Targeting existing customers is a good strategy when trying to increase coupon redemptions. Someone who is already using a product is even more likely to buy it again or buy another product from the same brand if they have a coupon. However, coupon placement for food products can make this strategy potentially tricky to pull off.
CHALLENGE — Including a Microwave-Safe Special Offer
When adding coupons to a food product, a manufacturer has to find a placement where the customer will find it but the coupon will remain intact. Coupons on the outside of a package are prone to theft. Placing coupons inside a product comes with its own challenges as coupons placed inside of food packaging may be exposed to extreme temperatures.
A coupon may break down in the brittle cold of the freezer or the searing heat of the microwave. If consumers forget to remove the insert and the coupon is placed in the microwave, the insert could ruin the food and destroy the promotion. Failure in food coupons could lead to unusable food, a failed promotion and, most significantly, angry consumers.
A U.S. food manufacturer was looking to start a cross coupon promotion. The plan was to use coupons in small, high volume self-serve packages to entice current users to return to purchase the bigger (and more expensive) family-size packages in the future. Knowing that they would need a special coupon, the food manufacturer came to PrintFlex to see how we could help.
SOLUTION — A Food Grade Microwave-Safe Coupon that Stands Up
Our customer needed a coupon that could handle the temperatures so it could be placed inside the food packaging where the purchaser would find it and it would be safe from potential theft. To meet our customer’s needs, the PrintFlex team worked closely with a top plastic manufacturer to develop a patented Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved food grade insert. This insert could stand up to extreme cold in storage and heat in cooking without breaking up or melting into the food product.
The FDA-approved coupon inserts for the family-size packages were placed in the self-serve packages to incentivize current consumers to increase their purchase.
RESULT — Safely Promoting a Larger Package
By producing a freezer-safe and microwave-safe FDA-approved insert, PrintFlex Graphics helped our customer leverage an inexpensive, smaller, higher-volume product to promote a larger, more expensive package to existing customers. All of this was achieved while removing the risk of damaging both the product and the promotional piece.