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Why “black Friday” May Not Be the Best Marketing Promotion

The marketing promotion “Black Friday” has become a transatlantic marketing phenomenon.  But just because something gets a lot of hype, doesn’t necessarily mean it is right for your business.  In this article we take a look at the marketing monster that is Black Friday.  Here we give you some ways to evaluate whether it may be right for you.

What is a Black Friday marketing promotion?

How did this marketing promotion come to the UK?

It is called “Black Friday” because traditionally it represents the time of the year when US retailers moved financially out of the red, and into the black (i.e. profit).  The growth in internet retailing is what originally brought Black Friday to these shores, with Amazon thought to the be one of the first retailers to start offering “Black Friday” deals.

Today, all British supermarkets, with the exception of Marks & Spencer, and the majority of high street retailers offer deals on Black Friday. What’s more, in the last 3 years the “Black Friday” promotional mania seems to have ascended into non-retail businesses and even into the world of B2B services.

Why you may want to consider this marketing promotion campaign?

Love it or hate it, there are many reasons why brands and customer run a Black Friday marketing promotion.

– Creates a buzz in store

There is no doubt the Black Friday promotions do get people into retail stores.  However, with an increasing number of people preferring to browse the deals from the comfort of their own home this is becoming less beneficial.  Typically, a store would have a select number of items at ridiculously low prices and would be relying on cross selling other items whilst they were there.  This happens less frequently online, although the “you may also like” function of many websites does help to partially overcome this.

– Pull new customers in

 Shift slower selling items or excess stock

– Generate publicity

Probably the most common reason that brands run Black Friday promotion is to raise the profile of their brands, particularly in the all-important run-up to Christmas.  A promotional campaign which shows huge discounts always generates awareness and often leads to heightened social coverage in terms of PR, shares and likes.  It can become the central fulcrum to a much wider integrated campaign.

Why you may want to avoid a Black Friday marketing promotion campaign?

– Price discounting could damage your brand

This will largely depend on your market positioning.  If you are in the stack them high, sell the cheap volume model, then it may be perfect for you.  Even if you hold a mid-market position in your particular field, it could still bring a multitude of benefits.  However, if your market position is in the quality, premium or luxury end of the market, then a Black Friday style promotion may only devalue the brand equity you have built up over the years.  Those typically regarded as the highest quality brand in their field never run price discount promotions, because they don’t need to.

– Negative customer service impact

– Impact on margins 

– Being heard above the Marketing noise

It used to be a one-day marketing promotion.  Now, every year in the UK it is getting extended, starting mid-week and running for seven days. However, although this stretching out of Black Friday has helped with the window of promotional opportunity it is still a major issue.  Why would you want to be running one of your biggest price discounting promotions at exactly the same time as all of your competitors.  Will your promotion even be heard amongst all of the marketing noise?  Why not focus your campaign at a different time of year when this is less activity and your media reach would be a lot more economical (think in terms of supply and demand).

In summary

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Ian Kirk

Founder at Opportunity Marketing

Ian is the founder of Opportunity Marketing marketing, with over 18 years of experience in successfully setting up marketing departments, creating marketing strategies and implementing these strategies across a wide number of SME companies in both the B2B and B2C sectors through a variety of channels.

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