More so than ever, shoppers want more from their prizes – they want stories they can recount and feel, not just items they can own. That’s why experience-led prizes are fast becoming the MVP of prize promotions.
The shift makes sense. When someone wins an experience, whether that’s a family day out, a VIP gig experience, or a curated getaway, they’re not just handed a reward, they’re invited into something meaningful, something they’ll talk about, share and remember. These experiences as promotion prizes create an emotional footprint that’s hard to replicate with traditional rewards.
Experiences come in all shapes and sizes. Some are small but meaningful, others bold and loud. The common thread? They place the consumer inside the brand story, not just adjacent to it.
The Emotional Advantage of Experience Prizes
That’s where the power of experience-led prizes lies. Emotion-led marketing is nothing new, but experiential prizes tap into a consumer’s psyche in a particularly potent way. For example, if you win a gift card, you might spend it and forget it. Win a moment, and that memory becomes an emotional anchor to the brand that delivered it to the consumer.
In today’s saturated market, where brand upon brand is endlessly fighting for attention through any and every possible channel available to them, loyalty, cultural relevance and emotional connection counts for a lot. The dial has moved towards building longer-term brand affinity.
From an experiential marketing perspective, this makes experience-based prizes more than feel-good-fluff. They’re strategic tools that drive deeper engagement. They can spark joy, anticipation, and in some instances, nostalgia in ways that a cash prize, for example, can’t emulate. It’s a clever approach when exploring how to promote FMCG products with impact.
Traditional prizes offer a single high – a moment of winning, a quick reward. But experiential prizes stretch that moment. The emotional arc lives longer in the mind and encourages repeated brand interaction and longer lasting brand affinity.
What matters is that the prize feels tailored and meaningful. That’s what drives relevance, because beyond hitting KPIs, experience prizes drive shares and crucially, connection.
Understanding Audiences: Families vs Gen Z
For families, particularly those with school-age children, experience-based prizes offer more than novelty. They offer shared moments and entertainment value beyond the typical brand/consumer transaction. In a socio-economic climate where household budgets remain tight, the chance to win a UK-based break or day-out with the family has real appeal. It’s not about indulgence, it means a treat that enhances the everyday.
Having grown up in an era of digital abundance and with a general mistrust and awareness of marketing and marketing tactics, Gen Z, by contrast, are looking for something different.
For them, they seek experiences that align with their value systems, perhaps experiences that seek participation, co-creation and/or exclusivity. Whether that’s a digital concert only accessible through product interaction, a limited-time collaboration with a creator, or a challenges with a real-world reward, the experience must feel tailored, not just tacked on.
We saw this first-hand with our recent EXTRA Refreshers x MattB campaign. Part of the prize pool is the opportunity to attend a bespoke sneaker-customisation workshop with MattB and his team. The promotion became more than a giveaway. It tapped into self-expression, individuality and relevance, and blended creativity, identity and cultural connection. It worked because it felt personal, exclusive and experience-led.
Similarly, eight winners of our recent Snickers Own Goal promotion won the opportunity to meet with football legends Bukayo Saka and Luka Modric in London and Madrid. These winners were able to play a game of EA FC25 against their football heroes, turning their own goals into glory.
And a recent Twix project offering a chance to win VIP gig experiences, saw winners extend their gratitude of the experience by personally writing to us with their appreciation:
“We have had the most amazing experience so far! Andre Rieu was absolutely magnificent! Our seats were so close, we could see him so clearly! It was one of those ‘pinch me’ moments when he came on stage! We laughed, sang, and danced all evening. The hotel is super! Just a few minutes’ walk away from the venue and our suite is wonderful and huge! Of course, this is all possible because of your fantastic planning and we appreciate all your help, time and effort.”
What Should Brands Do Next?
Look at your audience and think: What would they want to win? What would they tell their friends about? What would they never forget?
You don’t need huge budgets. You need relevance, imagination and an understanding of your audience’s interests, values and motivations. You need to tap into the emotional drivers of your audience, and think whether that’s adventure, access, relaxation, learning, connection or simply joy.
Experience-led prizes are more than ever an effective way to create genuine brand affinity. Given audience values and wider socio-economic influences, they work across demographics to create long-term engagement. And they’re what consumers are actively looking for.
So as you plan your next campaign, don’t just ask: “What can we give away?” Ask: “What could someone remember forever?”
That’s where the real prize lies.
How Can We Help
We are Lime, an independent partnership and sales promotion agency based in London.
If you’re interested in learning more about the work we do, please get in touch or call a member of our team today on 020 7317 9280.
And for more insights from our experts, check out our blog page, including articles such as ‘Are Streaming Subscriptions a Popular Prize for On-Pack Promotions? and ‘What Prize Promotions Are UK Consumers Craving Now?‘.
