One of the oddities of where I live is that we have a lot, a lot of American-Mexican places to eat. One of the places I go frequently is Moe’s. One of the features of Moe’s is that when you walk in they yell, “Welcome to Moe’s” and then that call is echoed by other workers around the store and even by some people that are eating. Funny or Freaky depending on your preference. So it’s already a unique experience.

So at my table was a table-topper that says.

“Nothing says Happy Birthday Like a Free Burrito”

Now that’s awesome. What’s there to it? You register online and get a free burrito. [If interested you can do it here] Who doesn’t love a free burrito? Now the adage “there’s no free lunch” applies here, since when I sign up to get my burrito I’m actually paying with the information I supply.

So it’s a promotion that is simple, quirky, and fun to the customer. It uses the voice that customers expect. It epitomizes the Moe’s. And Moe’s get a veritable wealth of information. They get a name, city/state, and where you live in that city, which from which they can determine relative income, etc. and they get your age. Plus a method to contact you, your email. Even better it’s permission based. It’s not spam, you are choosing to give your information, and agree to be contacted. [Now Moe's could take this info and miss-use it, but let's hope for my sake, and theirs it doesn't happen]

In short, it’s simply a great example of a relatively unobtrusive way to create a connection with a customer (and learn a lot about who is buying/visiting your stores).

It may not be completely free, but it will be a nice birthday burrito.