State of the Nation Survey: What do we want to win during lockdown?
We recently conducted a survey for the Daily Mail to find out what the nation is up to doing during lockdown and if winning prizes is important during a crisis – read on for our Point of View on running promotions during these times.
At PromoVeritas we have always had our finger on the pulse of what the public really want to win and the kinds of promotions they like to enter. But in the unprecedented time of COVID-19 priorities have changed, with health and finances becoming everyone’s focus. Holidays and shopping excursions may seem like a distant dream, so the Daily Mail asked us what are people doing with their time, and does winning still matter? You can read the full Daily Mail article here. 
To answer this question our research partner, See Research produced a survey of 1,000 people at the beginning of June, asking them some of the same questions we had asked them nine months earlier and discovered that less people have entered promotions in the past 3 months than usual. This figure is down considerably to 24% from 82% for the whole of the previous year but this is simply because there are less promotions being held due to the Coronavirus crisis.
Of those who have entered promotions the majority have been on social media or via a website with Facebook and Instagram gaining in popularity. The research unsurprisingly revealed that promotions run via telephone are now less popular – presumably because of the premium rate cost associated with them.
The survey also revealed that what people want to win has changed considerably – cash will always be the no.1 choice – but holidays and household appliances have now moved down the list (see table below). Tech and gadgets are now the second most popular choice – presumably because we are more reliant on them than ever before, whilst vouchers come in at number 3 – to help pay for items we are purchasing more and more online. Interestingly food and drink also scored higher than before, now that food shopping has become increasingly difficult.
| Top Prizes | September 2019 | June 2020 |
| 1 | Cash | Cash |
| 2 | Tech and gadgets | Holidays |
| 3 | Vouchers | Technology |
| 4 | Holidays | Vouchers |
| 5 | Food and Drink | Household appliances |
Overall, the survey was positive about promotions with people still willing to try and win prizes if promotions are quick and easy to enter, and also if they offered lots of chances of winning.
Other information we collected might help brands running prize promotions in the near future so here’s a quick summary and our opinions.
- 47% of people are spending more time on social media – a whopping 69% when it comes to 18-24 year olds – so the best place to run promotions right now is online
- 48% reported an increase in cooking from scratch – kitchen items, tableware and food items as prizes would be popular
- 38% of all surveyed say they are snacking more – potential to give away fitness prizes such as online exercise class subscriptions, designer activewear or Fitbits?
- 45% of respondents are spending more time gardening – offer vouchers for online garden centres, garden furniture and equipment as prizes
- 50% said they were doing more cleaning – this was split equally between men and women – give away the latest steam mops, vacuum cleaners and eco-friendly cleaning products
- 37% of those surveyed had become more generous and sent more gifts during lockdown, mainly chocolate – promotions that help others could be really popular
It seems that at the start of lockdown many of the things we are familiar with stopped or changed. However, as we slowly emerge and our lives return to normal entering promotions and winning prizes still has a place in our nation’s hearts – especially when they offer the chance to save some money, have some fun and fill time productively. The most important thing that we have learnt is that promoters have to earn the nation’s trust and run promotions ‘with heart’ – sustainability, helping others and being trustworthy were all important factors we discovered.