Free Monkeys for All

That’s right, everyone who reads this article about premiums gets a real live monkey, free! Think of all the hilarity that will ensue! How surprised your friends and family will be! The silly situations you’ll get in! OK, there’s no free monkey. But didn’t the idea of one conjure up some really fun thoughts?

Sorry about the monkey, but in today’s experience-hungry world, premiums have to do a lot more than just be free. They have to work really hard for your brand. Which means we all have to work really hard and think big — monkey big — to come up with premiums that deliver real surprise and delight.

Premiums like this don’t come out of a catalog. They come out of ideas. So think about premiums as you’re developing your promotions, not after. Keep a running list of all the experiences your promotion can offer. Keep another list of the core ideas and assets of your brand and find the places these two intersect.

Here are some ideas for creating great premiums:

Take a Premium and Make It New

Starbucks gave their customers an opportunity to create one-of-a-kind t-shirts to show off their favorite Starbucks’ drinks. People went online, specified their drink preferences, then received a custom t-shirt created by designer Mychael Knight. More than a free t-shirt, it was a statement about that person’s unique Starbucks experience.

Make the Product the Premium

Molson beer knows that guys go to bars to meet girls. So they created a series of custom labels that were sure conversation starters. There were 50 different (and collectible) labels in all, including my favorite: One-Man Bachelorette Party.

Make the Premium Your Own

To promote their new shower gel, Axe gave away rubber duckies with every purchase. They were black, sported dark shades and had a pair of devil horns. How popular were they? You can only get them on eBay now.

Charge for Your Premium

The Staples Easy Button is a premium that Staples sells. People love pressing that big button and hearing the guy say “that was easy.” It has major play value, makes interacting with the brand fun and delivers the Staples tagline every time you press it.

Make a Premium Product

Burger King created three different custom Xbox games and sells them for just $3.99 each when you buy a BK Value Meal. The games, which star Burger King’s ad characters, have become some of the most popular Xbox titles available.

Create a Premium That’s Part of a Lifestyle

UNIQLO, the cool Japanese clothing company with the huge flagship store in Manhattan’s SoHo, hands out its free magazine in hip New York neighborhoods. Sure, the magazine sells their clothes, but what it really sells is the lifestyle that goes with the clothes.

Let the Premium Drive Purchases

To tell kids that OfficeMax was the place for back-to-school supplies, they created “Schooled,” a Disney Channel TV special. To see it again, kids had to convince their parents to buy $50 worth of back-to-school supplies at OfficeMax to get a free copy of the DVD. This worked perfectly at my house.

Make the Premium Virtual

OfficeMax created another great premium, this one online. To promote the idea that OfficeMax was a great place to buy holiday gifts, they created 20 temporary Web sites as “gifts” for harried holiday shoppers. The most popular was www.elfyourself.com, which let visitors turn anyone into an animated dancing elf, then e-mail the video to everyone. It was fun, easy to do and spread like wildfire.

Steven Stark is a creative director and conceptor at Ryan Partnership in Wilton, CT.

For more articles on premiums and incentives, go to promomagazine.com/incentives