If Fast Food Can Do It, Why Not Us?

Fast food brands seem to really understand the power of non-traditional marketing.   I wrote several months back about the Burger King Facebook kill off friends’ campaign.  Now Subway is making a non-traditional splash.  They are part of a campaign to save the TV show “Chuck”.  See the AdAge Online story.

The sandwich maker claims it all started with a TV blogger and product placement.  Subway had product placement on an episode of “Chuck” along with a brand mention from the lead character.  When the word went out that NBC was thinking of pulling the plug on the show, a blogger started a campaign.  She asked her readers to buy Subway foot-long sandwiches and watch the season finale.  She wanted the network to see the power of the viewers. 

Subway claims they didn’t start this but has jumped on the bandwagon.  I don’t believe that for a second.  There are lots of product placements in that show and many other shows.  Like any type of marketing, what can you do to rise above the clutter?  Don’t get me wrong I love this campaign!  Think about how much exposure Subway is getting for that initial product placement?  The campaign even has a viral video showing Zack Levi (Chuck) taking 600 fans into a Subway in England. 

Someone at NBC must really like “Chuck”.  The promotional and PR events around this TV show have been very different from their other programming.  Remember this past Super Bowl?  We all used our 3-D glasses for a “Chuck” commercial and then saved them to watch the 3-D episode later that week.

All of this non-traditional marketing is very “out of the box” thinking.  Think about how we can make this type of marketing work for us in the live event & entertainment business.  We all understand how buzz works.  We can tell if a show is going to take off by the buzz.  Why not help create the buzz?  Long before you go on sale with the show or event start the buzz campaign.  Work with bloggers, fan clubs, and social network sites.  It shouldn’t cost you any of the marketing budget and if it does, so what?  This is all part of the marketing campaign.   

As stated in the book Pyro Marketing by Greg Stielstra:

1) Gather the driest tinder

2) Touch it with a match

3) Fan the flames

4) Save the coals 

Good Old Fashion Event PR

With album, record, CD sales or whatever you want to call it down, it is good to see a band doing old fashion PR to promote their latest release. 

If you haven’t heard yet (don’t know how you didn’t) U2 has a new album called No Line on the Horizon.  Even though they are one of the biggest bands in the world, they still have to work to make this album sell.  Over the past couple weeks they seem to be everywhere.  Award shows, David Letterman, streets being named after them, and private concerts.  Tonight in Somerville MA (just outside downtown Boston) the band is playing a FREE concert in the 850 seat Somerville Theatre.  The tickets were given away on a few Boston radio stations.  Boston has a rich history with U2.  WBCN was the first radio station in the U.S. to play a song from the band. 

The PR for this event has been fantastic.  It first started as a rumor two weeks ago and the buzz has built up ever since. They kept calling the venue location a secret while leaking out venue info.  The location became “official” when the production trucks showed up.  The media attention has been huge.  Every TV news station is camped out in front of the theatre.  I don’t think there is one person in the greater Boston area that does not know about it.  As I wrote yesterday on Twitter, “record company marketing budget well spent”.  If this does not sell albums in Boston, then the music industry is REALLY in trouble.

 

Consumers Want A Really Good Deal

The results are coming out now on how retailers did through November including the big Thanksgiving weekend.  As we all know Black Friday did pretty well and was up from 2007.  However, the numbers have been dropping ever since.  The reason of course is the deals.  Consumers are buying for the holidays but they are going for the deals.  Deep discounts, promotions with teeth, this is what is working.  As marketers in the event and entertainment business we should be looking at this current trend and adjusting our marketing plans accordingly. 

While we may or may not be able to offer deep discounts we can offer promotions with teeth.  If you are going to put together a ticket package or promotion around the holiday period or to counter the recession don’t just do it to do it.  Create a promotion or package that will make an impact.  A good quality promotion should create some buzz, get to your demo, and move tickets. 

Use all the marketing tools you have to create the buzz.  Some of these don’t really cost much.  Spread the buzz on the social networks.  Go deep into these sites to find groups that are your true demo.  Try it, they are really there. Go to where the customer is.  If you are a sports team, go where the fans are.  If you are family show, where are the moms and kids hanging out?  These are your “low hanging fruit”.  Make your promotion fun.  Remember, you are selling fun. With consumers in a bad mood, they are looking for an escape.  Show them you are that escape.  If you can lower your price without losing your shirt or cheapening the product, do it.  This is no time to be greedy. 

Consumers are buying holiday gifts.  They just want a REALLY good deal.  Let’s get them thinking that event, sports, and entertainment tickets are a really GOOD deal.

Practice What I Preach

Since I have been writing for the past few weeks about using tickets as great holiday gifts, I thought I should help the sports and entertainment business by purchasing some tickets for gifts.  Today I am trying three different ways to get tickets.  I am buying tickets for one event at a box office, purchasing tickets online for an event, and I am trying to win tickets for another event via a mobile marketing promotion.  I will report back on the experience I had with all of these methods.

 

The Future Of Marketing Is Here

Last night proves that a good marketing plan works.  It proves that if you create the right image, hype, and buzz it will payoff.  It proves that you do need to use all the new forms of marketing and continue to look for more.  Let’s all learn from the 2008 election and use it to our benefit.  Just like the marketing message that the campaign branded and the American people gave as a mandate last night, “its time for a CHANGE”.  All of us in marketing need to embrace change and use it. 

As I watched the results last night I realized that this country has changed.  We are not a country of “Joe the Plumber”.  We need to market to the “new mainstream”.  To do this we need to use the new marketing.  We need to use social networking, mobile, web, email, blogs, branded entertainment, grass roots, viral, video game advertising, and everything else that our creative minds can think of. 

There is no limit to how we market.  Let’s promise that once we create the hype, buzz, and capture our market, that we will live up to the hype and give them a good experience. I promise to continue to help you with this.  I will continue to let you know what’s out there.  I will let you know what works and doesn’t work.  You can help me make this blog better by giving me your insight and ideas.  I will post them not just as comments but as posts so that everyone can share in this. 

I am psyched for the future of marketing.  We have no limits.  The future gives us the opportunity to use our creative marketing brains once again.