a new product they love, and it would give them a reason to come back.

Or better yet, why not use this giveaway to introduce a lower price for the Grand Slam meal? Use the economy angle to promote it. Obviously they feel their product is not worth the $5.99 they charge, because they are giving  it away for free and couponing it. Why not start charging $3.99 everyday for a Grand Slam and say they are celebrating by giving them away for free for the first half of Feb 2nd?

It’s gonna take longer to get a return, but at least some people might actually come back. And by doing this it benefits everyone, not just the few who took advantage of the free breakfast.  At the very least some people might remember that Denny’s has a complete breakfast for only $3.99, right now all they remember now is that Denny’s gave away some free food.

Sorry if any of you got all the feeds again.  I changed over to Feeburner.  Please let me know if you have any additional problems.

Well, as you can see it has been a while since I last wrote.  This will get more frequent, but the post will definitely be shorter.

As I said in my last post, consumers no longer want to be pushed into products by marketers.  So how do we market with this in mind?

Well, the key in the new media age is that people now respect people and companies who are confident in who they are, and act with a consistent voice, personality, ie brand.  This brand must be cohesive and in the retail world believed in by the CEO to the sales people.  This must be the true image and brand of the company however, if it is not all is lost because people will quickly discover who you truly are.

Be careful to not confuse what I am saying here with the old world term of branding. An old world brand would be a polished representation of the company that is not unique and does not have any quirks, or personality. Instead it was a brand with no personality. Today’s brands must have personality, just like any interesting person does. Don’t the people you love to be around the most, have unique traits that make them fun? So do great companies. No one wants to be surrounded with insecure people who act as if they are acting all the time and are too polished, same goes with companies.

Take Apple and Ikea, they are both very polished brands but also have unique quirks that make them stand out from the crowd. They have done a great job of getting everyone in the company to believe in the brand and it’s quirks.

This consistency does alienate some people, but it also develops rabid fans of others. You can no longer appeal to everyone.  You cannot change the brand based on what you heard in some focus group. Apple and Ikea live and breathe their brands from the top down, and everyone in the company knows what they stand for and they reflect that in all their work. Actually by doing this, you attract employees who have the same image the company has. Every creative geek wants to work for Apple, and many younger people would love to work at Ikea.

Overall, if you do not know the brand or personality of your company, you better start looking for it. You can normally find it in the CEO (just pray he/you has/have some personality) those quirks he/you has/have could be what sets your company apart. After you find it, you better start living it and make sure the people you have working for you believe it as well. If they don’t get someone who does. Then once this brand is consistent from top to bottom you need to start marketing this brand. A group of people will then associate and relate with your brand, and become rabid fans. These key consumers will then convert legions of consumers who are indifferent or have little knowledge of your product category.

You can choose not to do this, but you will continue have just a few dedicated customers, instead a legion of dedicated followers. Please don’t forget, people want to hear the truth, be real, and do not try to be everything to all people. The last thing we need in the world is another poser, we see enough of those at bars on the weekend.

So….. for the few people if any that actually manage to find this blog, I congratulate you. You truly are an Internet Superstar!

Since you took the time to find it I thought I would explain the purpose of this site.

1) I am hoping by posting on this blog on a regular basis it will help me improve my less than remarkable writing skills.

2) I am very opinionated and at certain times need to express my ideas. Hopefully by posting those thoughts here, I will be less prone to go off on my co-workers and friends.

3) Life is all about change.  What works today may not work tomorrow.  I want this to be a free open forum to express ideas on marketing. Tell me I am smoking crack, or that I have a 3 grade writing idiot, just no matter what you do, tell me the what you are thinking!

This should be a fun ride. I look forward to sharing it with you!

Kevin