Domino’s terrorizes “pizza holdouts”

In their latest campaign, Domino’s Pizza focused a lot cash & coin on advertising to just 3 people. But, the world was watching. In a recent survey, Domino’s found that everyone thought their pizza was terrible. In an effort to change that perception, they changed their recipe. What has followed is an ingenious “out of the box” campaign driving the message that only a hand full of people have yet to try the new pie. A micro-site (www.pizzaholdouts.com) and YouTube campaign featuring the story of 3 of the remaining offenders being bombarded with ads targeted directly at them made up the push.

This is a very good example of guerrilla marketing at its finest. When was the last time you did something that pushed the envelope? Our goal is to always do something a little different, never be just a part of the crowd.  The next time you’re faced with an advertising decision, ask yourself if what you’re doing will make that splash or not. Domino’s did an outstanding job getting the point across in a new, unique and news-worthy way. Not to mention, the harnessed power of YouTube as part of anything you do will only assist in pushing you way ahead of your competitor.

Do us all a favor and be creative, think outside the safety zone and make an impact.

Christmas Ads: Santa Works at Mercedes, Shops at Sears.

While watching Sunday Night Football last night (ridiculous game) I noticed that good old Kris Kringle stars in a few commercials this season. I was multitasking so I didn’t have my eyes glued to the TV, but these two stuck out.

The first one comes from Mercedes.  They’re alleging that Santa rides his bike around and works for quality control at a Mercedes factory, which is attached to his home office. No wonder Mercedes are so expensive, they ship from the North Pole?

When Santa isn’t busy assuring quality at Mercedes, he’s shopping for flatscreens at Sears (with the reindeer). I don’t think I’d be allowed to bring my weiner dog into Sears, let alone 12 reindeer.

But be careful out there. That Sears Research Center might not be as simple as it seems. The Consumerist has a story about a woman who wasted 4 hours at various Sears locations trying to find a PS3.

All Santa commercials aside, who doesn’t love ugly sweaters?

Cozy! Sophisticated!

The Kansas City Art Institute’s website lets you make your own digital ugly Christmas sweater.

Happy Holidays!

SMS Marketing Clearing Cars Off the Lot

Normally, talking about texting and cars in the same space would warrant the voting of a bill in the House of Representatives. Today, however, we’re talking in a whole different context: text messaging to sell cars.

While I could sit here and churn out facts on why text message (aka SMS) marketing is so simple and adaptable to work for literally any type of business…

• On average, text messages are read within four minutes compared to 48 hours with e-mail.
• 4.1 billion texts are sent per day in the US. by approximately 1.8 billion users.
• Response rates are 2 to 10 times higher than online display ads.

…it’s definitely nicer to see a text marketing success story in real life. Enter Fox Chevrolet in Timonium, MD.

Fox Chevrolet teamed up in a campaign with radio station 98 Rock to try and drive people to Fox’s lot during this years horrible economic downturn (especially for the auto industry). Fox did this well before the government sponsored “cash for clunkers” program kicked in, and tried to use mobile marketing to bolster sales.

Ten and fifteen-second promos were aired on 98 Rock telling listeners to text in to enter to win a $98 car.

The success was staggering. 500 listeners texted “FOX” to the station’s short code, and 300 people attended a special day-long event. After all was said and done, Fox sold 36 cars that day, 17 new, 17 used, and two winners drove off in two $98 cars.

Jeff Hasen is the man behind the plan and says, “Customers who opt-in are customers who are looking to buy. You would be hard-pressed to find a campaign that performed as well during the recession.”

This is a testament to mobile marketing. Even in the face of a cold hard recession, SMS marketing scores huge results and it makes sense why. People are increasingly CRAZY about texting, even so much that they find it wise to text while driving. And people don’t go anywhere without their phone, it’s always on them, just waiting for businesses to prompt them unforgettable coupons like “Text MCDS to 55543 for a free double cheeseburger”. Or something like that. Who doesn’t want a $98 dollar car or a free double cheeseburger?

Tight Marketing Budget? Inexpensive Marketing Tips for Retail, Restaurants, and Entertainment Businesses

It seems that businesses are cutting back as much as they can. Unfortunately, this often means that marketing and advertising budgets take a back seat. This is one of the worst things to do! Remaining consistent with your advertising while others are cutting back and disappearing results in gaining market share and more customers!

However, we all realize that sometimes budget cuts are inevitable. Here are some marketing tricks and hints that will help your business boost marketing effectiveness, even when money is tight.

• Begin Employing a Social Media Strategy: If you haven’t heard about the massive power and impact social media marketing holds for your business, you may need to check your pulse! Social media presents the perfect avenue for customer conversation and interaction! Get your customers and potential customers involved, talk to them, and ask for feedback. There are SO many ways social media can be used to benefit your business. Just a few of them include:

• Build relationships with loyal customers
• Communicate, communicate, communicate!
• Drive traffic to your blog and website
• Market your brand and your business
• Share your expertise
• Answer questions/ ask questions
• Stay current with the latest industry trends
• Search engine optimization
• Avenue for promotions

Confused about getting started? These entries may also be helpful for you to check out:

A Social Media Strategy Is a Must

Twitter for Business

• Get Creative – Use Guerrilla Marketing Techniques: Guerrilla marketing encompasses a vast category of methods, but at the core I like to explain it as “marketing with an added value.” This may be entertainment, information, or just making someone feel good! For example, guerrilla marketing could be sending out a quarterly or monthly newsletter. The newsletter must contain valuable information (i.e. preview of new products, tips and advice). Another example could be using unusual, attention-getting media, like sidewalk displays. Yet another example would be to record your customer’s birthdays, anniversaries, and other occasions and send them a special note from your business. The possibilities are endless! Guerrilla marketing requires more creativity, but works wonderfully for those on a tight marketing budget.

• In-Store Marketing: A sometimes ignored method, in-store marketing is extremely important in turning the people coming through your door into loyal, long-term and repeat customers. There are a variety of inexpensive methods that can take your business to new levels in the mind’s of your customers.

• Offer your customers complimentary coffee
• Collect names for a drawing or contest
• Offer a gift with purchase
• Create a loyalty program

These are just some of the ways you can inexpensively market in your store and turn customers into fans!

Have other “Marketing on a Tight Budget” Tips? I would love to hear them! Please share below.

What a Stupid Idea!

True or False: Good ideas often sound foolish

True!

Let me explain what I’m talking about. Marketing messages and creating positive experiences for your customers can be a daunting and overwhelming task. There is so much to think about – staying consistent, making your messages match your in-store experience, keeping your customers happy, motivating your employees, constantly offering new and improved experiences. For that reason, it is easy to look at what your competitors are doing and form your business’ marketing and ideas into a similar mold.

Afterall, this is the “acceptable” method and “the way things are done”, right?

Wrong!

Just because it has never been attempted doesn’t mean it won’t work. Great ideas often come out of so-called stupid ideas. The only obstacle to conquer is being unafraid to voice them.

This happens all the time at 3^rd Idea. Someone has a “stupid idea.” The rest of us look at each other and laugh. Then say, wait a minute…that might work. What if instead of doing this, we alter it a bit and try that. The “detail-oriented, perfectionists” (which just so happens to be my personality type) has a way of working with the over-the-top-sky’s-the-limit personalities to create a truly unique and creative, yet realistic plan.  The point is, those of us who naturally tend to be more realistic need to allow for those absolutely, positively absurd ideas.

IKEA, known for their affordable, yet sophisticated home furnishings and unique stores, comes up with great marketing ideas all the time. Check out IKEA’s genius idea of creating a 3-d catalouge cover that people could actually get their picture taken in. Talk about creating a memorable and positive experience!!!! I wonder if this started out as someone’s “stupid idea” ….

Don’t Forget about Guerrilla Marketing

Sometimes the most overlooked and underestimated form of marketing is guerrilla marketing. These marketing “tricks”  (which, by the way, are a favorite at 3rd Idea)  is often less expensive than other forms of media AND is more effective! A solid guerrilla campaign calls for some creative flair, clever thinking, and thought out execution. These tricks can be wild and crazy, as you will see in the video,  or simple. Either way, if you are a marketer, it is something you should not ignore.

A few of the images in this video flash a little too quickly to have an impact, but most of them are extremely entertaining and creative! Enjoy!
P.S. Make sure your volume is up…

T-Mobile: Viral Hopes…

Yeah Yeah Yeah, viral marketing blah blah blah. Sure T-Mobile will get a lot of people to watch this amazing video. But was it worth it? The buzz will be great! But not about T-Mobile, about the event itself. I still have no idea what phone they’re offering that may be better than my options and no real incentive to switch. But I can say this: this is one cool video. Too bad I’m not saying, “this is one cool cell company.”

An Apple a Day (gets media attention)

So, Steve Jobs, one of the kings of marketing, has decided to not attend MacWorld to deliver one of his infamous “keynotes.” People have begun to speculate all kinds of things. A number of people have asked my opinion so I thought I’d let you know.

In this time of recession everyone is finding ways to cut back, well, not everyone… but huge Fortune 500s are in a big way. The geniousness of Apple is that Apple is news. They can pull back on the ad budget in the beginning of 2009 because the news media has kept Apple in the spot light due to Job’s absence. Call me crazy (and many do), but everything Steve Jobs is usually motivated by something much beyond the surface. In this case? I think my bet is that he is basking in the press while sitting deviously ready to unveil his next wild and crazy toy………… Guerrilla marketing at its best.

Guerrila + YouTube = A Great Idea

Nike… Of course we know them for great shoes, but we like to recognize them for their branding and marketing genius.The following YouTube video depcits a guerrila tactic done by Nike on “Car Free Day” in Prague. As if the statement wasn’t enough, they recorded it and put it on YouTube for the entertainment value (and entertaining it is).

The beauty of marketing is that it is not a single thing or one single method that will get results. Results and effectiveness are built through the right combination of efforts. Not sure what that combination might be? Call us, we’d love to chat!

Enjoy….

It’s all about the DEMO

What does your audience look like?

Demographics and Target audience… Both terms that are used by advertisers on a daily basis, but how much time is really spent delving deeply to find out exactly what makes that target consumer tick? What are their likes? dislikes? Where do they work? What kind of car do they drive? Where do they spend their time? The questions could go on and on!

Not understanding your target is like buying a birthday present for someone you have never met. You take a CHANCE and hope that they will like what you are offering. Before a brand or campaign is built, the audience must be dissected and understood. If you’re target is a 20 year old male, good luck finding him on the radio. He’s watching a YouTube video instead! Advertisers sometimes try to “guess” what it is that will appeal to their potential customers, but might end up missing the mark. Finding answers to these questions is not always a simple solution, but it is the solution that will yield the most.