But thatβs not the real story.
Friday 29th march 2013
Jyot , Bhushan and Me were on a secret marketing mission.
After completing our major agenda for the evening, we crashed into McDonaldβs restaurant. Before we would have agreed upon our menus, a lady came from behind.
βCoupon redeem this that blah blah aavdi che baabdi che ek be tronn taare paase coupon che tare coupon nikadi blah blahβ , said the lady (this is what I got)
(Actually by all these she meant -> Take this coupon and do your normal purchase. You will get one 'veg Pizza McPuff', which you please give back to me.)
Barobar chhe, Jyot said
I was glad that she would get a βveg Pizza McPuffβ for free because of us.
Moreover, the simple Indian and homely looking lady in Salwar-Suit dared to ask us. It was a great move. She seems to be little bold.
We ordered the below stuffs:
1) Mc Veggie Meal * 2
2) Mc Chicken Meal *1
Gave the ladyβs coupon at the counter and waited for the order.
 |
Scheme of the Coupon:
As clearly visible in the picture, you will get the coupon stamped in the first purchase. Then you will get it stamped on the second with 'Veg Pizza McPuff and so on. |
βFrom where people use to get such kind of interesting coupons?β, i said
βDonβt know yaarβ, said Bhushan and Jyot in chorus
Our dinner arrived and there was a coupon on the top of it.
βOh, they are giving it to everyone whoβs having a purchase above Rs.200.β, Bhushan said
βWe could have availed the offer if we would have ordered in bits and pieces.β, Jyot mumbled
βOkay guys, next timeβ¦. Lets enjoy the dinner as if now. And Before that lets find a place to sit
where we would get the maximum βNayansukhββ. ,said i
βThere it is, we can have both outside and inside overviewβ, Jyot said
Bhushan happily handed over the βveg Pizza McPuffβ to the lady and we moved towards the βNayansukhβ table.
βOh my goodness. Can you see that?β , i said
βWhere sipppp where sippp where sipp ??β , Bhushan taking sip of coke
βOooo Myyyy myyyyy. Itβs biggieeeeβ , said one of us
All our mouth-watering faces were peeping outside the window of McDonald. Our dinner menu, which we selected after so much of analysis wasnβt that much tempting. A different hunger aroseβ¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦
Soon a guy came and took away our prospective asset (which we were happy to just visualize without blinking our eyes).
βAll our stuffs are getting coldβ, i said
βHmmmmβ¦. These can be bought again. But not thoseeeee.. yummmmm !!β, one of us.
βHey look the lady is still there, convincing someoneβ, Bhushan said
βShe might redeem one or two food-items todayβ, i said
βShezzz having three couponsβ, Jyot said
βOhhhhhh.. WTFβ, in chorus
βShe is convincing every new customer. This offer is not meant for Gujaratβ, Jyot said
βIs she planning to redeem all the 15 food items?β
βI think sheβll giving party to her neighbours todayβ
βWhatever, she is a good marketerβ. i said
βMarketer. Where the hell this came from?β
βShe is ruining McDonaldβs Smile card schemeβ
βOkay, Just answer this question of mine. As both of you might be aware that these days we are getting coupons every now and then on enormous good and services. Say it retail, automobile, parlors banking sector and even I remember one of my colleague telling story about discount coupon at brothel with some monthly scheme. So, do you mind looking into all the random coupons by your own?β, i said
βWell sometimesβ
βNoβ¦ Butβ
βSee, your answer is not a straight βYesβ. Thatβs means you need someone to explain the stuffs. That means one or two extra employee is required for the same?β, i said
βcorrectβ
βyupppβ
βStill you wonβt listen to him/her. You might say, βnext timeβ Or some excuse. As we do not have time in this busy era for ourselves and family (forget about others). Moreover, my past jobβs personal experience says, Life of an MBA students (who is having a huge dream and expectations from himself) is more hectic than of a person at job.β, i said
βWhat you want to convey through the example. Plzz elaborate !!β
βI mean, Look at the job that lady is doing. I am sure, she is not recruited by McDonald and itβs not their marketing strategyβ, i said
βMarketing strategyβ¦ Itβs a loss to the company. This scheme seems to be a kind of loyalty programme. But that lady is redeeming all the offers in a single day.β, Jyot said
βLook at it differently Jyot. Like the very famous saying at our MBA βRead between the linesβ, I would suggest you to βSee beyond the Visibilityβ. She is making others able to convince by letting them know the offer. And people are more receptive to any other customer than the employer. As they are also customers, which implies βA customer would relate himself/herself more to another customerβ, i said
βOhhh.. Yuppp.. : )β
βThat lady is inspiringβ
βThatβs what I told in the beginning. The lady behind McDonaldβs Smile Card schemeβ, i said
 |
| Left to right: Lady, Bhushan , Saurabh |
We finished off our food and came out of the shop. The lady was still inside convincing, explaining and gaining.
Convincing -> Other customers
Explaining -> The Scheme
Gaining -> Food items and self-satisfaction
I wanted to have a photograph clicked with her. At the end somehow we managed to get one while she came out once. But that was without her notice.
It was a great day, understanding Human Psychology and relating it to Marketing which came unintentionally. I hope even McDonald would not have thought of this kind of marketing. I would like to name this as βCustomer as an Employerβ Marketing. Hope this would be a new trend in the near future. Company can get benefits without actually employing and paying salary. Sometimes this could be more effective than Advertising too.
Some of you might think this as βWord of Mouthβ. But in my words (I repeat) βItβs looking beyond Visibilityβ. I would prefer calling it as βCustomer as an Employerβ Marketing, as its more of explaining by giving live example (and not just by simply conveying). And all of us would agree to this that, a visual learning is more effective than audio (just listening).