Dave’s Favourite Sales Promotion

Great sales promotion campaigns can be so much more than short-term sales boosters. They can showcase a brand’s character and reinforce its positioning with consumers. They can attract first-time buyers and re-engage lapsed ones. They can generate “free” advertising through press coverage and online exposure (hello, McDonald’s Monopoly!)—and they often spark loads of social content too. The best promotions take on a life of their own.

While I wouldn’t call myself an “old hand” just yet, I’ve been around long enough to have seen some brilliant campaigns. Remember the piggy bank giveaways from the high street banks (back when they were still called that)? Most of them tried it at one time or another. Or the classic Kellogg’s collector promos—Corgi cars, Tony the Tiger cereal bowls (we never had enough tokens in our house!). The Cadbury’s/National Trust Easter Egg Hunts were fantastic too—and still pop up now and again. A great partnership all round.

In the hedonistic ‘90s, at the height of Britpop, I remember Guinness running a brilliant on-trade campaign. The giveaways? Wigs styled after recognisable England players—there was David Beckham’s mohawk or David Seaman’s ponytail… A clever workaround to licensing rules, and great fun in the pubs.

But my all-time favourite? A wonderfully on-brand promo from a controversial comic with a cult following. Viz’s legendary “free balloon” giveaway. How did they distribute it? They stapled it to the cover. Genius.