Today I got a jolt of inspiration to update my blog. Dusted off my keyboard, filled my favorite mug with coffee, cracked my knuckles and planted myself in my commander chair with intent to write. But nothing came. My inspiration to share something meaningful vanished into the thin air. Then I realized that it is my interest in so many things that stops me from focusing on one subject manner. I have a ton of ideas and topics I want to explore (I even catalogue), but can’t seem to focus on one of them for more than 5 minutes. As I write this post, I am thinking to myself, ‘what is even the point of this post?’ ‘Do I just hit backspace, shut down my computer and call it a night?’ The point is for me is to inject some kind of life into my blog. The point is for me to sit down, make a plan and a commitment to use my blog as tool to develop my knowledge and expertise in topics I’m interested in. My professional interests are in entrepreneurship, marketing strategy, business development and the thrill of making a deal. To satisfy my curiosity and a creative bone I really enjoy learning about graphic design, filmmaking and exploring what technology and the web can do. I am considering it a personal challenge to revive this blog, tie in my interests and deliver relevant content that my readers can benefit from.
Yesterday, my friends and I attended The Toronto Ribfest 2008 hosted by The Rotary Club of Etobicoke. This year, like every year it was held at Centennial Park. This was the very first time I’ve ever attended this type of event. I loved it. It was warm and sunny, perfect day to enjoy BBQ and cold beer. Among the four of us we got four full racks from four different vendors. The ribs were just spectacular from all four vendors. This entry is not about who had the best ribs; it’s about how we selected the rib vendors, about who sold them the best, and how.
First and foremost I’d like to say that the rib vendors all sold their ribs the same way.
- All proudly displayed their trophies at their stands
- All proudly advertised their accomplishments/winnings
- All had the same layout of their signage
- All had the same pricing
None had any differentiating sales and marketing tools. The only time you could differentiate among them, is after you’ve bit into the rack. Even vendors’ names were hidden among all the pennants and banners of accomplishments. If I went into the fair blindly I’d have a hard time choosing a vendor to try ribs from. So many vendors, so little room in the stomach. Luckily we had a plan. Our first two vendors were based on a recommendation by a friend who attended Toronto Ribfest a day earlier. Both vendors had the shortest line ups and probably the smallest stands at the fair; and their ribs were way better than the other two vendors we visited; who had huge lineups and huge stands.
As you can see from my pictures posted. The stands and signage look identical. As I was leaving the event, I thought to myself… there’s a got to be a better way to stand out. Without going overboard or being tacky here are some ideas that would attract the public to a stand.
- Create some kind of fire-shooting contraption at the top of the stand
- Get a giant inflatable gorilla or a pig, and put it on top of your stand.
- Create a sign that is equivalent in size of other stands that basically reads (in tongue and cheek humor) “We also won the same awards!” or “Some pigs dream of becoming doctors, other dream of becoming best ribs in town!”
It’s one thing to attract unsuspecting public, but it’s another to keep them there and spread the good word about your ribs. That means you actually have to make delicious ribs and keep the line moving fast.
Here’s a cool marketing idea; that will give a new meaning to target marketing. The idea came to me when I was on my way home from the gym. I had a radio on in my car and the announcer was talking about Toronto Blue Jays. Who recently made some desperate moves in the management, but are yet to produce any positive results.
Although Target retail chain doesn’t exist in Canada, so this could only apply to US-based baseball team. To motivate home team players hit a few home runs, Target retail chain can set up a “Target Zone”. So, every time a player is up to bat, the fans in the “Target Zone” can flip their cards and form Target logo, which of course looks like a bulls eye, that players can aim for.
I’d normally not post this type of a marketing idea, but I am curious to see if anything similar has been done before and whether it actually improved players’ performance when they were presented with a big visual goal to strive for. Beyond observing a psychological impact it may have on players’ performance, there are very strong benefits to running this type of “Target Marketing”, pun intended.
- Fans are engaged in the game (they feel like they can influence the outcome of the game)
- Fans are engaged in the promotion (perhaps they pay discounted ticket prices to be seated in the “Target Zone”)
- Interval exposure (fans and TV viewers do not feel like they are being forced fed the ad)
- Contextual (unique way to integrate into the game and have a functional purpose)
- Exposure on the highlight reels
