As Kenya marketers turn to prize giveaways as a way to attract customers, research shows that the most popular giveaway with potential buyers is technology devices.
Kenya Breweries Limited in its latest promotion for its product Pilsner, is offering consumers the chance to win a 29-seater Isuzu Nagoya valued at Sh4.5 million and an added incentive of winning 10 motorbikes, riding on the growing boda boda business in the country, which is estimated to generate Sh400 million daily, according to the Motorcycle Assembly Association of Kenya.
But as Kenya marketers turn to prize giveaways as a way to attract customers, research shows that the most popular giveaway with potential buyers is technology devices.
“On the particular prizes that most consumers favoured, technology gadgets were high on the list with 17 per cent of consumers listing them as the most compelling, with other prizes like health and beauty enticing 11 per cent of respondents to participating in a promotion,” reported a 2016 global study conducted by digital promotions firm, Easy Promos.
The tech devices that draw consumers to buy a product in a promotion include mobile phone accessories, power banks and chargers. Some 87 per cent of consumers stated that they would keep a promotional power bank because it is useful, and 60 per cent said they would do business with a brand that gave them a power bank or any other device, according to Delta Marketing group in the US, in an article titled ‘2017 Promotional Product Trends’ on its website.
“Technology related items are the fastest-growing category of promotional products. It is not hard to know why this is happening — people are demanding technology-related items because they are so useful, relatable and long lasting compared to prizes such as pens,” read the article.
“In fact, the usefulness of a promotional product is the recipient’s number one reason for keeping it. Giving away a useful technology product not only ensures that the recipient will be pleased with a brand — it also indicates that the product has a high potential for generating brand exposure.”
Shared experiential prizes are also popular with consumers, with another 17 per cent of the participants in the global Easy Promos survey noting that they would be more likely to engage in a promotion which awarded prizes that can be shared with others, while 12 per cent of respondents said their preferred prizes where tickets and experiences such as trips or dinners.
“Consumers like telling others about products they like; therefore it is no surprise that shared experiential prizes rank high when it comes to favourite consumer prizes. If a brand runs a promotion offering a trip for two then one consumer who is loyal to the product is more likely to ask a friend to take part in the promotion so that they can share that experience,” said Odanga Madung, data science lead at Odipo Dev, an analytics firm.
Indeed, the nature of the prize is important in a promotion, with 82 per cent of the respondents in the EasyPromos study stated that liking the prize was more important than the brand of the prize, while only 18 per cent reported that the brand itself would drive participation.
“Not surprisingly, 48 per cent of consumers noted that the prize was the most important element in participation, with 45 per cent stating it is a major deciding factor.”
For Kenya Breweries Limited, “the promotion will for the first time introduce weekly motorbikes prize giveaways.
“The inclusion of motorbikes commonly referred to as boda boda reaffirms the campaigns approach by tapping into the booming boda boda business that has seen youths increasingly venture into business as a source of income,” says Samuel Wasswa, Pilsner marketing manager.
The move ties with the research findings, in that for Kenyan brands seeking to entice more consumers to buy their products through promotions, it matters how much consumers want the prize.
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