There you are, wandering around SEMA, a trade show for the automotive aftermarket industry, when a promotion at the Dunlop Tires booth catches your eye. If you let them tattoo the Dunlop logo on your body, you get a free set of tires. Crazy? Of course it is. But blogger Debra Mastaler explains why this smart strategy works on a number of levels:

• It exploits mainstream acceptance of tattoos, particularly among SEMA folks, and ups the ante with celebrity artists like Kat Von D.
• It generates publicity aplenty—like this—without the use of traditional media.
• It builds on the company's earlier marketing efforts, like the "Treadhead" promotion, in which hairstylists shaved Dunlop tread patterns onto customers' heads.
  

According to Mastaler, 50 Dunlop enthusiasts took the plunge, and there are hundreds more on a waiting list. Mack Collier at The Viral Garden adds that Dunlop filled every available appointment within minutes, and that one recipient didn't even realize the tattoo came with tires—he was just thrilled about getting some free ink!

"You have to remember that a customer evangelist is crazy about their favorite brands!" writes Collier. "So Dunlop ... made it easier for [their evangelists] to engage in actions that they were already performing."

Tattoos may be an extreme example, but if you aren't providing inventive ways to help your customer evangelists spread the good news, you might never learn just how far they'll go for you. And that is Marketing Inspiration.

More Inspiration:
Paul Williams: The Brand Called Christmas
Mack Collier: It's Just a Movie, Right?
Jonathan Kranz: Latest Way for Marketer to Shoot Himself in Foot!

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