The Super Bowl has always fascinated me. Beyond that I’m a super fan of the yearly pigskin brawl. Every year it gets bigger and bigger and more bowlicious! In case your marketing handbook does not include that term, it means: voluptuous ‘non-skimpy’ fully effective marketing that makes you and your clients happy.
So why all the excitement about a bunch of guys wearing spandex pants, pads in funny places and banging their helmets into each other for 3 hours?
Because the Super Bowl is:
Top trends going strong.
My 5 Super Bowlicious marketing practices that can apply to any business.
1) One message will not resonate with all of your market segments.
I hated the Groupon ad. It grossed me out and I thought the casting was bizarre. But I don’t like coupons, so I’m not suppose to like the commercial.
2) There is value in respecting political correctness and being market sensitive.
If your company was just bailed out by the government, you don’t want to be spending $3 million on ads at the Super Bowl. Be astute to current events and think before you market.
3) All media is not created equal every year.
Pepsi is bowing out this year. Why? Because their strategic focus is not on reaching 100 million people, but on providing grants through their “Pepsi Refresh” initiative. Pepsi plans to give away $20 million in grant money to fund projects in six categories: health, arts and culture, food and shelter, the planet, neighborhoods and education. People can go to the Pepsi website refresheverything.com — which can also be accessed through Facebook and Twitter — to both submit ideas and vote on others they find appealing. Additionally, Pappa Johns opted out too and instead of buying time, they will give free pizza to all if the game goes into overtime.
4) Rejection can be a good thing.
Every year Go Daddy generates millions of dollars in buzz and PR, by touting the spots that were “too something” for G rated TV audiences. People always want what they can’t have, so GoDaddy.com posts them on the web, which still attracts gazillions of eyes balls and attention to the brand and offering.
5) Social media is real fuel for brands.
Mercedes, a first timer advertising at the Super Bowl, launched a very cool social media Tweet Race. Super Bowl advertisers are investing heavily in online campaigns leading up to the Super Bowl to reach even more consumers than they would with the Super Bowl TV ad alone. Now Mercedes is taking the plunge. Benz Tweet Race is using both Facebook and Twitter as platform. Mercedes calls the online competition the world’s first Twitter-fueled race. You can win an all-new 2012 C-Class Coupe car when you drum up the most followers for your entry in the Mercedes Benz Tweet Race. Grant it this, a multimillion dollar campaign with many elements from a charity component, to a celebrity involvement angle to a mucho media investment, but the simple idea of awarding fans for helping spread the love on your brand is something that is brilliant and can drive home business benefits.
If you are in Tampa the show airs at 12:30 on Fox. If not, I’ll post the segment in couple days after it runs.
Check back after the game, I’ll post my favorites and what I’m still wondering about.
Cupcake image came from The Cupcake Swirl.
For more on Superbowl ads, check out: Insights to “the Swarm” and how you can create the buzz.
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Things looked pretty bleak for Buddy the white German Shepherd of Claxton, GA. He had a hairless, raw, infected front leg and a bullet with his name on it. His owners were going to put him down Old Yeller style until a neighbor, Dennis Purcell, came to his rescue and brought him to a veterinarian in Savannah, Ga. He was half the weight that he should have been and very weak, but he had a wonderful disposition and was very easy to work around (sidebar: I met him, I can verify that he is a sweet dog). For his first few weeks at Eastside Veterinary Hospital, the doctors and staff and his rescuer cared for him. After some diagnostic work, it was estimated that the cost to treat his injury would be $3,000.
Buddy’s new guardian had created a flier to raise awareness about and funds for Buddy. Kelley Gargiulo, a Savannah resident who has worked extensively with animal rescue groups, received one of the fliers by chance. Gargiulo made a better flier, and created a Facebook page called “Hope for Buddy .” She had experience with various rescue organizations and applied for a LifeLine Rescue Grant from the United Animal Nations that resulted in $300.
The facebook page was taken over and is administered by Dennis’ sister. She began posting pictures, videos and updates about Buddy. Very quickly, donations started arriving by snail mail to the veterinary hospital. There is a wall filled with cards that accompanied donations from well-wishers from all over the country at the office. Eventually, the set up a PayPal account and were able to accept donations electronically.
Buddy’s infection was later diagnosed as Pythiosis and he was also found to have Addison’s disease. The estimate for the cost of his treatment was increased to $4,500.
In three months, over 1,000 people rallied around Buddy’s cause and donated the funds needed for his care. It seemed to take no time at all and was accomplished with no marketing budget. Why? Because his cause was tied to a heartwarming story that involved a lovely animal, compassionate people and a cause that animal lovers felt strongly about.
Here are some highlights (and lessons to be learned) from the success of Hope for Buddy.
Results
- The Hope for Buddy Facebook page was started on June 1, 2010
- Two weeks later, June 14th, the page had 424 friends and over $1,000 had been raised
- Buddy was awarded a grant for $300 from the United Animal Nations (uan.org) on June 15th thanks to the effort of a ‘fan.’
- PR impressions. The story was picked up by local media outlets – three newspapers and one local news station in July and August
- The last publicized amount raised was $4,360 on July 13th, nearly all of the $4,500 set as a goal
- By September 20, “Hope for Buddy” had 1,206 fans and counting and numerous requests to adopt him
- Buddy had some setbacks in his recovery, but his fans are still pulling for him; no one has given up
Why it worked and how you can utilize some of these principles in your marketing program
- Genuine care and compassion. When people are truly passionate about their cause or mission, they are usually the most successful at generating their intended results and achieving their goals. The people who rescued Buddy and the doctors and staff who care for Buddy are extremely dedicated and compassionate professionals and are working tirelessly to save this dog. The people who have donated funds to pay for his care are passionate about animals and were moved by his story. You can’t fake that. Find something that you are genuinely passionate about in the product or service that you are marketin and that will resonate with your customers (for-profit) or supporters (non-profit).
- Prompt and honest communication. Whenever anyone had a question about Buddy regarding his history, his condition, how the funds were being used, what his personality was like, or whether or not he was making progress, the question was answered immediately.
- Face to dogface meetings and gratitude. The internet is great, but there’s nothing like meeting in person. They got off the internet and hit the road to meet and say thank you to some of their biggest supporters. When Buddy was given the OK to travel from the vets, he and his caretaker headed to Forsyth Park in Savannah, GA, Henderson, NC and Atlanta, GA.
Once you have found something you are truly passionate about that you will be marketing to others, make that the center of your communications; it will come through. When you are ready to start garnering PR, check out our PR Ta-Do List to help spread the word.
Also, check out our social media Ta-Do list to harness the power of those tools.
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In online marketing, the niche is the thing for entrepreneurs. Find a good niche, build a site, hammer away at the search engines with relevant copy, and you may just have a chance at making a living online.
The niche concept, however, has been around long enough for just about every niche and cranny to be filled. Should you spend all your time trying to figure out if you can find one that isn’t filled yet?
Maybe you should, or maybe you should try this instead: find a group of people that represent a niche and figure out how to market a service to them that’s proven profitable in the past. In other words, get into a profitable niche of your niche.
To do this, you’ll want to know a couple of things.
- How to dig into segments to find niches.
- How to figure out profitable things that niche engages in.
Now you’ve got a business. As soon as I actually get my “main idea” on doing this online, I’ll talk about it more.
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A few years ago Dunlop Tire company was introducing a new line of tires. Their audience young men. Their method to create buzz was real buzz (haircuts in the pattern of the tire treads) on the heads of cool, young guys hanging out in public places.
A powerful photo opportunity it was. I saw this image in at least four major pubs and you know both the guys and chicks were talking about this for days.
So how do you land a front page photo placement? Create a compelling visual, invite the right media and the public, and take advantage of trial, sampling and promotional means to reach your target buyers.
Take advantage of current affairs and controversy.
Whether it’s a big sports rivalry in your community or a national story, if you can some how leverage the opportunity with a gigantic memorable visual and a relevant and logical association with your company, the benefits can be significant.
Get a Chase’s calendar of events directory.
This book lists every single holiday there is. Goofy ones like national cupcake day are included, too. Have your employees deliver cupcakes to senior citizens homes.
Break records. Or at least try.
Get the old Guinness book and see what history you can make. Consider starting a new record. It’s far easier to be the first than to break an old record.
Do unusual things in weird places.
When I had my PR firm, we once handled the opening of a new highway called the Beltway 8 in Houston, TX. Along with the traditional PR party stuff, we shut down the freeway the morning it was to open and had 500 roller skaters test the pavement. The headline in the major papers read “great skate on beltway 8.”
The bigger the better.
From giant size (10 feet tall) valentine cookies to a 100 foot piñata suspended by a crane for the opening of a Mexican food restaurant, the media loves big things.
In closing, just remember, try to work in your company signage or uniformed staff into the image in a visible (but, not obnoxious) way. Also, have your own photographer so you can leverage this fun idea on the web and in other venues such as customer correspondance. Most importantly be strategic, be creative, have fun, but make sure it ties into your brand.
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