Today Is National Doughnut Day | GlamNest
It seems to me that there is a recent "trend" in Big Business marketing of the concept of "free." Whether it is french fry wars, sampling new products, or driving consumers to stores that they don't normally frequent, "free" giveaway days everywhere. Today is National Doughnut Day , Ben and Jerry's gives away free ice cream - as has Baskin Robbins, Starbucks has free sampling of their coffee on certain days. Now I get the marketing 'math" behind this - the idea of getting consumers to try out a new store, product, or revisit a past favorite store that they no longer frequent. And, in tough economic times, you do what you need to to get bodies in the door and then you rely on the upsell concept (as in you go into your local grocery for bread and milk and come out with $40 worth of other things you 'need') and the thought that once they try it, they'll love it and come back to pay full price. Not to mention the incalculable FREE PR coverage and the consumer Word-of-Mouth that your brand will get for running a free promotion like this. Now that is a dollar figure you can run to the VP of Marketing with that will get you a gold-star!
But really, at what expense? And, what is the long-term ROI? With company budgets as tight as they are these days, does this really make sense? How much is invested in the promotional efforts (yes, there are hard costs involved in getting all that FREE PR and media coverage), the marketing team's wages and overhead, the overhead and wages of the stores that need to likely open early, close late, and staff up to accommodate the crowds that will be flocking to get their hands on the free whatever is being given away, the costs associated with the extra production of the item, which includes additional shipping of extra ingredients/materials (and lord, do we even try to calculate in the extra impact all of this has on the company's carbon footprint??)? The list goes on and on... And how much of these extra costs get poured back into the cost of the product? Who eats these costs (pun intended!).
It seems to me that there is a recent "trend" in Big Business marketing of the concept of "free." Whether it is french fry wars, sampling new products, or driving consumers to stores that they don't normally frequent, "free" giveaway days everywhere. Today is National Doughnut Day , Ben and Jerry's gives away free ice cream - as has Baskin Robbins, Starbucks has free sampling of their coffee on certain days. Now I get the marketing 'math" behind this - the idea of getting consumers to try out a new store, product, or revisit a past favorite store that they no longer frequent. And, in tough economic times, you do what you need to to get bodies in the door and then you rely on the upsell concept (as in you go into your local grocery for bread and milk and come out with $40 worth of other things you 'need') and the thought that once they try it, they'll love it and come back to pay full price. Not to mention the incalculable FREE PR coverage and the consumer Word-of-Mouth that your brand will get for running a free promotion like this. Now that is a dollar figure you can run to the VP of Marketing with that will get you a gold-star!
But really, at what expense? And, what is the long-term ROI? With company budgets as tight as they are these days, does this really make sense? How much is invested in the promotional efforts (yes, there are hard costs involved in getting all that FREE PR and media coverage), the marketing team's wages and overhead, the overhead and wages of the stores that need to likely open early, close late, and staff up to accommodate the crowds that will be flocking to get their hands on the free whatever is being given away, the costs associated with the extra production of the item, which includes additional shipping of extra ingredients/materials (and lord, do we even try to calculate in the extra impact all of this has on the company's carbon footprint??)? The list goes on and on... And how much of these extra costs get poured back into the cost of the product? Who eats these costs (pun intended!).
So, my question is - is it really worth it? People will try nearly anything if its free - but what does a promo like this do to "hook" the consumer? To ensure repeat visits? To woo them away from another brand they have had long-term loyalty to? Do the corporate marketers get held accountable for what the actual investment dollars are and how much of an impact this free giveaway has on long-term sales - esp. when a company is struggling? In my experience - they don't. The decision-makers are wowed by the coverage they are getting for "free" and fail to see the rest or somehow can justify it away - "OMG, our promotion was on the front page of USAToday, Matt Lauer mentioned it on the Today Show and - we were picked up on the WSJ Food blog! You can't PAY for coverage like that!!!" I've heard it said.
Additionally, I think the mission of this day has been lost. The idea was to help the needy as well as the war vets - starting in 1938 during the Great Depression. The only "help" that is happening today is helping the marketing genius behind this solidify another year of work.
Therefore, I have decided in this case (despite loving doughnuts, esp. Krispy Kreme ) to be a conscientious objector to National Doughnut Day . If they were giving out free doughnuts at Soup Kitchens around the country today, I'd be the first one on the band wagon to volunteer to help give them out. But, sadly, they are not.
Would love to hear your thoughts. Do you agree with me? Or does your desire for tasty treats rule out?
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