Hoover free flights promotion

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The Hoover free flights promotion was a marketing promotion begun in 1992. The British division of The Hoover Company was carrying a large surplus stock of washing machines and vacuum cleaners; in order to sell them and free up warehouse space, it promised free airline tickets to customers who purchased more than £100 worth of its products. However, Hoover had not anticipated that many customers who bought the qualifying products were not really interested in the actual appliances, but simply wanted the tickets offered in the promotion.

Initially the offer was for two round-trip tickets to selected destinations in Europe, and this proved highly successful in clearing the stock surplus. Analysis revealed that the rate of conversion of the free flight vouchers into actual tickets was relatively low, which led Hoover to decide to expand the offer to include destinations in the USA, on the assumption that although the tickets would be more expensive, the conversion rate would stay at a similar level.

However, at this point the consumer response increased enormously, as Hoover was effectively offering around £600 of airline tickets for an outlay of just £100. The Hoover factory had to switch to seven-day working and hire additional workers to meet the demand for the cheapest qualifying vacuum cleaner, and some stores were even reporting that people were paying for the appliances and then simply walking out once they'd got the proof of purchase necessary to avail themselves of the free flights, leaving the unwanted products on the counter.

It was estimated that enough people tried to convert their vouchers to tickets to fill 500 Boeing 747s (the largest-capacity passenger planes of the time). Ultimately the £30m in extra sales the promotion attracted was dwarfed by the £50m it cost to pay for the airline seats as well as settle the legal claims of those (the majority) who did not receive tickets.

Video Hoover free flights promotion

History

In 1993, the Hoover Holidays Pressure Group was formed, led by Harry Cichy and Sandy Jack, to protest that the company was not keeping its promises. Buying some shares in Hoover's parent company, Maytag, the pressure group went to the Maytag Annual General Meeting in Newton, Iowa. Sandy Jack expressed his concerns to the CEO of Maytag, Len Hadley. The presence of the group made headline news on ABC and the front cover of The Des Moines Register.

In 1994, Jack took Hoover to court over the free flight promotion. The BBC Watchdog programme's investigation of customer complaints about the promotion, by reporter Simon Walton and undercover researcher Hilary J Bell, brought the matter to even wider public attention. A number of Hoover executives were sacked for their parts in the fiasco, including

• William Foust, managing director of Hoover Ltd and president of Hoover Europe
• Brian Webb, Hoover vice-president of marketing
• Michael Gilbey, director of marketing services

Maps Hoover free flights promotion

Result

The court cases went on until 1998. After the disaster had cost the company almost £50 million, the British division of Hoover was sold to the Italian manufacturer Candy.

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Follow-up

In 2004 a BBC documentary was made on the anniversary of Cichy and Jack's visit to Newton in 1994. Part of the Trouble at the Top series, the "Hoover Flights Fiasco" was watched by 1.7 million viewers. As a result, the British Royal Family withdrew their Royal Warrant.

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References

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External links

• BBC News story: BBC online Hoover's free flights fiasco recalled UK Edition, May 13, 2004
• PROMO magazine: A Bloody Dust Up, Oct 1, 2005

Source of the article : Wikipedia