After shifting its focus from loyalty points to cash for education, Betty Crocker is ringing up millions to help schools across the country.
Instead of its points program, Betty Crocker had redirected resources to focus on it Box Top for Education program, which it started in 1996. In that program, schools that register have a coordinator that collects box tops for the school in exchange for cash back. To date, the program has given $175 million to schools, said Pam Becker, a spokesperson for Betty Crocker.
“They can really select any type of project that they can spend the money on rather than limit them to a catalog of merchandise,” she said.
Last spring Betty Crocker began notifying its customers that it would phase out its long running loyalty program offered by parent General Mills (PROMO P&I, May 3, 2006). Under the program, shoppers could buy bags of Gold Medal Flour or Betty Crocker Brownie Mix that came printed with clip-and-save coupons. The coupons came with various point values that millions of customers have swapped and saved since the programs start in 1932 to redeem for blenders and drink spoons and cookie cutters.
The final Betty Crocker Catalog for the points program will be published this fall. A warning on the Web site reads: Use Your Betty Crocker Points Now Before It’s Too Late. Next year, the company, based on its discretion, may continue to accept points toward purchases of a limited-selection of merchandise sold online, Becker said.
Since the launch of the Box Tops for Education program, both points coupons and the box tops were printed on packaging and consumers began migrating to the education program, Becker said.
In its hay day, the points catalog reached millions of homes a year where loyal customers clipped and saved coupons to buy silverware as wedding gifts or casserole dishes to supply their new homes. But in recent years, the program began to dwindle and in 1997, the catalog migrated online and fewer mailings reached customers, Becker said.
The points program began in 1932, with a coupon tucked into a sack of Gold Medal Flour and Wheaties cereal boxes. Consumers could mail in the coupons to receive a free silver plated teaspoon. The response was so great that a year later Betty Crocker created an that allowed consumers to collect a whole set of flatware. In 1937 the in-pack coupon was replaced with one printed on the exterior of the packaging that could be clipped. Through the 1950s and 60s, flyers were added to offer a wider selection of merchandise and in 1962 the first full catalog was printed. In 1990, the coupons on the packages were redesigned and called points. In 1997, the online version of the catalog was born and mailings began to dwindle.
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