Never a Lack of Ideas

Rapper's Delight Have you seen the Southwest Rap video? It's a YouTube sensation that features energetic flight attendant David Holmes, who puts his own spin on the pre-flight instructions that attendants give to passengers before every flight. The video went viral about a year ago and it demonstrates Southwest's unique take on customer service — the airline encourages its flight attendants to be creative in their work and to have fun at their job. I love the Southwest Rap. I think it shows how much fun Southwest is as an airline, and it makes me want to be a part of that fun during my next flight. That's a Rap I think Southwest should capitalize on the video's popularity by holding a Southwest Rap Video Contest. Southwest should ask people to submit their own Southwest Rap to the company's YouTube channel . Video submissions could be about how much people love Southwest or their favorite places to fly with Southwest. The topic would be open to interpretation....

Calling All Daves On August 1st, 2010, barbecue restaurant Famous Dave's ran a great promotion in which it offered a free entrée to people whose first name is Dave, David or Davy. Anyone with the middle name of Dave, David or Davy received a half price entrée. I love this promotion because it's buzz-worthy, fun, and promotes the Famous Dave's brand very well. And doesn't everyone know someone named Dave that they could tell about this? Since learning about Famous Dave's promotion, I've been thinking about other stores, restaurants, and products that could run a similar promotion. Join in the fun— what would you add to this list?! Ann Taylor — Free necklace to anybody named Ann or Annie Ashley's Furniture — 15% discount to anybody named Ashley Carl's Jr — Free burger if your name is Carl Claire's Boutique — Free pair of earrings for anyone named Claire Dick's Sporting Goods — Buy one, get one free to anyone named Richard or Dick Eddie Baue...

Subs So Inexpensive You'll Freak On June 10, 2010, Jimmy John's restaurants in the Chicagoland area and Northwest Indiana offered $1 sandwiches from 11:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. as part of Customer Appreciation Day. Unlike the KFC free grilled chicken promotion disaster that occurred last summer (I wrote about it here and here ), this promotion was a huge success. I visited two Jimmy John's in Chicago to check up on the promotion. I visited the one at 28 N. Clark at 11:45 a.m. (view the video above to see the line out the door at that time) and 2:45 p.m. and the one at 216 W. Washington at noon. Both restaurants had massive lines out the door during each of my visits, but the Jimmy John's staff handled the situation beautifully: Neither store ran out of food. My co-worker, who waited in line for 35 minutes to get a $1 sub, reported that employees at the restaurant on Clark were constantly replenishing the supply of fresh vegetables and bread in order to keep customers mov...