Does Your Brand Celebrate Leap Year?

The rarity of February 29, also known as Leap Day causing the year to be referred to as a Leap Year, appears on the calendar every four years and has long inspired marketers to get creative.

But first, a little history about the day. According to PieceofCakeMarketing, "The tradition of adding an extra day to the calendar during leap years, specifically on February 29th, has its origins in Roman superstitions. It was considered an inauspicious day for many activities. Some Romans believed that it was a day of bad luck, which led to the tradition of avoiding major events, such as, marriages and business transactions on that day. Today, Leap Day serves the practical purpose of keeping our calendar in sync with the Earth’s orbit."

Here are some promotional themes for your brand to use on Leap Day:

(1) Leap Day happens once every four years, so use "once every four years" messaging

(2) February 29 is an "extra day" in the month, so customers can take advantage of "extra" savings

(3) Since Leap Day is the 29th day of February, promote a product or service at the $29 price point or offer $29 off a regular price; offer free shipping with a minimum of $29 spent; highlight products or services with "29" in their prices (e.g., $299, $2,900, etc.), or if appropriate, promote a "buy one and get two for $29"

(4) Add the concept of "leaping" into your brand messaging, e.g., "leap into" the spring fashion collection, garden accessories, etc.

(5) Because of the association between Leap Day and frogs (hence the term "leap"), incorporate a leaping frog into your marketing promotions

(6) Add a new hashtag to your marketing, e.g., #LeapDay2024

(7) Offer ridiculous promotions for your lucky customers with birthdays on February 29th - the chance of someone having this rare, once-every-four-years birthday is only 1 in 1,461

(8) Make a difference/Pay it forward: In some cultures, it is considered a tradition to perform acts of charity or kindness on Leap Day. People might make an extra effort to help those in need, donate to charity, or engage in random acts of kindness. Perhaps, your leadership team might close the office early ‌in order to do volunteer work.

Who are some brands with Leap Day promotions this year?

The Seattle Kraken hockey team will play the Pittsburgh Penguins in a special "Leap Year Night" presented by Pitchbook on February 29.

Jeremiah's Italian Ice, the premiere frozen dessert brand based in Orlando, Florida, is "hopping" back through time during February with its new Leap Back campaign, designed to celebrate the brand's journey over the past three decades by giving back to its guests. The brand's first-ever Leap Back campaign includes a full month of promotions for J-List loyalty members, culminating in a Leap Day celebration at all locations, with throwback pricing of $0.96 treats all day long for J-List members to honor the year it all began: 1996 (another Leap Year).

Home Run Inn, Chicago's very own thin crust pizza, announced a National Pizza Day offer for those with a Leap Year Birthday of February 29th. To mark the holiday, Home Run Inn will give away FREE pizza for a year, to the first 29 leap year babies whose birthday is on February 29. To redeem the offer, the first 29 customers must present a valid ID showing their birthdate as February 29 to Home Run Inn's Instagram page (https://www.instagram.com/homeruninn/) by 11:59PM CST on February 29th to receive 12 frozen classic crust pizzas on the house. This offer is valid from February 9 through February 29, 2024.

Who could forget what Zappos did to celebrate Leap Day in 2016?

Zappos asked fans and customers to sign the petition to make Leap Day a national holiday. According to Digiday, Zappos gave "all of its employees a paid day off in hopes of inspiring employees and consumers to #TakeTheLeap and use it to do something they’ve always wanted to do."

And who could forget what Krispy Kreme did to celebrate Leap Day in 2020?

According to FoxNews, "Krispy Kreme announced its new nationwide delivery program to launch on February 29 with partner DoorDash to facilitate delivery from nearly all of its 350-plus U.S. locations, to folks within 10 miles of a doughnut shop. And because this promotion launches on Leap Day, Krispy Kreme is planning to send special deliveries to hospitals' maternity wards within the delivery range. To receive the doughnuts, families or staffers at those hospitals are required to share news of their Leap-Day deliveries, using hashtag #KrispyKremeSpecialDelivery and tagging @KrispyKreme on Twitter and Instagram."

Dave Skena, Chief Marketing Officer of Krispy Kreme, explained, "Krispy Kreme doughnut delivery is pretty sweet, and so are Leap Day babies. Using 2020’s extra day to make the leap to national delivery, while celebrating Leap Day babies, will be a fun moment for our brand and fans."

Some final words from PieceofCakeMarketing, "February 29th provides a golden opportunity to think creatively and connect your product or service with the spirit of leap day. With thoughtful planning and execution, your campaigns can earn valuable media coverage, drive user engagement, and foster brand loyalty."

So what will your brand do to leap apart from the competition on Leap Day?

SHARE THIS: February 29 provides a golden opportunity to think creatively and connect your product or service with the spirit of #LeapDay. ~@POCakeMarketing #DebbieLaskeysBlog


Image Credit: Home Run Inn and Jeremiah's Italian Ice.

What Brand Stands Out on Thanksgiving?

 

What brand represents Thanksgiving? I challenge you to pick a single brand.

For me, it's a toss-up between these three.

MACY’S THANKSGIVING DAY PARADE
Whether you live in New York City or anywhere else, there is a particular parade that, since 1924, has become a family ritual to watch in person or on television. The three-hour parade is held from 9am to 12noon Eastern time on Thanksgiving Day, and it has been televised nationally on NBC since 1952. A unique aspect of working at Macy’s is that Macy’s employees have the option of marching in the parade. Would you march?
 
BUTTERBALL TURKEY
Have you ever tried to cook a 15-pound or 25-pound turkey and run into trouble? Have no fear, if the turkey is a Butterball. This brand has a help center called the "Turkey Talk Line." This help center began in 1981 when six home economists worked the phones that holiday season to answer 11,000 turkey-cooking questions. Since then, the Turkey Talk Line has grown in both the number of calls answered and the number of experts who respond. The Turkey Talk Line is open November and December each year and is staffed with 50 experts who answer more than 100,000 questions, for thousands of households in the United States and Canada. And in today’s social era, cooks can connect with the Turkey Talk Line via social media, live chat, texting, and even Amazon Alexa.

NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE (NFL)
Thanksgiving is all about traditions, and after the Macy's parade and the turkey meal, the final tradition is to sit on the comfortable couch in the den or living room with family and watch a football game. According to Wikipedia, "Since its inception in 1920, the National Football League has played games on Thanksgiving Day, patterned upon the historic playing of college football games on and around the Thanksgiving holiday."

Here are the games for this Thanksgiving:

***The Buffalo Bills play at the Detroit Lions.
***The New York Giants play at the Dallas Cowboys.
***The New England Patriots play at the Minnesota Vikings.

According to the NFL's website, "The NFL on Thanksgiving is a longstanding tradition led by the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys having annual games. This will be the Lions' 83rd Thanksgiving game and the Cowboys' 55th."

So, whatever tradition you and your family enjoy, and whatever brands stand out to you, here's wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!


Image Credits: Saturday Evening Post, Butterball Turkey, the NFL, and Inspira Health Network.

Customer Service Is Not Something to Drive Around

Many business experts have stated time and again in the mainstream press that the way to stand out from the competition is to offer exceptional customer service. This is not rocket science, and those in the customer experience sector have been singing this song for years. But the reality is, most companies ignore this recommendation, and instead, listen to a crazy song where the lyrics are “Ignore the customer, treat the customer poorly, and don’t give a hoot about repeat customers.” 

Why does this reality exist when it’s so easy to train employees to provide a positive and memorable customer experience?

Last year, I received an email from an automotive company seeking my business. At the time, I was not in the market for a new car, but since I attend the Los Angeles Auto Show on an annual basis and have visited a number of car museums in the United States and Germany, I’m always eager to test-drive new vehicles – especially those with a lot of horsepower! The email promotion advertised “Date Night” with a vehicle of my choosing. Here’s what the email said:

Dear Debbie,
On behalf of the Lincoln Motor Company, I would like to offer you an
opportunity to experience Lincoln through an exclusive, test-drive program,
Lincoln Date Night. Whether you’re looking for a stylish sedan or full-size
luxury SUV, this is the best way to get better acquainted with our exciting
2015 lineup. No strings, no obligation. The details are simple. Start by
choosing a vehicle from our 2015 lineup. On your scheduled Date Night,
drive away and enjoy the vehicle for a full 24 hours. Email or call to set
up your Date Night.

You may be thinking, what a great promotion. Who wouldn’t want to participate? I contacted Lincoln and after several back and forth emails, I learned that no vehicle was available in my area for any weekend. Naturally, I wanted my 24-hours to take place during a weekend, or I wouldn’t get much time to drive the vehicle. Alas, my Date Night with Lincoln never happened, but I hoped I would get another chance.

Fast forward a year. Last month, I received an email from Lincoln that referenced the 2016 lineup. After I responded to the email, I was told that there were no available SUV’s to test-drive and no dealerships within a 50-mile radius of my home that were participating in this campaign. To make matters worse, I could only get a car during the week. So, to recap, I was disappointed that I had not participated last year and then learned that I would have to drive 50 miles away from my home DURING THE WEEK to drive a car that I had no interest in purchasing. Some date night!

Let’s return to the concept of providing a positive customer experience presented at the beginning of this post. I was already a prospective customer with an interest in this event, since I indicated in my email last month that I had been disappointed in not being able to participate last year. So, it would have made sense for the Lincoln rep to have tried to accommodate my preferences – in any way possible!

According to Bruce Jones, Senior Programming Director of Disney Institute in Florida, “The words ‘'I’ll need to speak with my manager’ probably sound familiar to most of us, and there’s nothing inherently wrong with involving one’s manager in helping to make decisions. However, when a service failure occurs, it’s essential to resolve the issue quickly. With tens of thousands of visitors each day to Walt Disney Parks and Resorts around the world, we recognize that issues will occasionally come up. Therefore, it’s essential that employees are equipped with the tools to enable them to quickly resolve as many issues as possible on their own. At Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, customers discover that everyone is the right person when it comes to providing speedy service recovery.” Clearly, no one who interacted with me at Lincoln spoke with a supervisor – to find me an SUV in my local area – not was anyone equipped with the tools to resolve this epic service fail.

According to Annette Franz, a fellow customer experience consultant, Annette Franz (@annettefranz and @cxjourney on Twitter), “Achieving customer delight is paramount to the success of a business. Customer satisfaction is no longer enough – at least for businesses that want to thrive instead of just survive. But creating a delightful customer experience can be difficult, especially if you’re focusing solely on the customer.”

In addition, Annette writes about customer journey maps, a framework that allows you to walk in your customers’ shoes by traveling with them as they interact with your business. Customer journey maps enable you to improve your customer experience by helping to best understand how customers are interacting with you now and what areas to invest in moving forward.

Annette recommends that customer journey maps should be used to:
•    Understand the customer and his/her interactions with your business.
•    Build empathy for the customer and what he’s/she’s going through during all interactions with your business.
•    Provide a clear line of sight for employees to the target: customers.
•    Train and coach employees about the customer experience.
•    Speak a universal language (customer).

When asked about my recent “Date Night” experience and the fact that it didn’t happen for the second year in a row, Annette said, “The experience for prospective customers is as critical, if not more so, than that of customers. Ultimately, if you can’t hit a home run while you’re courting potential customers, then you won’t have any customers to have a relationship with going forward. You need to ensure that you deliver a great experience at all stages of the customer lifecycle.”

So, with all this knowledge about customer experience marketing and customer journey maps, why did Lincoln do such an incredible job with its Date Night PROMOTION but such a lousy job with the EXECUTION of its campaign? Tune in next year to see what happens.



Image Credit: Digitalart via FreeDigitalPhotos.net