Trial, Frequency, Ticket Average - Not Just for Restaurants

For those still in doubt as the wisdom of narrowing your marketing objective to one (and only one at a time) of three choices, here are a couple of examples of how common the strategy is for nearly any kind of business.

Credit Cards
- Drive Trial: "0% interest for 6 months!"; "0% interest on all balance transfers!"
- Increase Frequency: "Register to win a million dollars every time you use your card in the month of May!"; "Earn double rewards points with every purchase!"; "Get cash back/free gasoline with every purchase!"
- Increase Ticket Average: "Free lost-baggage insurance"; "Get a rental car/hotel room upgrade when you purchase both on our card"; "Revolving credit on any single purchase over $200"

Cell Phones- Drive Trial: "Get a Free phone!"
- Increase Frequency: "1,000 weekend minutes!"; "First 10 text messages are free!" (note that free texting drives Trial of a different service, which leads to increased usage, which leads to increased ticket average); of course, frequency is also built in with the contract
- Increase Ticket Average: Text messages, ringtones

Now consider how Procter & Gamble moves consumers from Trial to Frequency to Ticket Average for Crest toothpaste:

- Customer receives free sample in the mail along with coupon off first purchase
- Customer receives buy one/get one free coupon (Mom and Dad use it, now it will be in the kids' bathroom too)
- Packaging states "20% more for free!" - consumers become accustomed to purchasing the larger size (and getting two of them)
- 20% promotion is pulled away, leaving consumers happy purchasing two larger tubes.

Restaurants are no different, and no one tactic can achieve all of the goals. You need more than a laundry list of "creative" tactics (but those are fun, and they will work if used properly). You need a little discipline from the advertising world to make all those ideas work.