New Perspective on Your Marketing

Click to see the van in the upper right of the photo.

As I looked down from our 18th-story condo in Florida, I was struck by a simple advertising technique.  A person who works on condos up and down the panhandle of Florida knows something about his audience:  They see his van differently than people on the ground.

Everyone in the carpet and tile-cleaning business may know the same thing he knows, but he acted on it.  Simple, effective, optimized.  If you are searching for some cleaning, you didn’t need to look too far.   Just based on this bit of marketing creativity, I would jump at having them clean my tile or carpet.

When I took photography in college, my professor said, “Make sure you get worm’s-eye and bird’s-eye views of what you are shooting. Don’t just stand there and take the photo.  It is not interesting.”

People are looking for a new perspective from marketing.  Are giving people the best view of your business?

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A Gravy Ladle’s Worth of Marketing Ideas

Thanksgiving is a great holiday:  food, friends, fun, Little Debbie Christmas Trees hit the stands and football.  With the holidays coming here is a buffet worth of marketing ideas for you to feast upon.  In the spirit of Thanksgiving, thank you to all I have stolen these ideas. 

• Give away turkey basters with a note inside saying how much you appreciate their business.  The basters are cheap and usable.
• Send a Thanksgiving card to people instead of Christmas cards.  It’s a great way to thank people for their business or contribution.
• If you don’t have a company/organization mascot, think about a turkey.  Every year it is the big bird on campus.  You could hold an annual Turkey Trot and have a real reason to call it Turkey Trot.
• Send out Cranberry recipes prior to Thanksgiving.  “We are berry thankful for your support.”  If you really have a budget, send out cranberries.  Always a welcome surprise.
• Protest for “Good Customer Service” or some other unusual idea.   Think of the attention of picketers chanting and marching for good.  There is no news over Thanksgiving so imagine the positive stories.
• Hire a quartet to serenade your favorite customers or stakeholders.  Have them carry a sign that let’s everyone know who is providing the music.
• Send elves (would have been a good idea for Halloween as well) to deliver treats to your clients and contributors.
• Hire some sign twirlers to send a strong message.  Don’t just promote a sale, promote an idea—it is more likely to get press coverage.

As I look through this list, there are a number of ideas that are just remakes of sound image-building techniques.  In this high-tech age, it is good to know some old-fashioned marketing really gets attention and brands you in real, relationship-building ways.  I’m abundantly thankful for that.

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