Bright Ideas # 80 - An Amazing Marketing Idea

Just the other day I was on the receiving end of one of the most interesting, inviting and effective marketing tactics I’ve ever seen. And even though technically it was “junk mail”, I was thrilled to get it.

I arrived home from a client meeting to find this plain brown cardboard box sitting on my front porch. It was about the size of one of those standard, Priority Mail boxes. And it was addressed directly to me.

I hadn’t ordered anything recently. And it had my name, not my husband’s, so it couldn’t have been something he ordered.

So I did what anyone would do….

I picked it up and shook it.

It was surprisingly light. And didn’t make much noise.

Hmmmm…

I looked at the return address, but that didn’t tell me much.

Needless to say, my interest was more than a little piqued. Finally I opened it and peered inside.

It seemed to be filled with foil bags of something (this was getting better and better). So I tipped it over and dumped it out.

Out rolled four bags of Stacy’s Pita Chips—three single-serving of flavored chips and one medium-size bag of plain. Sweet!

I like pita chips. And although I had never bought them myself, I had tried Stacy’s chips at a friend’s house. They are yummy. And they fit my criteria for a healthy snack.

But why in the world was I suddenly the happy recipient of four bags of tasty pita chips?

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This Is the Most Amazing Marketing Idea
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Because my name is Stacy!

How do I know? After I finished tasting a few pita chips
I dug deeper into the box and discovered a letter from company founder—also named Stacy (of course). It explained everything.

Basically, since they couldn’t afford to send samples to everyone, they decided to just send them to every Stacy in the country. A savvy concept that immediately created a feeling of goodwill and camaraderie between me and the owner (there really aren’t that many Stacy’s out there).

I also found short stories about the company and founder.

Then, there was the “piece de resistance”…

Since they only sent boxes of chips to people named Stacy, they included a separate postcard I could mail in to have a sampler box sent to someone I know—at no cost to me.

This campaign worked like a charm on me. Partly because it is an incredibly clever, effective, well-thought-out concept. And partly because I suspect I fall right smack in the middle of their target market.

I was immediately enamored by the story and the history of the company. I liked the fun caricature of the owner and lively, informal writing. And I used the coupon to send a box of samplers to my office manager.

Then, although I had never bought pita chips before, in the next few weeks I bought them twice. That’s powerful stuff.

Clearly, they have their brand dialed (check out www.stacyschips to see what I mean).

And they understand that ROI (return on investment) is more important than cost. Because obviously this wasn’t a cheap campaign—but I’d bet my life it was highly effective and resulted in increased sales to new customers.

They made a lot of smart choices in their marketing strategies and tactics. There’s just one thing I would have done differently…

I would have followed up with a coupon a few weeks later to encourage me to purchase their products again. Soon buying their tasty chips might even become a habit.

What an amazing example of choosing the right tactic to get the job done. And using a solid brand and voice to create a unique personality and make the company stand out.

The best part is, your name doesn’t have to be Stacy, and your budget doesn’t have to be huge, for you to take this idea and make it work for your business. And the “send this gift to a friend” part of the promotion would work for almost anyone.

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How do you know which tactics are going to work for you?
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Let’s face it; the options for marketing your business are practically endless. The only limits are your creativity and budget.

It can be really hard to know which tactics are right for you. But when you hit upon the right combination of branding, strategies and tactics you can create a massive amount of response. And that translates into customers, sales and revenues!

©2002-2006 Success Stream. All Rights Reserved. www.success-stream.com

Do you have a marketing, advertising or writing question you’d like to have answered? Email me and you might see the answer in a future edition of Bright Ideas.

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