For many of us, the name Hoover is synonymous with washing machines, fridges, and of course vacuum cleaners.
But in the marketing world just mention the name Hoover and you’ll see people roll their eyes.
Let me tell you why.
Hoover, the US manufacturer, wanted to increase sales of its vacuum cleaners in the UK. Their marketing team came up with the idea to run a product promotion.
Spend at least £100 on a vacuum cleaner and receive 2 return air tickets.
Sounds good, right?
To begin with, it was for Hoover. The flights offered initially were to destinations in Europe. Sales increased and to Hoover’s joy, not many people claimed their tickets.
Pleased with how sales were going, and wanting to keep demand high, someone at Hoover had another brilliant idea.
Extend the offer to flights to the US …
… and this is where it all went wrong!
At the time 2 return flights to New York would have cost you around £650.
So spending £100 on a vacuum cleaner, even if you didn’t need one (many ended up given away or stashed in the cupboard under the stairs) was a no-brainer.
As you can imagine demand was off the scale.
In fact, demand was so great Hoover had to cancel the promotion…
… but only after MILLIONS of pounds worth of tickets had been claimed.
Hoover faced legal action from disappointed consumers. In the end, it cost them an estimated £50 million and their European arm.
More importantly, Hoover was left forever associated with possibly the worst promotion in history.
Laying proof that the claim that “there is no such thing as bad publicity”, isn’t always true.
A lesson that you ignore at your peril.
The Hoover case is an extreme example of what can happen if you get it wrong. So be aware of the rules and regulations you need to follow to ensure that your brand’s reputation is enhanced, not tarnished by an illegal or badly run promotion.