I recently saw this ad for Yoplaits “Save Lids to Save Lives” Campaign. A throwback to the box-top drives of the 70’s, Yoplait donates 10 cents for every pink lid you mail in by December 31st.
The key to developing a successful campaign is to make it easy for the end user. It you make them jump through too many hoops, well … they won’t. People are creatures of habit. We don’t like to be pushed outside of our comfort zones, especially by marketers.
As marketers, we need to align our campaigns with the behaviors of our target market. Think incremental tweeks that deliver the desired results, not full blown changes in behavior.
In the example above, Yoplait (in an online ad) wants me to collect tops and mail them in. Let’s break this down:
I have to:
- Go to the store
- Purchase Yoplait. Not just any Yoplait, the one with the pink lid.
- Eat the Yoplait.
- Save the lid
- Clean the lid
- Buy a stamp ($0.44 USD)
- Get an envelope ($0.05 USD)
- Fill out the envelope
- Mail the lid back to Yoplait, and trust that they get it
In exchange, Yoplait will:
- donate $0.10 to the Susan G. Komen Foundation
The value of my time and the Yoplait aside, wouldn’t it be cheaper for me to just donate $0.49 (the estimated cost of the envelope and the stamp) to the Susan G. Komen Foundation ?
A better idea would be to just print a unique code on the inside top of ALL Yoplait lids (why limit it to just the pink ones?), and allow me to enter that code in the Yoplait website. Yoplait could then provide me with tools that would allow me to support the cause in other ways (aside from purchasing Yoplait). Just off the top of my head, they could offer social networking tools, email templates, fund raising kits, awareness literature, etc. All the while delivering targeted advertising for Yoplait.
That would be much easier than the campaign they’ve launched, not to mention much more likely to succeed.
One quick note – let me say that I like the creativity of the featured tips of this campaign. Yoplait is doing the thinking – giving the reader ideas on how they can easily contribute, and achieve the goal. The easier the action, the more likely it is that they’ll do it!