2024 BEST PRACTICE AWARDS
“ Revenue and overall sales significantly increased through this program , generating an additional $ 34 million in revenue compared to the previous year .”
– NHLC chairman Joseph Mollica
Best Retail Innovation
NEW HAMPSHIRE LIQUOR COMMISSION
by KYLE SWARTZ
As the New Hampshire Liquor Commission ’ s ( NHLC ) second-busiest sales period , the holiday season is an ideal time to engage customers and drive sales . NHLC launched its 2023 holiday bonus card program this past November , utilizing a robust multi-channel strategy to captivate customers with bonus card offerings and prize giveaways while also reinforcing the sponsor brands : Tito ’ s Vodka and Josh Cellars .
From Nov . 1 to Dec . 31 , customers received a $ 10 bonus card for every $ 50 spent on NH Liquor & Wine Outlet gift cards . In addition to the gift card promotion , NHLC ’ s holiday campaign utilized an “ Enter to Win ” activation , giving customers an opportunity to receive two Loon Mountain four-season access passes and a $ 2,000 lodging gift card , two electric bike packages and 10 $ 100 NH Liquor & Wine Outlet gift card prizes .
To boost awareness for the campaign , NHLC leveraged radio , social media ( Facebook , Instagram and Snapchat ), email blasts , out-of-home ads on CBS Pre- Roll , Hulu and Simon Mall , and Google Display ads , driving customers to NH Liquor & Wine Outlets across the state . NHLC also created a landing page , as well as YouTube videos , specifically for the campaign , allowing customers to enter the giveaway and to learn more about the program .
NHLC sent two email campaigns to its customers promoting the bonus card , driving foot traffic to NH Liquor & Wine Outlets , and one email blast promoting the giveaway , which drove visitors to the holiday landing page . NHLC sent all three emails to half a million customers combined , and each email had a more-than 40 % open rate , with thousands of clicks to the landing page .
The campaign was a resounding success . It generated more than 31,630,000 brand impressions and a 545 % increase in gift card quantity . NHLC ’ s social media posts promoting the program reached nearly 34,000 accounts , resulting in more than 15,000 clicks to the campaign landing page . The Google Display ads garnered more than 8.2 million impressions and 22,140 clicks , while the video campaign yielded nearly 828,000 impressions .
Furthermore , the radio and display ads produced more than 20 million impressions and the out-of-home ads generated nearly 335,000 impressions .
“ Not only did customer engagement across our social media platforms skyrocket , but the program grew our customer count and encouraged bulk purchasing as customers would return to buy more products and to redeem any gift cards as well as bonus cards ,” says NHLC chairman Joseph Mollica . “ Revenue and overall sales significantly increased through this program , generating an additional $ 34 million in revenue compared to the previous year and growing gift card sales dollars by 50 times the previous amount . Overall , the campaign generated more than 31,630,000 brand impressions and increased gift card quantity by 545 %.” Will they run the program again ? “ Yes , we are planning to run the Holiday Bonus Card program again later this year during the holidays ,” says Mollica . “ We also ran a similar program , the Bonus Card Gold Rush , in August , which gave customers the opportunity to earn a $ 25 bonus card for every $ 150 spent in stores .”
24 StateWays • Fall 2024 www . stateways . com