Thought of the Day - May 14 2021 - Vaccine Perks

Guess what is the new marketing trend? Yes, you already knew - "vaccine perks".

Physical businesses in particular have a lot to gain from this move. First, it is a way to attract attention and regain market share. In addition, businesses know continued deployment of vaccines will lead to the rollback of the restrictions that significantly affect them. “You might be reluctant to over-expose yourself in non-discretionary places and that’s all part of this strategy,” said Joanne McNeish, a Ryerson University professor specializing in marketing. “It’s a way of carefully getting their brand in front of people.”

Here are some of the reported examples of companies in Canada who are riding the vaccine wave to promote their brand, products and services:

• Polarity Brewing in Whitehorse will give vaccinated customers a $6 discount on a beer or food purchase;

• In Kitchener, Ont., TheMuseum will offer free admission to the vaccinated through a campaign called Jabbed Like Jagger — a reference to Mick Jagger, frontman for their upcoming exhibit, who has been a vocal anti-antiVaxxer;

• Manulife Financial Inc. provides perks to some of its vaccinated customers enrolled in its Vitality program rewards points;

• Toronto-based financial app Drop is offering $50 in cash rewards to users who post a vaccine selfie on social media and tag the brand.

Of course, companies need to be considered and smart about it:

• Boston Pizza experienced a problem linked to promotion. The chain’s Toronto Front Street location offered a 15-per-cent discount to vaccinated patrons. Without explanation they were quickly shut down by HQ;

• Krispy Kreme. in the US. is under fire as it promised a doughnut every day for the rest of the year (hey, I thought they still did this anyway). Diabetes and COVID-19, do I need to say more?

But wait, there is more.

With the US stating that they will not implement a vaccine passport at the Federal level, the door is wide open for creative enterprises. Think, American Airlines used to make more profit off licensing its Sabre booking platform than flying airplanes - now the airline industry players are competing to be the dominant passport provider. Think, as the saying goes "if the service is free, you are the product" - hey how about, populate your reward points system with customer medical records? Pure genius.

I would love to be able to comment about Canada, but here we have almost nothing to go on, heck, the Federal government just declared they are not even be keeping a count of all Canadians who have been vaccinated ( Thought of the Day - May 11 2021 - Vaccine Wars ). Moreover, the provinces know if they start endorsing direct agreements with other countries or multinationals they will be undermined by Ottawa.

So what does this all mean? I predict rather than a single passport, as travel reopens you will be registering your vaccine details with numerous companies and agencies for rewards and access rights across the world. Web sites will pop up with the latest 'hot place' to register next. And unfortunately, the fake immunity business will boom to cater to those who are outside 'the system'. In the short term, this might include many Canadians. For example, if I do get to travel outside North America in 2021, I may find it easier to use my old British passport with an official-looking, but fake, vaccination record, than use my Canadian passport with the bit of paper I got from London Drugs.

"Vaccine perks" - we ain't seen nothin' yet.

Cheers

Cliff