Recognize newsworthy moments

Selling a home in a down market is hard. No kidding, right? Every Realtor and seller is looking for that magic bullet to get a buyer to take at least a second look at their home. Many people call these things gimmicks. But hey, gimmicks when done right can produce results. If you question that, look at McDonalds (two all beef patties contest in the 70s...) , Dr. Pepper (Free Dr. Pepper when...), Just about any car company willing to make your payments if you lose a job, Janet Jackson's wardrobe malfunction, all of these are gimmicks at one level or another. But a gimmick is only good when it captures attention.

Congratulations to Tina Haisman of Tina Haisman public relations for recognizing the news value of her client offering a million dollar coupon to sell his house. It will go to local media outlets as well as points north. The gimmick is doing exactly what it was meant to do... create buzz. Bloggers are already lambasting the idea on the Web site. I'll bet more than one forwarded it to someone else. Now I'm writing about it on my blog. That's how viral marketing works. Will it sell his house? Who knows. Maybe some reporter at The New York Times will pick it up.Maybe he'll end up on Letterman. It's the "maybe" part that's exciting. Maybe nothing will happen and he'll just get a bunch of publicity. Regardless, he created a buzz and with the help of a professional public relations counselor, that buzz is spreading.

Remember, it's not the gimmick that brings in the buyers. It's the buzz. Recognize the newsworthiness of a unique idea. Just be careful not to overpromote the ordinary. Journalists don't like that. Run it through the "Who cares" test and see if the response is, "Well, that's pretty cool." If the answer is, "Nobody cares" you may want to rethink the gimmick or the medium for communicating it. A run-of-the-mill idea won't get picked up by media. That's when you have to pay a bit more money to advertise.

I kind of hope he does sell the house with the million dollar coupon. It will accomplish many things.
1) Proves newspaper ads can work
2) Justifies the need and value of public relations (professionals)
3) Suggests coupons still work
4) Improves the sales figures for this year in Lee County
5) Proves that there are people willing to part with their money on a large scale

Here's the link in case you are interested.
http://www.news-press.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2009905310432

Thinking outside of the box

Today I've been presented with a very interesting marketing idea. Sponsorship. OK, I heard the collective eye roll out there. Sponsorship isn't a new idea, you say. I agree. But have you ever REALLY thought about sponsorship on one of those REALLY cool Indy cars? My client's son, Matthew Inge (the next big name in motor sports!) is on his way up to Indy racing. Apparently there are several levels, but unlike most sports, colleges don't give scholarships for racing. As a result, racers must finance their own events or rely on sponsors. I know, none of this is new yet. However, what I found fascinating is that race fans are loyal sponsor consumers. Why? Because they know the only way their favorite driver is out on the track is because of sponsors. I also was given a lesson in cross promoting, using sponsorships to build your own personal network, and actually profiting from a sponsorship that you are paying for- in real dollars.

For example, a grocery store may sponsor a driver, then as part of a value-added promotion (say Memorial Day weekend advertising) the ketchup, mustard and hotdog suppliers are given an opportunity for end cap advertising, posters, and you guessed it, a logo on the race car. The suppliers pay for this value of course and if the grocery store sells enough of these value packages, they will actually bring in more money than they paid for the sponsorship in the first place. It's a win -win-win situation.

Racecar sponsorship is not for everybody. It's best if you can commit some money to a long term relationship. As with any kind of advertising, consistent communication is the most effective means of driving (pun completely intended) your message home.

The audience delivered by a sponsored car is pretty impressive too. 70% of all race fans are wealthy middle-aged men. Hmm. There's some buying power there - I'm not sure why Tide sales skyrocketed after Ricky Rudd took the wheel behind the great big orange car, but apparently men bought a bunch of Tide after that happened. There is much more to come on this topic I think. In the meantime, anyone have a client looking for some pretty awesome exposure over the next few months? I've got a driver for you.

Careful with your direct mail

Read an interesting article today by a consumer watchdog reporter. A variety of people sent her direct mail pieces that appeard to be a telegram announcing that a $25,000 grant had been awarded to the recipient. Of course, there is the "duh" factor. Of course the recipient didn't receive a $25,000 grant for which they never applied. However, the article pointed out some things marketing professionals need to pay attention to. The company used words such as "approved" and "pending" when implying a promise. The words are deceptive and misleading and could most definitely cause confusion if read by someone desperate enough to believe the money was going to be delivered directly to their bank account. Instead, the advertiser was promoting a book that shows consumers how to apply for grants.

The moral of this story is to be careful of overdoing the promise in advertising. The result could be unwanted publicity that could ultimately destroy your business. In our world of newly discovered transparency, clever or tricky tactics can quickly be labelled as scam by investigative reporters.

To see the story, click here: http://www.news-press.com/article/20090528/COLUMNISTS40/90527079/1112/COLUMNISTS40

First Post

Hello friends,
Yes, this is it. I've finally been dragged kicking and screaming into the blogosphere where I'm finding it a little difficult to breathe. Is it really this easy to share my thoughts? Wow! I wonder if anyone will even care or read what I have to say? This is kind of exciting. How in the world am I going to use this powerful tool of communication? Initially, I'll probably use it for shameless promotion of my clients because that's what they pay me to do. But as time goes on, I plan to use this as a way to identify some good marketing and public relations practices, promote local charities and causes and maybe even send out some solid advice on how to effectively spend some marketing dollars.