Marketing has many faces and many different forms. Brands want to be unique in the way they advertise their products, but that’s not always the case.
The same thing can be said about price reductions. A good sale is hard to beat, but there must be a different way of getting products cheaper, or in some cases even for free.
One of the more popular ones is the use of coupons, also knowns as discount codes. Here are some bits of information regarding coupons that most people don’t know about.
1. Discount codes have been around since the late 1800s
Most people associate discount codes with online shopping, but the idea of discount codes is much, much older than that. In fact, it’s much older than the internet itself. The first company to incorporate them into their marketing strategy was Coca-Cola.
If the company were to launch a similar promotion now, there would be too many people willing to get these coupons, but when Coca-Cola was a small business, it wasn’t as well-known yet and needed to get the word out. One of the founders, Asa Griggs Chandler, decided that the best way to get the product out there was to simply give it to people.
The company decided to mail small coupons that allowed the recipient to get one bottle of Coca-Cola for free. It resulted in millions of Americans getting free bottles of Coke. While the iconic product would have probably been successful without such aggressive advertising, it would have definitely taken much longer to achieve such popularity.
2. Extreme Couponing is a thing
While most people don’t use discount codes or coupons all that often, there is a small group of customers that is willing to go to great lengths to save even the tiniest amount of money on their shopping.
To do that, they use coupons and other discounts, both online and in traditional stores. Their tactics were so interesting that a reality TV show following their everyday lives was created.
Of course, extreme couponing is only really known in America and it’s unlikely that it will catch on anywhere else, but it’s still interesting to know that there is a small group of people that takes coupons really, really seriously.
3. You can save hundreds of pounds on your online shopping if you use discount codes
Chances are, you’ve probably done some online shopping. In fact, it’s one of the most popular forms of shopping today. The question is: have you ever redeemed any discount codes? If not, you should definitely give them a shot, considering the financial benefits of taking advantage of them. If you want to know more, just head over to https://buykers.com/uk/stores.
4. Some coupons are worth more than others
One of the most popular loyalty programs in Canada issues ‘money’ as means of reward for every dollar spent in the store. The company is called Canadian Tire and their ‘money’ is very similar to actual Canadian currency, both in terms of size and design.
So much so that it is accepted in a small number of other stores. Is it a full-fledged currency? Not really. However, it looks so similar that it can be mistaken for actual money.
In 2004, one of Canadian Imperial Bank’s cash machines withdrew 11 Canadian Tire bills instead of actual Canadian bills. Now, if the sophisticated machinery treats coupons the same way it treats money, who are we to say otherwise?
5. Some countries used to have coupons for cars!
The 20th century was a time full of turmoil and unrest, both social, international and economic. Governments knew that people wanted to increase their standard of life, but the economic realities of certain countries rendered that dream impossible. That did not stop certain states to attempt to help the people get the things they want.
When Volkswagen Beetle was first introduced, its aim was to provide German families with a practical, cheap and reliable form of private transportation. However, the German economy had still been suffering the consequences of World War One.
What was the idea that would help millions of Germans get cars? Coupons, of course! The plan was simple: give people a sort of payment plan that had to be paid in monthly instalments and after a few short years, a car would be paid off and ready to be delivered. The condition was that the instalments had to be paid regularly.
You miss even one and you have to start all over and go to back the waiting list, which took years by the way. After making all the payments, you would receive a coupon that would allow you to pick up your brand-new Beetle.
The truth was that the Nazi government needed money to develop military technology and the Beetle was a decoy that would make citizens part with their money each month without really thinking twice about it. Only a handful of people actually got their cars that way.