Sure for Men – Ashes Tickets

Sure for Men have a new promotion offering free tickets to the Ashes.  The programme works using an on-pack code which is entered into the website for a chance to win tickets as part of a prize draw.

The promotion ties nicely into the Sure brand promise of “24 hour protection” with a prize draw every 24 hours and given the sporting element of cricket, it is obviously positioned with an active reward – albeit as a spectator.

There may be a potential issue with the reward itself however as although there has been increased focus on cricket recently with the Ashes and Twenty20, it still doesn’t attract the following of other sports.  For example, TV audience viewing figures for cricket were at their maximum when the Ashes contest in 2005 attracted 4.1m.  In contrast coverage of the England versus South Africa final in the 2007 Rugby World Cup attracted the highest viewing figures for a single programme in the UK that year with nearly 17 million tuning in.

This more niche following may suppress participation to some degree and so acquisition will be lower, however those it does attract will probably be passionate about the sport and this will help Sure position itself within this.

The prize draw itself it also interesting as this isn’t a category you can necessarily create additional purchases in.  Unlike a soft drink, Sure is something that will last a while and unless you bring forward purchases, there is little reason or opportunity to buy another one in the short term.  This means a draw every 24 hours works well on the initial code entry, but then you know you’re missing a number of other chances to win as every day passes.  Combined with not winning on the first entry this may re-enforce the idea of not being able to achieve it and lower repeat entry.

The website is functional in terms of code entry, and there is an exclusive blog allowing you to get regular updates and information on upcoming matches.  Again, this is content for die-hard cricket fans so may have little appeal even to a wider sporting audience. 

Interestingly, for such a fan orientated website, there is no ability to interact and I think this is a big mistake.  Having attracted a passionate but small audience, it seems strange not to have allowed them to interact and discuss, with Sure facilitating this conversation.

In summary, it’s a good promotion for cricket fans and if it’s designed to just acquire these then it would seem to work well.  With the opportunity missed for interaction and the possible disappointment with the way the prize draw works, this promotion gets a Lean Forward score of 2.6.

	Score (0-5)
Encourages Acquisition	3
Drives Repeat Purchase	2
Programme Longevity	3
Brand Alignment	4
Creates Excitement	3
Enables Interaction	0
Overall Lean Forward Score	2.6