Marriage usually implies something personal, but for this Morsel, we are talking about the idea of a marriage between two businesses who collaborate to run a promotional-focused campaign.
The idea, which has a record of success, encourages you to think about a potential promotional partner who shares the same demographic you do and is in a non-competitive business. One partner’s product becomes the premium for the promotional campaign.
Let me take you back to 1975 when the idea took shape. McDonald’s was introducing breakfast as a daypart. And Gillette was introducing a new product, the Good News disposable razor. Both products shared the same target audience, men 18-34, and both were motivated to achieve product trial. The marriage worked. After a successful regional trial, the campaign rolled out nationally with sales of twenty-three million breakfast entrees, one razor per entrée…a lot of trial!
WARNING
This month’s marketing lesson contains bragging.
I had the privilege of helping run the PR campaign for Myerstown’s 250th Anniversary Celebration (which attained National attention). Sestercentennial excitement stimulated a group of volunteer community-minded citizens to build on the momentum. They started a non-profit 501 c-3 organization called The Myerstown Vitality Partnership in 2019. The MVP Board focuses on revitalizing their hometown, attracting and helping local businesses with tax breaks and other initiatives.
MVP’s first task – communicate their existence and educate the marketplace as to who they are, what they are trying to do, and to rally support for the mission, and gain financial and volunteer support in the process. Nice idea with one problem...no budget.
Read more: Marketing Effectively Without A Budget - May 2022
A good marketing agent brings value to client service by taking responsibility for developing and managing details for an approved campaign. For our March Marketing Morsel, I am using an example – a Chicken BBQ Fundraiser on Saturday, May 14th at the American Legion Post 109 in Lickdale. The proceeds will benefit Compeer of Lebanon, a charity that helps local Veterans in need. So how do we make this fundraiser a success, and minimize the expense?
Here are some of the project elements. Use them as guidelines for your own fundraiser.
- Rule One – Match up every task with a responsible person (or small team) and attach dates to what they agree to do, Have occasional status meetings.
- A project manager takes responsibility for being the team leader and caretaker of deadlines. He or she must be the “squeaky wheel” that keeps everything moving.
- The Flyer – gives you all the details the public needs to know to support the promotion. It takes legwork, but get copies into the hands of organizations who will support the charity. The more bulletin boards the better.
When the world situation changes (think Covid, and now the terrible situation in Ukraine), among the first to adjust quickly are the marketing and advertising professionals.
The “go to” trade magazine ADAGE reports that Ukrainian-based ad agencies have stopped client work and jumped into the fray by helping the Ukraine government fight disinformation that they say has been spread by Russia. The rules have changed with social media – Google is blocking Russian internet ads and Facebook is blocked by Russia, so their people have lost access.
Our people are showing moral support of the Ukrainian people. The Metropolitan Opera opened their season with a performance of the Ukrainian National Anthem. We all seeing solidarity in other contexts.
With soaring gas prices, how is the travel industry responding? Suddenly electric automobiles are gaining traction on the marketplace.
A young Advertising Agency guy named Jack got his start in a giant worldwide company named BBDO in the 1960’s, the Mad Men era of the advertising industry. Jack leaned a lot from top BBDO leaders. One of them, the CEO of all of BBDO, Charlie Brower, retired with a memo to all of us. “It would be ungracious to creep away without giving my friends a chance to ignore my advice.” He then shared “16 things I have learned in my 43 years in the adverting agency business.” I kept the memo and pass on Charlie’s wisdom this month. It is still timeless.
1. The expedient thing and the right thing are seldom the same thing.
2. The best way to get credit is to try to give it away.
3. You cannot sink someone else’s end of the boat and still keep your own afloat.
4. It is not important to come in early and work late. The important thing is why?
5. If you get a kick out of your job, others will get a kick out of working for you,
6. No one should knock research who has ever been helped by a road map.