Durable Coupons Carry Exceptional Value

Coupons – you say? That’s right, coupons, those little slips of paper that get mailed in 1/2" stacks in bright envelopes, clipped from newspapers and magazines or drop to the floor while you are trying to concentrate on what you are reading. And all of you shaking your head and saying everyone is using their smartphones now, not paper coupons, will be as surprised as I was by the research for this article.

Last year (2015) saw millennials become the largest living population segment and they LOVE coupons. Valassis, a company in the coupon business says a report shows that 90 percent of millennials use coupons. Also quite interesting is that the more affluent a family is, the greater their use of coupons. So the Baby Boomers who have a good deal of concentrated wealth are also clipping coupons at a steady and healthy rate. 

The 2K16 Coupon Intelligence Report shows that 87 percent of all consumers use coupons they receive in the mail; 82 percent for newspaper and coupons in coupon books. The demand for coupons is so strong that a Google search for ‘coupons’ brings back more than 279 million hits! 

What does all this have to do with what we do? 99.1 percent of coupons are wasted! About 330 billion coupons are distributed in recent years and only 2.9 billion redeemed including both paper and digital. That means that any cost per issued coupon has to be multiplied by 99.12% to get the actual cost for each redeemed coupon. A $60 CPM (cost per thousand) issued (six cents) is $5.95 for each redeemed. If real costs for digital coupons is calculated including website development and maintenance, driving consumers to the site, administration of redeemed coupons and other ancillary costs, they can approach or surpass the cost of paper. One other very important consideration is that virtually all coupons have an expiration date. That may be a “call to action” but it also means that advertisers have to pay again to distribute a current coupon.

Durable coupons eliminate all those problems. A durable coupon is an offer contained as part of the message on a promotional product. It is always available and depending on how programs are designed, will reduce ad costs, eliminate multiple distributions and that cost and have a better chance of generating business since 100 percent get delivered and almost all will be retained. For example, a service station can state “Free Towing” on the ice scrapers they give customers. The likelihood that they service the car they tow is nearly 100 percent. A pizza shop can give (or sell) a pizza cutter with a perpetual coupon code good for a discount.

Current technology allows both a call to action and an expiration date, along with the perpetual nature of a durable coupon. By using a QR code on the promotional item a consumer can instantly download the current offer. From the newest tech to a much older one, stadium cushions with multiple durable coupons have been raising funds for schools and providing great store traffic for years. 

At an industry event in Chicago in July I discussed this subject with several top promotional marketing/specialty advertising people at the top of their game. I introduced them to the terms ‘perpetual coupon’ and ‘durable coupon’ more than a year before. They all said that actually using the term ‘durable coupon’ and ‘perpetual coupon’ when advising their clients made the clients more interested and willing to invest in using our media. By calling the promotional item a coupon it takes it out of the realm of an inanimate object and gives it a purpose past the utilitarian function (scraping windows, killing flies, opening bottles, etc.) it is primarily designed to do. 

The project that lead to this article and the research for it involved a consumable food product manufacturer that regularly issued coupons for discounts on their products. A zippered nylon wallet intended to hold paper coupons was imprinted with a durable coupon for the client that guaranteed the shopper would have an incentive to select the client’s brand no matter what other coupons they brought with them. The wallet was distributed as an “on-pack” premium which increased initial purchases and then provided ongoing incentive for the brand.

Statistics show that 86 percent of consumers consider coupons when they make their shopping lists; 77 percent select stores based on who accepts coupons; 91percent of brand loyal consumers wait to have a coupon to make a purchase; 78 percent of consumers try a new brand because they have a coupon.  

One final thought, creating a durable coupon is an amazingly simple way to get your client thinking about the true value, the desired outcome of their promotion and takes the focus away from the promotional product that will be used. Sell the outcome and not the product and your own business will grow.

Gregg Emmer is chief marketing officer and vice president at Kaeser & Blair, Inc. He has more than 40 years experience in marketing and the promotional specialty advertising industry. His outside consultancy provides marketing, public relations and business planning consulting to a wide range of other businesses and has been a useful knowledge base for K&B Dealers. Contact Gregg at gemmer@kaeser-blair.com.