Unlike many in my industry, I won’t pretend that marketing is much more than the creative execution of common sense. It’s about raising awareness and creating connections that last, and those results hinge on the relevance of material presented to a specific audience at a specific time. I shouldn’t even be telling you this, but here is the secret formula to winning marketing:
1) Decide what you want to accomplish (goal).
2) Decide whom you need to connect with to make that happen (audience).
3) Figure out what they need to know or do to help you out with #1 (strategy/message).
4) Do it (creative execution).
Depending on your goal and your audience, standing on the sidewalk and screaming into a megaphone may well work much better than writing a daily blog or buying a Super Bowl TV ad.
Just as the size of the television viewing audience drives up the costs of the 30-second Super Bowl spot ($2.6 million per for 2007), the excitement and energy surrounding our local team (Colts) and our nearest NFL neighbor (Bears) made the environment perfect for a big idea to be embraced and enjoyed by the entire community. With such a large number of folks interested in the same thing at the same time (a rarity in this age of segmentation), they’re apt to get excited about it when you place before them some fresh material about that area of interest. The timing is right, the audience is ready—all it takes is an idea that just crazy enough to get noticed.
Why not mascot-related violence?
I’m the first to admit, the idea is ridiculous. That's sort of the whole point.
1) Toss some talented improv actor friends into shabby-looking mascot costumes.
2) Throw them into some loosely formed situations (and a few completely uncontrolled ones).
3) Roll tape.
4) www.BEARvsCOLT.com
The truth is, the launch of the site is just the beginning. More precisely, it’s just the middle. We defined objectives, targeted an audience, and devised a creative concept to connect with them.
This project, though silly, had legitimate goals, purpose, and strategy. They weren’t as hatched or researched as most, but due to the nature of the piece and the brevity of the window of opportunity, we moved quickly and have found some amazing results.
Check back tomorrow for the update about the ongoing process of engaging an audience.
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1 comment:
Mitch you have successfully made this as simple to understand as possible. Nice job.
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