What Business Lessons Can We Learn from Powerful Brands and Their Promotions

The world’s biggest brands have got to where they are thanks to a lot of hard work and creativity. To get an idea of how they stay on top, we can consider the promotions they run and how they help them to retain clients as well as bring in new customers.

The Power of a Successful Brand Crossover

McDonald’s in the UK has recently announced the return of their popular Monopoly game. This simple promotion has proved to be a massive success since it was first launched in 2005 and many customers now look forward to its return each year, but what business lessons can we learn from offers like McDonald’s Monopoly?

Monopoly is an extremely popular game that was introduced in 1935 and has now been played by an estimated billion people. The strength of the brand can be seen in the fact that it has been used in tie-ins with many other brands, with online bingo games as one of the latest examples. By using the Monopoly brand as part of a live game, Evolution Gaming has managed to produce a new type of bingo with widespread appeal that takes bingo in a different direction. We can see the result with MONOPOLY Big Baller at Paddy Power, which is set on a riverboat and adds live casino appeal to a classic game.

McDonald’s is an instantly recognizable fast food brand that started operating in the US in 1955 and now has over 40,000 branches across the planet. With a brand value of close to $200 billion (£159 billion), the company spends almost $400 million (£318 million) annually on advertising, according to various online sources.

Bringing together a couple of big brands in this way might seem like a recipe for instant success, but it doesn’t always work. The two brands need to fit together in some way and there needs to be good communication between them, together with a set of shared goals. This look at some of the worst brand collaborations includes Target and Neiman Marcus failing to make their partnership work in 2013 and Kraft falling out with Starbucks in 2010.

On the other hand, productive and profitable brand collaborations have included Louis Vuitton working with Supreme, and Nike hooking up with Ben & Jerry’s to produce the popular Chunky Dory ice cream flavor. So, we can see that it isn’t always immediately obvious from the names of the brands whether a collaboration is going to be good news for both of them and well-received by clients.

People Love Getting Something for Free

At the heart of many of the best promotions is the idea of getting something for free. The prizes don’t need to be spectacular, as they can range from novelty items to a coupon for money off future purchases and other small gifts. The retail industry is generally filled with offers, and this advice by Money Saving Expert shows shoppers how to search for current deals. So, why do relatively modest offers work so well?

In his book titled Predictably Irrational, Dan Ariely points out that people change their behaviors to take advantage of the chance to get something for free, as it’s a powerful emotional trigger that makes it easier for us to make decisions and spend money more easily.

There are many types of free offers that can be used to attract new and recurring customers, such as buy one, get one free, free trials, and the freemium model. Keeping it simple is a smart way to avoid confusing people and keep them coming back for more with a clear idea of what they’re after.

The Importance of Introducing Fresh Ideas

Finally, when a brand has been around as long as McDonald’s, Monopoly and other household names, it runs the risk of being overlooked as the public turns to newer, fresher ideas. This is why fast-food chains regularly change their menu items and bring in promotions like this for a limited time, so there’s little chance of their regular customers getting tired of it before it comes to a close.

Not all businesses can offer a huge promotion like this with eye-catching prizes, but everyone can look to use these same basic concepts to reach out to more customers and create a buzz for their products.