Exaggerated prizes, consisting in expensive objects, damage the image of a brand. This argument, already classical, did not succeed so far in preventing the transformation of direct marketing campaigns in true luxury lotteries.

On the other hand, of all the arguments invoked by such tacticians – promoters of this genre – none works in any way. Some examples follow:

“The purchaser / participant in the promotion is a bison.”
Not true. In direct marketing, there are only persons interested in the brand (obviously, with different adherence degrees) and players. Well, both know very well what they are doing. For this reason, they cannot be anyone’s fool.
“Considerable prizes, to measure our gratitude.”
As long as direct marketing campaigns are only based on random mechanisms of granting participation prizes, we cannot talk about acknowledgement and gratitude. The rewarding mechanisms are the only ones solving the commitment of “our gratitude”, as they propose the differentiation between the merits of purchasers with an authentic record and the merits of occasional clients.
“Considerable prizes to reflect the power of our company.”
Too bad for company imagining that it shall gain the attachment or respect of its clients by opulence and grandeur! With few exceptions, all the purchasers only appreciate a fair price and a corresponding quality, the attention of the service and the comfort of the granted support, and of course, nice gestures.
“Through its considerable prizes, our promotion is more attractive than the promotions of our competitors.”
Of course it will, but only to gamblers. What about the rest of the participants, those clients who are there, in the direct marketing action, only for that brand and for its values? Nothing! Isn’t this really serious?
“Considerable prizes increase participation.”
Although it may seem odd, statistics indicate the contrary – and even at a considerable difference between those with and those without considerable prizes. Why? Because the client reacts just like an ordinary person passing by a table where a game is played: if the stake is reasonable, he/she would stop for a while to play, but if the amounts involved are too high, and the people claiming them are passionate gamblers, then the client gives up and minds his/her own business. There is another version: in case of big prizes, the client is also scared by the purchase effort he/she needs to make to maximize his/her chances to gain. Otherwise, the client continues to buy the product of that brand, as usual, and, even though he/she thus acquires possession of a participation code, why bother to register it in the participation list – if the chances seem to be very low anyway?!?
“Considerable prizes ensure the achievement of direct marketing objectives.”
In direct marketing, efficiency means, first of all, building a relation, increasing the customer’s loyalty... a measurable gain. Obviously, considerable prizes are not welcome when talking about client relations, because not even the winners are anxious to tighten their relations with the authors of that promotional action. And this happened while the rest of participants, non-winners, remain with resentments and frustrations. About the achievement of the other marketing objectives – knowledge, brand values, communication – persistence is useless.
As for measurable gain... maybe a damage equal to the costly value of the prizes!
“Considerable prizes make the participants to take us seriously.”
False. The reserve or suspicions of those deciding whether to participate in a promotion or not are directly proportional to the value of prizes. And this is because they consider that it is highly likely that the draw is tricked if the prizes are higher and more attractive. Finally, the “it is too beautiful to be true and, most probably, the organizers will give the prizes to each other” judgment supersedes. So, the first to suffer is the impression of honesty.
“Do you want to stay out of trouble? – Make available considerable prizes!”
Once again, it is the other way around. The direct marketing campaign will not have a normal route, the irritation created around considerable prizes results in abuses and fraud attempts on the part of professional participants – the gamblers. Also, the complaints regarding organizers and the scandals caused by the insinuations transmitted in the media are not lacking. In fact, it is not few times that companies with a beautiful reputation faced serious PR problems, especially because such considerable prizes.

I have a suspicion: even those proposing actions with considerable prizes know, in their mind, that the so-called arguments are stupid. However, they continue making this mistake because it is much more difficult to be creative than expensive and indolent.
For this reason, the most expensive prize – more expensive than the tens of convertible cars, hundreds of trips, thousands of luxury products or piles of money – is the beautiful direct marketing creation!
A single conclusion: let’s replace considerable and expensive prizes with a simple, honest creation, as attractive as possible.