Happy Earth Day!
A Dummy's Puppet's Ramblings - from Chip Martin, Puppet
(Mannequin American views and guidelines on marketing/PR trends plus bits of humor and interesting but useless information.)
Don't Get Too Close!
"Rub against me and I'll expose you." Ah, if I had a dime for every time I've heard that.
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority recently unveiled a campaign aimed at combating sexual harassment on the subway. Frankly, the way people are often packed in subways like sardines, it's pretty tough to avoid some degree of unwanted human contact. Maybe copy for the ad should read, "Uncomfortable being touched by a stranger? Take a cab."
The author of AdFreak offered this suggestion on how to deal with unwanted touching on the subway in Boston. "If someone's hands stray where they shouldn't, just point at him or her and scream, "Yankee fan! Yankee fan!" They won't give you any more trouble after that."
"Pardon me ..." Are You Kidding Me?
This Hallmark card with the copy, "Pardon me ..." on the cover and "Care for some liquid clothes remover?" on the inside, seemed mildly humorous to me - but not to Cyndi Desrosiers, a New Hampshire mother. Ms. Desrosiers claims the card is "promoting sexual promiscuity to teenagers." I'd agree with Cyndi except for the fact that there's absolutely nothing that refers to teenagers anywhere on the card! In short, "Pardon me ... are you nuts?" Apparently we're not supposed to have access to funny cards with sexual innuendos.
Cyndi claims that she wants to protect the sensibilities of her 18-year-old daughter, by having the $2.99 card removed from stores. Click here for her side of the story. Or just pound your head against the wall for 30 seconds to get the same type of headache.
Ironically, proceeds from the sale of this card are reportedly donated to combat AIDS in Africa. Okay, even I have to admit that Hallmark made a poor choice of subject matter for generating revenue for that particular charity.
More Trade Show Tips
The single biggest reason why trade show participation sometimes fails to deliver desired results is that too often marketers view trade shows as stand-alone events rather than elements of an integrated marketing process.
For B2B companies, a trade show is more likely one of many interactions customers and prospects will have with your company. As such, it must be preceded and followed by integrated marketing activities including a pre-show traffic-building campaign, a well-organized and executed follow-up plan and a mini Web site that speaks directly to the show's attendees.
It's your responsibility to drive the right prospects to your booth. Many successful companies market their trade show participation through e-mail, direct mail, telemarketing, press releases and personal contact. For some, it also makes sense to invite attendees via blogs, social networks and community forums. Messages that reach your prospects through multiple communication channels have a far better chance of being recognized and acted upon.
For Those Things You Just Can't Throw Away
Safestore, a storage unit rental company in the U.K, uses this clever tag line: "For those things you just can't throw away." Or at least I thought it was clever until I saw this TV ad demonstrating the reason why companies that rent out storage units don't let you live in or work in the space you've rented. This is that reason. It's sort of funny, but the cold-hearted Brit didn't even give Grandma the flowers!
