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Staff at the Blue Plate Diner distributed 1,000 "No Peeking" envelopes to their guests throughout the month of May. Each of these sealed envelopes contained a certificate good for some gift that would be given to the customer when he or she returned to redeem it sometime in June. These gifts ranged from a free appetizer or dessert to a complete dinner for two. (The owner or general manager usually determines the distribution of prizes for these promotions, with a limited number of the more extravigant awards.)
(click on the image to display an enlarged view.)
Since there is no postage necessary, the only cost for this promotion is to prepare the envelopes.
When a guest returned with an envelope the following month, he or she opened it in the presence of his or her wait person. The guest was awarded the prize on the certificate that had been in the envelope.
It is important to note that this promotion is successful because it’s FUN! It gives your guests a reason other then food to visit your establishment. There is little cost to distributing the envelopes, and there is no deduction taken at the time when you are distributing the envelopes (unless the customer is redeeming some other promotion at the same time). From your guest's perspective, you are giving him or her a gift. Gift-giving holidays are an ideal time in which to run this type of promotion.
The incentive for guests to return was that they had a chance to win the grand prize, but even if they didn’t win that, they were GUARANTEED to win something. This provided the Blue Plate Diner with two visits within two months as a result of this one promotion.
Here are the results of this promotion:
(click on the image to display an enlarged view.)
 Distributed 1,000 envelopes
Redeemed 179 (almost eighteen percent)
Sales from this promotion: $4,720.57
Promotion Cost: $500.00 (the cost of preparing the envelopes)
Cost of Redeemed Coupons ("freebie" cost): $424.63
Return on Investment: $9.44
Profit on this promotion: $2,190.95
Every dollar spent on this promotion, including the cost of "free" food, put more than $2.35 back into the owner's pocket.
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