Their latest promotion is giving away a year's worth of free fried chicken sandwiches to the first 100 people to the location along Route 450. Through previous promotions, Chick-fil-A is aware that people will come from far and wide to compete and win almost anything. At another location grand opening, 52 coupons for free sandwiches were given away to the first 100 customers and during that promotion people camped out for days to receive a ticket and be one of the first 100. Chick-fil-A decided to offer a larger prize and of course brought in more people. However these events are not just about the free chicken sandwiches, people bring tents, cook food, dance, and meet each other while awaiting the grand opening. There are even people who travel around looking for contests like this one as well as repeat customers. At this particular event a 74 year old man is everyone's inspiration, asleep in the tent with the blue canopy, everyone has heard of the man who had been to 20 grand openings so far. Even the customers who receive a ticket into the hundreds stick around for the festivities and wait to see if someone drops out or leaves and misses one of the spontaneous role calls.
In this particular case, people came from Richmond VA, Allentown PA, Raleigh NC, and drove upwards of 8.5 hrs to Washington DC to wait days on end to win some coupons. Promotions like this one are revolutionizing the way in which fast food restaurants and other restaurants bring in customers and gain loyalty. There are some individuals who are in it for the experience, to meet new people, and to see some returning faces, however Chick-fil-A is gaining loyalty by hosting events like this and giving away so much free food. Customers appreciate places that are willing to give away free coupons or have contests because it is a way for them to give back to the people that keep them going. Large scale promotions like this raise the bar in a way for other restaurants to do something up to par or above what has already been done.
Another reason why promotions like this one and like the Harry Potter release parties are revolutionizing promotions and contests is because of how the contest becomes an event for people to mingle and have a good time opposed to just winning something. There are people who do not even care about winning but want to be apart of the experience and meet some people with a common interest, while there is always the bonus of winning something and friendly competition.
I really feel that promotions and events such as this Chick-fil-A location opening is changing the way marketers need to do their jobs. There is now more pressure to get the word out on their product and come up with a unique selling point to draw in attention and customers. While Chick-fil-A's idea was not too original, it drew in a huge crowd and some loyalty so all in all a success, however I am interested to find out more interesting and unique promotions going on.
