Know-How Exchange : Just for Fun

These days it seems everyone hearts their customer, yet, few do anything to show it.

February is typically a slower time for some of my clients. It seems the share of wallet left to pursue is either already spent, or is being saved for upcoming Registered Retirement Saving Plan season (RRSP's are big in Canada at this time of year).

What to do?

Well, do the unexpected!

Hand out a single rose, carnation, or some sort of flower to all customers on Valentine's day. The ladies love the unexpected gift as many have reported they don't receive one from their spouse (shocking!), and the men love having something to bring home after a hectic day (Guys....flower shops have phones...and deliver!). Anyhow, the small gesture definitely DOES NOT GO UN-NOTICED! In fact, it does tend to spark a wave of word of mouth for a few days, after all, who wouldn't share the news of such a pleasant surprise.

Send a free lunch to your top 100 customers. So many restaurants are eager to find new customers, yet, offers they make always seem so weak to me. I prefer to negotiate a deal with the restaurant owner where I agree to pay so much per plate, as long as the restaurant owner matches my 'purchase' price in 'freebies'. Typically, I like to offer my best customers a true free lunch, for two, including beverages and a desert...so all my best customer has to do is sit down and enjoy. If the restaurateur is a sharp operator, he will bend over backwards to impress my customer, and earn a new one himself....and we'll both look good!

I had a client phone me and ask if I could come up with some way that he could help his buddy kick off a new ice cream parlor he would be opening soon. My client had over 5,000 active customers in his database, while his buddy had no customers as he had not opened for business yet. I told my customer to ask his buddy to split the cost of the marketing program I was about to propose fifty fifty, and they agreed. I created a nice postcard that said: "Our customers are worth a mint....."

The message carried over to the back of the postcard continuing: "....a chocolate, a double dipped rocky road. Please present this postcard at Buddy's ICE CREAM PARLOR, and have your choice of cone on us! It's our way of introducing you to Buddy's and a small way to say 'Thanks' for being a customer of My Client's Drycleaners.

A lot of cones, a lot of smiles, plus a lot of goodwill later, two businesses and a lot of customers enjoyed their treat and warm fuzzies.

When I had my own drycleaning store, I teamed up with one of the best menswear retailers and one of the best ladies wear retailers in my city. We would split the cost of renting a swanky hall, catering, meal, and wine. We would throw a private fashion show, complete with music, models, and runway. Each of us would invite our best customers to this event. It was a great opportunity for my retailer partners to showcase their new lines, and I could pick up a few new fashion conscious, high demand for drycleaning, customers. Door prizes from clothing suppliers, as well as a few other gift certificates, ensured that customers from each of our stores were referred to the other participating partners.

Get a heart on for having some fun with your business and think about new ways that you can express the smallest gesture to your most valuable asset...your customer.

Feel free to quote:

Darcy Moen
www.customerloyaltynetwork.com

Like most holidays, Valentine's Day brings out the worst, most hackneyed and cliche ridden marketing programs ... as well as a handful of clever ideas.

So, thumbs down to everyone who wants their client to offer a "sweetheart deal" or run a heart-shaped ad with "we love our customers!!!" in a diagonal banner (Note the three excalmation marks, so much more effective than just one!!!).

And a thumbs up to the new bakery that sent me a tiny, heart-shaped box one Valentine's Day. It contained a single chocolate and a tiny card - outside copy "Will you be my valentine?" - inside copy "If you say yes, I'll give you 15% off any box of chocolates between now and Valentine's Day". Clever, personal and useful.

Thumbs up to the rehab centre that ran an ad with a very beautiful woman looking straight into the camera and headline copy "Wouldn't you like to be my valentine?". Body of ad went on to say that, if you accepted the invitation, you could join me in getting really wasted, wrecking your car, losing your job, making yourself sick, destroying your marriage, etc. The point was that not every alcoholic or drug addict is homeless and rough looking ... at least, not at first. Get help now, etc. Good use of a topical opportunity, powerful and unusual messaging.

And thumbs up to the flower delivery service that ran radio ads on Valentine's Day saying "Okay, so it's Valentine's Day and you got nothin'. No flowers, no card, no candies - nothin'. Buddy, we're about to save your butt." Ad went on to explain how they have operators standing by, ready to take emergency orders for their Last Minute Package - flowers, candy and a nice card with her name and your name pre-printed. Order by two PM and delivery in the city guaranteed by six PM. Brilliant.

So, what do I love about marketers? Their creativity, their drive to find innovative ways to reach a goal, and their joy at seeing a clever idea.

And, yes, you can print my details if you want.

Darcy, nice to see a fellow Canuck on this Forum. How's it goin', eh?

Roy,
No doubt you're expecting "Product/Services Marketing Campaign" stories, but I'm sending you one with a difference. This has been, to date my most successful attempt at using Valentines as a promtional tool. Only this time it wasn't to promote a product or service. Read on...

Background:
The date – 26 January, 2001. The country – India. The event – Earthquake in Gujarat. Extent of damage (to put it mildly) – over 5000 people dead, 70% of total infrastructure destroyed. It shocked the world and relief came pouring in from all directions.

My situation:
Digital Equipment had merged with Compaq Computers worldwide and as a subsequent result of realigning business practices, had hived off the software arm renaming it Digital Globalsoft (today known as HP Globalsoft). So, we had just effected a brand change from being one of the world’s largest hardware players to a brand new software entity. It was also the period of what was called the ‘software boom’ in India. Downside of this happy business phase? Having to cope with an unprecedented rise in employee attrition rates. Pay scales were peaking and job-hopping was the order of the day!

As the Communications Manager at Digital Globalsoft, it was my responsibility to develop and manage, “external and internal brand loyalty.”

The challenge:
Manage relations between the ‘new and old’ set of employees; seek activities to foster internal bonding. Ensure brand build up through various communication activities.

The opportunity:
Valentines Day 2001.

My plan:
Launched a program, (unfortunately I forgot what I named it). According to the plan, employees were encouraged to order either Red or Yellow roses through the intranet while remaining anonymous if they chose to do so. They could send me a mail with their request and I would ensure delivery. If the receiver requested the name of the sender, I would reveal the identity. I tied up with a local rose vendor well ahead of time to ensure adequate supply of roses.
The highlight of the plan was in getting the vendor to sell his flowers at a discount and charge the employee a slightly higher than normal rate explaining that the profits were being sent entirely towards the Earthquake Relief Fund.
The idea was to inspire employees to make new friends using a soft approach and at the same time remind them of the positive contribution their each attempt at friendship would entail. A win-win situation either way.

Needless to say, the campaign was a tremendous success, with the vendor having to source extra supplies! But since they were pre-ordered, we had them all on Valentines Day. We were able to make a sizeable contribution too for the Relief Fund which made the event even more enjoyable.

Result: we had team leaders ordering roses for the entire teams giving rise to a new spirit of camaraderie and fun.

Like I said, a win-win campaign all the way!

regards,
Jane

Last year my husband received an unusual email message from DeLorme (maker of map software.) They concocted a letter around Valentine's Day that used the names of cities around the US. You could use DeLorme's electronic maps to find these cities if you wanted.

Although we live in Canada, my husband is a sucker for electronic toys. He was not looking to upgrade his existing software, but the email drove him to the website where indeed he did just that.

Here's a bit of the email to give you a flavour for it. As a marketer, I thought it was really well done. Wish I'd thought of it!

Dear John,
You're probably thinking that Valentine's Day (FL) has nothing to do with maps, and you are Likely (CA) Correct (IN), but we would still like to Tell (GA) you the Little (KY) known Story (WY) about the Bachelor (CO) who gave up his Freedom (NH) in search of his one true Love (AZ). It is a Delight (MD) to hear and will take very Little (OK) Time (PA) to Tell (WI).

Our story begins in elementary school with a shy Kid (AL) named Eugene (OR), asking Helena (MT) to be his Valentine (NJ) with a Hand (SC) crafted cardboard Heart (MO). Unfortunately, Helena (AR) had already said "yes" to Monroe (LA) and the Disappointment (WA) that Eugene (CA) felt was fitting for a child from Lonelyville (NY).

Hi Roy

Valentine’s Day is not a holiday in the UK – I guess that you Americans take it so seriously that you need to take the day off. In fact we are so reserved in the UK that we’d lose face, business and marriages if we were to try valentine messages as part of our business marketing strategy unless we were in the entertainment industry. What a difference in style!

Mind you, exposure to the world of marketing creativity has allowed me to be most individualistic and romantic with my Valentine cards – I design or draw my own and being a salesman when I was a bit younger, seizing the opportunity to do something totally out of the ordinary was probably easier for me than for my pals who were accountants or actuaries.

When I lived in Stirling, there was only one decent nightclub. It was pretty good and frequented by both the beautiful people and some of the most violent young men I’ve ever met. Looking at the wrong girl was dangerous and going to the men’s room was often life threatening. It was run by a – how can I put it – a Scottish-Greek gangster called Edgar. Edgar quite liked his free spending, Porsche driving English salesman customer and when I found out that he needed some marketing help, I offered my services for free. Having Edgar’s heavies on my side could be useful in the “Living beyond tomorrow” area on a difficult night.

I advised him to hold an up-market Valentine dance and to partner up with the local dress hire companies, the florists and got the best restaurant in town to provide the catering. We circulated details to all the businesses in town and the local government offices and priced it at a level to try to dissuade the demolition merchant customers. It worked – a glitzy up-market crowd of new punters tried the place out and liked it – they came back.

It had an unexpected romantic spin off for me as well. At the time, there was a new perfume called Impulse. The adverts were designed by a pal of mine and consisted of a man making a prat of himself by suddenly deciding to give a bunch of flowers to a girl he’d never seen before. The punch line was,

“That’s lovely of you, why?”

“It must be something you’re wearing”.

IMPULSE!

So there was this vision of loveliness with a queue of men waiting to ask her for a dance. Each one, she politely rejected. I watched in astonishment at her calm detachment and at the queue. So I wandered out and raided Edgar’s expensive floral decorations for a single rose and joined the queue. When I got to the front, I just said, “This is for you, it must be something you’re wearing. Goodbye” and left. She spent the next week tracking down who I was and we became good friends. Well, a bit more than that.

So thank you for the confidence that a sales career gave me, thank you for the marketing skills that allowed me to try my hand in the entertainment industry and thank to the genius who invented that advert so that I could borrow it!

Steve Alker