Saturday 14 July 2007

Luring Customers AKA Nikwax's Cunning Plan

This post is a little outside the realm of my usual theme, but I was fascinated by how my own behaviour had been (benignly?) influenced.
I need to waterproof a coat and I remembered that my brother used to use Nikwax.
I saw a thread with Nikwax in the title on Bushcraftuk.com. The thread told me I could get a free sample by entering a quiz, it also said that I would be able to confirm my answers before entering, to guarantee a win.
I was intrigued.....

‘Advertising: the art and science of rattling the stick in the bucket to call the swine.’

Imagine you have invented something you need, and you’re convinced all the other outdoor people will need it too.
You’ve jacked in your job, set up production, put up a website, and now you need to sell a few to avoid going bust, and a few more to pay for that dream trip to________. Now you're out in the consumer wilderness, competing withthe other prediters, trying to harvest customers for the great migratory herds of outdoor lovin' types.
But how do you get ‘em to bite? Then tell their friends to bite, and then bite again?

Nikwax have a cunning plan..........................

The outdoor community: Hunters. Fishers, Hikers, Bushcrafters, ect.
These groups pendulum between the extremes of: ‘money-no-object’ gear freaks, and ‘I-made-it-myself’ anti consumerists. The gear freaks are hard to convince, but will spend big money before looking for the next innovation.
The anti-consumerists, also hard to convince, are probably the ultimate loyal customers.
Whichever pole they are nearest to, the outdoor community contains some of the best-informed mavens and most committed evangelists of any retail marketplace.

Attract their attention
“FREE STUFF!! FREE STUFF YOU ‘WOULD’ HAVE BOUGHT ANYWAY!!!”
Ground bait the area
“YOU CAN ENTER THE QUIZ AS MANY TIMES AS YOU LIKE.”
Teach them what they like
“READ PRODUCT INFO - ANSWER THE QUESTIONS - GET THE FREE STUFF”
Get them to come back to the same spot to feed again
“FREE STUFF EVERY THREE MONTHS
(OR GET A FRIEND INVOLVED TO GET FREE STUFF SOONER)”

Outcome
I emailed BoB (Brother of Bushwacker) he emailed back to say that he was entering from his UK and NZ address’s.

I posted his mention and looked up the nearest stockist

"It is as cunning as a fox who's just been appointed Professor of Cunning at Oxford University"
Edmund Blackadder

See for your self - Get some free stuff

http://www.nikwax.com/en-gb/webquiz/index.php

http://www.nikwax.com/en-us/index.php