Never a Lack of Ideas

Google and the Beanstalk Google recently mailed a letter to small businesses, encouraging them to use Google AdWords to grow their business. The paper on which the letter was printed is embedded with wildfire seeds. The letter's postscript reads: "This card was printed on 100% recycled paper embedded with wildflower seeds. Plant it in a sunny spot with a thin layer of soil, add water, and watch it grow — while you watch your business grow with AdWords." I have planted the card in a pot. Let's see if it grows. Direct Mail is Not Dead Despite what many bloggers might say, direct mail advertising is not dead. This mailing proves that there are still many creative ways to reach customers through the printed page that can't be achieved in another way. It's easy to measure the success of direct mail marketing campaigns, which makes them easy to test. Add This To Your To-Do List If you've never tried a direct mail campaign, it's time to start. Build a list of...

Direct Response Cable Television Comcast is now selling products via a direct response advertising unit that appears at the bottom of a viewer's television screen. The advertisement pops up for a few seconds during a commercial and gives viewers an offer that they can accept or dismiss by using their remote control. (See the video above.) My wife and I were offered a free brochure about visiting Scottsdale, Arizona and we elected to have one shipped to us by following the prompts on the screen with our remote. My wife had seen a direct response ad for a bottle of lotion the previous day. In that ad, she could have chosen to receive a bottle for $5. I can only assume that the $5 charge would have been added to our monthly cable bill. We saw this new advertising unit at 7:45 p.m. on the SOAP network on a Wednesday and a Thursday. We have not seen it on any other channel or at any other time of day. We recorded the ad via our DVR, but when we played it back, the offer was not at the b...

10 Thousand Pictures Say 10 Million Words Lady Gaga should wear a dress to the Grammys composed of nothing but 10,000 photos of her fans. (Click the example on the right.) Last year, she famously wore a dress made of raw meat . This year, why not honor her fans by wearing their pictures on her dress? Lady Gaga is very close to her fans. She calls them her “Little Monsters” and many of them dress in elaborate costumes when they attend her concerts. Her devotion to her fans is one reason she has become so successful. In marketing, it’s important to show love to your biggest fans — your customers. Give them opportunities to provide input about your new product ideas. Allow them to submit feedback and then post that feedback publicly. Send your customers hand written thank you notes. And let your fans submit photos of them using your products. Add This To Your To-Do List Show some love to your fans! Every business has repeat customers. Give them ways to show their love for you by sponsori...

A Very Merry Christmas Close to midnight on December 24th, 2010, SpanAir surprised passengers with Christmas presents delivered through a baggage carousel. Every gift was hand wrapped and addressed to each of the flight's 190 passengers. I applaud the airline for employing such a fun idea to spark positive word of mouth. The airline has put together videos of the gift-giving event in both English and Spanish, and they have combined for a half a million views on YouTube to date. What would it cost for Spanair to buy a half a million brand impressions on tv? Certainly more than what it cost them to give out 190 Christmas presents and put up a video on YouTube. This was a win-win situation for both Spanair and its passengers. The most powerful form of marketing is a recommendation from a friend. With these presents, Spanair made 190 people happy and found a way to get those people to tell all of their friends and family about how great Spainair is. Then they put up a great video on ...

A Bundle of Joy I have previously written that bobblehead dolls make perfect gifts because they are personalized and they symbolize meaningful relationships. For Christmas, my wife and I gave my wife’s mother a bobblehead doll of herself (see the pictures on the right). The doll is wearing a shirt that says, “#1 Grandma.” That’s right — we used the doll to tell her that we’re going to have our first baby next year. Bobblehead dolls don’t just make great gifts — they make great announcement vehicles, too. My wife’s mother will now be able to bring the doll with her to work and show everyone in her office that she’s going to be a grandmother. In a way, we gave my wife’s mother a word of mouth marketing tool to help her spread the message that she’s going to be a grandmother. How fun! Add This To Your To-Do List My advice is the same as it was after the first time we bought a bobblehead doll: Give someone a bobblehead doll! Will it be the retiring executive for a long-time client? Your l...

Say "Peace" To add a little twist to the city's 2010 holiday card, the mayor of Naperville , IL invited all 145,000 of the city's residents to a photo shoot for the cover of the card. And on Friday, November 26th at 2:00 p.m., my wife Monica and I showed up alongside 500 of our neighbors to make holiday card history. Collectively, we Napervillians spelled out "peace" and posed for a few pictures. Monica and I were in the second E, in the stem between the top and middle horizontal bars. The event was well organized by city staff and volunteers. Two news helicopters and a handful of reporters showed up to cover the event and everybody seemed to have a good time. The Evolution of the Holiday Card This event got me thinking about how far the corporate holiday card has come. It wasn't too long ago when they were just simple cards. Then came e-cards. E-cards went to another level with Jib Jab . Then came those customized e-cards that include your name througho...

Where Was that Filmed? IMDB should use the Google Maps API to showcase the places movies were filmed or took place. It would be a great additional feature to the site and could even generate revenue for IMDB. Here's how: What if, while looking at information about a specific move on IMDB, you could click to look at a Google map of the places in which that movie was filmed or took place? If the filming location is one that requires tickets to visit, like Alcatraz in San Francisco, the map could link to the location's ticketing website (see my mocked-up screen shot on the right). The location and IMDB could partner together in a profit sharing agreement for all ticket sales that come from IMDB's website. This would be a great way for local businesses to earn foot and web traffic, too. Want to know where the end scene was filmed for The Fugitive? Oh, that was at the Hilton in Chicago — we should go check it out! Add This To Your To-Do List Are there ways in which you can in...