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Fun Marketing Ideas
Posted By: nobodydied* on 1/9/2005 7:59 PM (CST) 250 Points
I have recently begun working for a small franchise who are new to my area and surrounded by better known competition. I am in dire need of some fun marketing ideas to bring attention to the company and hopefully bring in some business. We do have a "mascot" and are interested in different ways to use it (such as going sledding, drive throughs, etc...). Anyone think they have something truly original to give us an edge against our competitors?

Posted by: Inbox_Interactive Member Response
1/9/2005 9:21 PM (CST)
What kind of franchise? Quick-service restaurant?

What's your target market?
 
Posted by: SBauer* Accepted Answer
1/10/2005 8:55 AM (CST)
First I would identify what makes you better or different from the competition. Then you can decide on a theme of promotions that contain a message/theme that supports that differentiation.

For example, our company was facing competition that had all the money in the world to develop technology. Everyone was coming out with bells and whistles. What made us better was our quality and dedication to service. We decided on a message that supported it: "Service. It's that simple." We went back to a 50's gas station theme, going back to a time where it was the personal attention to detail... soups to nuts service with a smile. We made our marketing brochure into a map. We gave out glass coke bottles and opened them with bottle openers with out company logo on it. We even brought in an antique Woody car. Our advertising, trade show booth, public relations, etc. all incorporated that service theme.

Whatever you decide to do in terms of promotions, make sure it's something different, make sure it has a purpose and stays on message and definitely work with your local press to get additional exposure. Perhaps something like the "free cone day" at Ben & Jerrys. Maybe add in some charitable component. Maybe on Tuesday, the company will donate $X for each burger purchased or X% of sales. Although many people do that, if you can tie it into the product or theme somehow, it could be quite effective.

Hope that helps!
Stephanie
 
Posted by: Sanjeev Kumar Vyas Member Response
1/14/2005 3:45 AM (CST)
Stephaine has a good advice but to truly help you we need more information as Inbox asked.
 
Posted by: bizdev Member Response
1/14/2005 6:44 PM (CST)
Fun marketing ideas are my specialty but as sanjeev said I need more information.
 
Posted by: Stokefire* Accepted Answer
1/17/2005 2:08 PM (CST)
Sounds like you are in retail. I would suggest doing a search on marketing ideas on retail on this very website - there are some great ones here already.

The types of activities we would recommend would likely vary depending on your market, geographic location, type of mascot suit (e.g., rubberized, just clothing, mask, arms/no arms... etc), and what the business purpose was. Just having fun is a noble goal, but doesn't tend to bring in business by itself.

And a quick FYI - mascots aren't always a great thing. Sometimes the wrong person in the suit (or an ugly suit) can destroy a brand image in an instant.

Good luck!

Tate
 
Posted by: mgoodman Accepted Answer
1/22/2005 9:46 PM (CST)
Don't count on borrowed interest to build your business. Go back to the basics: What is your company's positioning? How are you different from/better than competition? What is it your consumers really need? Why do they buy from you?

Once you've essentially done the SWOT analysis, you can think about some promotion ideas that are on strategy -- supportive of the positioning.

Ultimately those will be more successful/effective than the borrowed-interest variety.
 
Posted by: telemoxie Accepted Answer
2/6/2005 7:31 AM (CST)
If you provide more info (are you a dry cleaners? a restaurant? a movie theater? a mortgage company? ) we can provide more specific answers. Generally speaking, I don't know that cute mascots work well if your target market is over ten years old. With a limited budget, one area you might consider is finding a way to partner with or piggyback on other firms with larger marketing budgets.
 
Posted by: necsipr* Accepted Answer
2/8/2005 12:43 PM (CST)
Have you thought about any type of guerilla marketing at all? You could hire trend setters to go out and casually talk about your franchise, making it seem like a third party endorsement. Give away samples, if possible, and get people talking about how great your franchise is. Generate good word of mouth, and it will work better than any mascot would!
 
Posted by: arlo* Member Response
2/11/2005 2:34 AM (CST)
Hi,

I've just launched a website that specialises in developing attention-grabbing marketing ideas for individual companies.

Many people have already rightly commented that more information is needed here, so I thought it might be helpful to post the questions we ask on our website ...

Describe your product or service
What is the target audience for this product or service?
What is your objective in communicating with this audience? (usually "increase sales", but may be others too)
What is the key message you wish to communicate to the target audience? (usually USP)
What budget do you have available for this project?
Other info? (Competitor activity, for example)

Without the answers to these questions, it is pretty hard to develop anything but very generic ideas, and certainly nothing that could really give you the edge.
 
Posted by: artistadesign* Member Response
2/11/2005 7:36 PM (CST)
I have a great book with 101 ways to get your foot in the door... It has unusual ideas and great suggestion it is well worth the price..

http://www.streetsmartsmarketing.com/101waystogetyourfootinthedoor.htm


Pam
 
Posted by: david* Accepted Answer
2/24/2005 12:14 PM (CST)
If you're working at a franchise, the franchise is the first place you should go for advice. Franchises usually have a well-researched advertising and promotional plan. Many of these are in writing and your manager most likely has a copy. You manager needs to read it and apply it, because the franchise most likely has decades of experience in promoting their business.

You have a mascot. There's a reason for that. Use it! Put someone in it and have them dance like a fool and wave at every car that goes by. That's usually how it's done. It works.

Cheers!

david
 
Posted by: Shelley, MProfs Moderator Response
3/6/2005 7:17 AM (CST)
Everyone, I am closing this question since it's growing a few cobwebs (and because I can). Thanks for participating!
 


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