Match promotions to big events

New to Ariyh? This is a 3min practical summary of a scientific study 🎓 Join 29,202 marketers who use science, not flawed opinions 📈 Subscribe here

Today’s insight is brought to you by… Modash

Sometimes the most obvious influencers aren’t the top performers for your brand.

(For example, the top performers for Tourlane, a travel company, are not travel influencers.)

The trick is to go back to marketing basics. Instead of focusing on expensive influencers in your immediate category, think about who else reaches your ideal buyers.

This short guide walks you through how to find (and test) new influencer niches.

Want to sponsor Ariyh? Here’s all you need to know.

📝 Intro

Imagine you are planning the next big campaign for your sports supplement brand. You want to run some special promotions and really boost those sales.

The World Cup is just around the corner — should you ramp up your offers and tie them to the occasion?

Or should you not mention it, as people’s attention might get diverted? 

Scientific evidence shows that matching your promotions to major events like the Olympics is not a gamble — it’s a proven strategy to boost sales.

P.S.: No major event in sight? Run promotions on unusual or ‘Special Days’ (e.g. World Tourism Day) to boost likelihood to buy up to 25%

Want to access hundreds more insights like these? Explore Ariyh insights here.

Promote and theme your products around major events

Topics: Promotions
For: B2C. Can be tested for B2B 
Research date: November 2018
Universities: University of Tuebingen, Tilburg University, University of Hamburg

📈 Recommendation

Run promotions around and during major events (e.g. Olympics, Superbowl) to boost their effect on sales. 

Promote a product that’s aligned with the occasion (e.g. sportswear promotions during the FIFA World Cup) and use event-themed marketing (e.g. limited-edition packaging or event-specific discounts) to maximize the effect.

You can also experiment with promoting very low-fit products (e.g. luxury spa promotion during a basketball game), which benefit from a positive surprise effect.

🎓 Findings

• Price promotions (e.g. discounts, 2 for 1 offers) around popular events lead to higher sales compared to promotions run when the event is not happening

• Researchers analyzed 242 brands from 30 consumer goods categories (e.g. food and beverage, household care, personal care) in the Netherlands and found that sales increased (compared to nonevent weeks):

  • On average 13% during an event week (e.g., 2014 Germany World Cup, 2012 London Olympics)

  • 48.2% during the Winter Olympics (February 2010)

  • 31.1% during Speed skating events (European & World, February 2007-2011)

• The positive effect on sales is strongest when the product or brand:

  • Has a high event-product fit (e.g. beer during a football championship) 

  • Has a very low event-product fit, as it creates a surprise effect (e.g. fashion ads during F1 championships) 

  • Is an official event sponsor (vs. non-sponsoring brands)

  • Is premium and a market leader (vs. lower-priced or non-leading brands)

• The effect disappears when:

  • The product is an average fit (e.g. running shoes during MotoGP championships)

  • Events are not popular enough. For example, in the Netherlands, this happened with the Olympics of August 2008 and Eurovision 2007-2010

🧠 Why it works

• Major events attract significant audience attention.

• Since our awareness and interest are heightened, we are more likely to notice and engage with promotions. 

• Brands that have a higher product-event fit (e.g. beer and football championship) naturally align with the occasion and the product’s usage in our minds.

• So linking brands to positive emotions brought by an event can strengthen brand perceptions and boost the effectiveness of promotions even more. 

📈 The future of social marketing

Lately is the first Deep Social platform, powered by Neuroscience-Driven AI™, that learns your unique brand voice to generate effective social content.

PLUS:

• Keys into the ideal messaging for any audience

• Turns longform content into high-performing social posts

• Populates your social media calendar, optimizing for peak performance times

This announcement was sponsored. Want your brand here? Click here.

✋ Limitations

• The study focused on sales figures and although it controlled for many variables (regular price of items, promotional clutter), the results were correlational, not necessarily causal. The researchers did not follow up with controlled lab experiments that would establish strong evidence that one causes the other, making the evidence of this study weaker.

• The research only analyzed in-store promotions, where drawing people’s attention during crowded events can be tough. Online retail promotions may be less effective since most people visit websites with more intention (e.g. searching for a new pair of runners vs. buying a hat in a stadium’s merch booth).

• The analysis tested simple consumer goods (e.g. snacks, drinks). The effect might be weaker for less impulsive purchases like electronics, appliances, or services.

• The analysis focused on a few global events and did not analyze local or country-specific events (e.g. local football leagues).

• It’s unclear what the threshold is for an event to be considered popular enough for this effect to work, or not.

🏢 Companies using this

• It’s common for large brands to sponsor major sporting events or run event-related promotions:

  • Adidas sponsored the 2022 World Cup

  • Heineken sponsored the 2020 football Euro Cup 

  • Moroccanoil haircare sponsors Eurovision, an event known for its flamboyant outfits and glamor

• It’s less common for smaller companies to run major event-themed promotions, likely because they are much less likely to sponsor the events. While the effect is weaker when the company is not sponsoring, it still exists, and this may still be an effective opportunity.
  

Bridgestone ran a special Olympics-themed price promotion. 

⚡ Steps to implement

• Plan your promotion campaigns to match major events happening during the year (e.g. sports events, movie awards).

• Make deals limited in time and explain that they are only available because of the event.

• For maximum effectiveness, focus on events in which your product is a fit (e.g. beer during a football championship) to naturally align the themes.

• If your product is not a fit, you could test a surprising campaign, making your promotion stand out (e.g. fashion collaboration with NBA), since people like creative ideas.

• Ensure that these promotions are a cohesive brand fit (e.g. Rolex does not sponsor football events and rather ties their brand to golf or tennis).

• If you plan to heavily run promotions during an event, consider sponsoring it to maximize the effect.

• Work with retailers to shape in-store promotions and product placement during relevant events (e.g. dedicated and branded crisp displays before game nights). 

• You can consult Ariyh’s Science-based Playbook of Pricing & Promotions for additional insights and recommendations on how to run highly effective promotions.

🔍 Study type

Market observation (analysis of sales from 242 brands from 30 consumer packaged goods in the Netherlands)

📖 Research

Price Promotions and Popular Events. Journal of Marketing (November 2018)

🏫 Researchers

• Wiebke I.Y. Keller. University of Tuebingen

• Barbara Deleersnyder. Tilburg University

• Karen Gedenk. University of Hamburg

Remember: This is a scientific discovery. In the future it will probably be better understood and could even be proven wrong (that’s how science works). It may also not be generalizable to your situation. If it’s a risky change, always test it on a small scale before rolling it out widely.

Here’s how else Ariyh can help you:

• 📈 Access 100s of insights and learn how other evidence-based marketers apply them, with Ariyh Pro

• 📘Supercharge your business with Ariyh’s Playbooks of Pricing & Promotions, SaaS, or Ecommerce

• 🎓 New to Ariyh? If this was forwarded to you can subscribe below for $0