Insights
Activate your customers with collectibles for all ages
October 2023
- Restaurants
- QSR
- Fast Casual
- Casual Dining
- Kidults
- Brand Loyalty
- Pizza
Brands are always looking for new ways to drive traffic, incentivize loyalty and increase brand love with their target consumers. One innovative tactic for achieving these strategic objectives: branded collectibles. These are give-away or purchase-with-purchase items that are brand-building, joy-enducing and incentivize customers to come back over and over again to collect the whole set.
They’re not just for kids
Collectibility has long been a tactic of restaurants as a feature of kids’ meal premiums to encourage repeat visits, but collectibles are not just for children. From coveted designer toys like Mini Brands and Funko Pop, to McDonald’s Cactus Plant Flea Market collab for their adult Happy Meal, to Raising Cane’s limited-edition celebrity-designed cups, tokens and collectibles are everywhere, and consumers of all ages enjoy the excitement of collecting.
How it works
Keys to a successful traffic-driving collectible program
1.
Tap into an existing fandom (your brand’s and/or a licensor’s).
2.
Increase allure by curbing availability (e.g., a limited time offer, availablity only with a purchase, exclusivity for loyalty members).
3.
Keep them coming back for more (i.e., collectible series, intermittent drops to create anticipation, rare and ultra-rare designs).
Why it works
A collectible program has the power to drive new and repeat visits to your brand
It creates a tangible emotional connection.
- A collectible program has the power to delight guests with physical and fun tokens of your brand. It makes guests feel like brand insiders, and that super-charges their fandom.
It differentiates your brand.
- What makes customers choose you and not a similar brand down the road? You stand out when you provide a unique experience they can only get at your brand.
It creates conversation.
- A collectible program can make your brand newsworthy. Tangible activations are buzz-worthy on social media and through earned media.
What would a collectible program look like for your brand?
We at C3 are experts at designing tangible activations to appeal to your target consumers that reflect — and even amplify! — your brand’s personality, all while encouraging repeat visits and brand loyalty.
Interested in hearing more about what C3 can do for your brand?
About C3
C3 is an industry-leading design and brand marketing agency with more than 38 years of experience creating connections with customers, from families with children to Gen Zers. We provide insights, strategy, creativity and supply-chain expertise to build smart marketing programs around fully custom products, like kids’ meal toys, collectibles and other branded entertainment. We design and produce brand experiences you can touch — and that’s more powerful than a marketing message alone. A C3 product ignites a moment of joy and creates brand loyalty that lasts.