{"id":19263,"date":"2022-10-17T15:29:00","date_gmt":"2022-10-17T15:29:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/seo\/https-www-nobraineragency-co-uk-blog-blog-best-and-worst-uk-black-friday-campaigns\/"},"modified":"2023-12-12T09:17:10","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T09:17:10","slug":"best-and-worst-uk-black-friday-campaigns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nobraineragency.com\/content\/best-and-worst-uk-black-friday-campaigns\/","title":{"rendered":"The Best and Worst UK Black Friday Ideas & Campaigns"},"content":{"rendered":"

Black Friday is a somewhat divisive subject in the UK for ecommerce brands and marketing teams. <\/strong><\/p>\n

For some, it\u2019s an opportunity to grab a share of the pie with consumers that are primed and ready to buy. For others, it can feel like a mixed bag, with lots of preparation and resource going into marketing for Black Friday and the returns don\u2019t always seem to justify the means, especially when the discounts you offer cut margins right down. For others, it\u2019s perhaps something they\u2019ve tried in the past and no longer feel it\u2019s worth the time or effort to get involved in Black Friday or Cyber Monday and some have moral objections to its very existence.<\/p>\n

We believe that with the right Black Friday ideas, campaign planning and implementation, any ecommerce brand can achieve success during this event, and that will look different for every business.<\/p>\n

We\u2019ve delved into the marketing archives to find some of the best and worst examples of Black Friday campaigns in the UK recently and looked into why they did or didn\u2019t work and what we can learn from them to take into future plans and activity.<\/p>\n

Good Black Friday campaign examples:<\/h2>\n

IKEA (2021) \u2013 Buy-Back on Black Friday<\/h3>\n

IKEA approached Black Friday differently<\/a> to most retailers in 2021. After having launched their buy-back service a few months earlier, they opted to make this a major focus for Black Friday alongside some product discounts for members.<\/p>\n

The promotion worked by first getting an online estimate for the buy-back value of furniture, then the customer needed to take the piece(s) into one of their physical stores to actually receive vouchers for whatever they had brought in.<\/p>\n

The Black Friday promotion added an additional 50% value to the pieces bought back by the store for a limited period of time.<\/p>\n

Why it worked<\/h4>\n

IKEA aren\u2019t daft! This scheme ensures that the \u2018savings\u2019 customers make by recycling their old IKEA furniture is spent only at IKEA \u2013 so it keeps the money very much in the family.<\/p>\n

The offer was only available to IKEA members (either family members or part of their business scheme) which provided another incentive for people to join and carry on returning to the store regularly once this specific event had ended.<\/p>\n

They also understand the value of in-store visits at IKEA, where it\u2019s rare that people come out of their maze-like store layouts with only the item(s) they went in for! Picking up a few unplanned purchases and potentially staying for some food at the same time means that most customers probably ended up spending far more than the value of the vouchers they got for selling back their original furniture.<\/p>\n

There are lots of positive vibes along with the shopping trip too; that good feeling you get when you recycle something, along with probably a replenished stash of meatballs and Daim Bars, make this a strong win for both the retailer and for customers.<\/p>\n

This is a campaign that pretty much hits the mark on all levels \u2013 making customers feel good about what they\u2019re doing, boosting sales, increasing the order value and driving future customer loyalty.<\/strong><\/p>\n

What we can learn<\/h4>\n

Not many retailers have the setup required for a scheme this big, which crosses over from online to offline shopping and also has experiential elements in order to work.<\/p>\n

However, taking some inspiration from it could be the way to go for ecommerce brands. Prioritising sustainability and offering store vouchers in return for positive action could be a good focus for a future Black Friday campaign, as could making your biggest discounts only available to \u2018members\u2019 or subscribers which can help you secure further future revenue too from your expanded existing customer audience.<\/p>\n

Raeburn (2021) \u2013 Buy Nothing New<\/h3>\n

London fashion studio Raeburn took a somewhat different approach to many retailers with 2021\u2019s Black Friday campaign by not selling any new products at all. In fact, they actually disabled their online shop, handed over their bricks and mortar store to another brand for the weekend, and all the new Raeburn stock was removed from display.<\/p>\n

Quite an unconventional approach to one of the biggest sales weekends in the calendar, but Raeburn had a strong message behind their Black Friday campaign<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They handed their store to Responsible, the second-life clothing platform and urged people to \u2018Buy Nothing New\u2019. Raeburn encouraged their customers to visit their store and buy preloved clothes from any brand to make better use of clothing already in circulation.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Why it worked (ish)<\/h4>\n

Research shows that consumers are putting more and more importance in the ethical and moral stances taken by brands when it comes to making buying decisions<\/a>.<\/p>\n

While it might mean that short-term sales don\u2019t increase, having a loyal and motivated customer base is something that ecommerce brands highly value.<\/p>\n

This campaign (along with previous activity on Black Fridays of the past that show this is a long-held stance) gives like-minded consumers an emotional connection to the brand \u2013 which is priceless.<\/p>\n

Take a look at some sustainable marketing examples<\/a> if you want to find out more about this area.<\/p>\n

Raeburn has one physical store, in London, so it does mean that consumers not living locally would be unable to take part in the preloved fashion part of the campaign. So it did run the risk of perhaps slightly alienating some customers living elsewhere as they were unable to connect with the campaign in the same way. Perhaps if the brand had included more suggestions for non-local consumers to help support the effort, then it would feel more inclusive?<\/p>\n

What we can learn<\/h4>\n

Some things are more important than short-term profits, and lots of consumers really care about shopping with brands that stand for causes that resonate with them. These customers are more likely to be loyal and even become brand advocates, which can bring its own financial results over the long-term.<\/p>\n

But where this particular campaign perhaps fell short was that it didn\u2019t give their full online audience an opportunity to actively stand with them (other than removing their ability to shop online).<\/p>\n

Any brand selling online and using campaigns of this type should try to be as inclusive of their whole audience and customer base as possible, even if just providing them with some alternative things they can do to feel more a part of things if they can\u2019t do so physically.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Bad examples of Black Friday campaigns<\/h2>\n

Pretty Little Thing (2021) \u2013 100% off discount<\/h3>\n

Part of the often-criticised fast fashion Boohoo Group empire, Pretty Little Thing are renowned for offering rather hefty discounts on their clothing, which is already considered the value end of the market even before promotions.<\/p>\n

In 2021, they went even further by offering up to 100% off<\/a> some items. Essentially, you could shop some pieces for free, and many others with substantial savings, although there were limitations on orders and very restricted stock on most of the included lines to try and prevent reselling etc.<\/p>\n

The campaign resulted in quite a strong backlash online, with some people accusing the brand of trivialising the effort that goes into making clothing. However, the biggest criticisms seemed to be from customers online disappointed with the small or non-existent price reductions on things they actually wanted to buy.<\/p>\n

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I stayed up for the PLT Black Friday deal when I have work tomorrow for all the items to be THE SAME PRICE WHYYYY<\/p>\n

\u2014 Hope Robertson (@hopeerobertsonn) November 26, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n