California-based Hugo’s Tacos ran a special promotion during the month of June, offering a free combo with the purchase of an entree.
Though the “free combo” special isn’t too exciting, they turned an otherwise mundane promotion into something worth telling by adding the secret password: Molly.
The result is that their announcement about the promotion was suddenly less an advertisement and more a source of inside information — something much more likely to get forwarded to a friend. And on top of it all, having a secret password is just plain more fun than the regular special.
The Lesson: Adding the element of a secret password to activate a discount is an inexpensive way to transform a regular coupon into something worth sharing with a friend.
Big thanks to Andrew Nystrom for the tip.
