Offer with limits | Hoover
What if buying a £100 vacuum got you a free trip to America… and destroyed an entire company?
In the 90s, Hoover UK was struggling with sales. So they launched what sounded like a genius campaign:
Buy any Hoover product for £100 and get 2 FREE round-trip tickets to the U.S.
Sounds amazing, right?
The catch? The tickets were worth over £600!
People rushed to buy anything to hit the £100 mark, such as vacuums, fridges, and even toasters.
Over half a million people joined in.
But Hoover couldn't keep up. They only gave out tickets to a small portion.
The rest?
Lawsuits, Chaos, PR disaster, the CEO resigned, and over 600 employees were laid off.
And eventually, Hoover was sold. All because of one campaign that gave away more than it gained.
Moral:
Ensure your offer doesn't cost you more than the product you're selling.
Big promises grab attention, but delivering them is what keeps your business alive.
My Explanatory Video in Arabic: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/omarsamy_businessabrshortcuts-businessabrshortcuts-activity-7082075906390859777-a7ya?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop&rcm=ACoAABnGbCQB34wpv92t8XCVhYpXvtgigkDB9wA
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Real Estate & Architectural Copywriter | Marketing Consultant
2moInteresting, and briefly explained. I used to plan for offers, but I always consulted the business owner to determine whether they were suitable or over budget. There had to be a discussion where the offer should never get us to a zero-profit level.