When BOGO No Longer Means BOGO
I was thinking about BOGO promotions yesterday.
I’ve been noticing a trend over the past few years: brands are quietly redefining “BOGO” into whatever is most convenient for their marketing team.
BOGO used to be simple: Buy One, Get One.
Easy. Two items. Pay for one. Get one free.
Today I see all kinds of variations, though always still advertised in 96-font as "BOGO" with a little *
BOGO!* and then *Buy One, Get One 50% Off.
- Try "BOGO but NOGO" or maybe BOG50%O? Not clean.
BOGO!* and then *Buy Three, Get One Free.
- That's more like B3GO. Different math entirely. Definitely not BOGO.
Even Chipotle’s famous “Free” Burrito promotions of two decades+ ago have morphed in recent years:
- FREE BURRITO!* followed by *get a free burrito when you buy one of equal or greater value. So that's actually a BOGO! Except they call it “free” because Chipotle has always avoided "discounting" so as not to cheapen the brand and “free” feels philosophically cleaner than “50% off.”
Back in 2011, students The Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth studied the economics of Boloco's own famous Free Burrito Days (FBD). Their findings surprised everyone including us: the promotion paid for itself in about 15 days, lifted day-after-FBD-day sales by 20%, and drove a 10% permanent (well, for many months anyway) increase. Forbes covered the whole thing in 2012 after we did a 37,000+ burrito giveaway benefiting The Life is Good Playmaker Project - raising over $20,000 in the process. It was a magical moment for sure.
All of which reminded me of the simple truth we learned then, and still believe now:
Free (without any *s!) can be Magic.
Maybe our one remaining location in Boston at 50 Congress Street will put our money where my mouth is and call a FBD soon - perhaps something tied to our beloved New England Patriots putting a few more in the win column... no better way to celebrate :)
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