Marketing Tip #29
GET A BUZZ. “Buzz” is anything that gets people “buzzing” and spreading the word about your product. Or, as I like to call it: Word-of-mouth on steroids. It’s the goal of any marketer with a limited budget. Kenneth Cole knows about that. So does The Marble Collegiate Church in NYC.
Since “church” is not an easy sell to sophisticated, young New Yorkers, the Marble Church minister realized that something bold was needed. Our marketing plan involved a cost-effective mix of traditional and non-traditional advertising with playful, irreverent headlines such as, “You Don’t Need To Be A Sinner To Attend Our Church. But It Helps.” Combined with a good media plan we created a great buzz about the church. In fact, despite the limited budget, about 70% of those asked had a positive recall of the campaign. Many could even recite the headlines word-for-word. Membership increased 31% and website hits quadrupled. The campaign got local and national press in TIME, USAToday and The New York Times, and it also became a featured case in Prentice-Hall’s Principles of Marketing. What began as a marketing test is now in its eigth year. Press is a big factor in generating buzz … if you can get it. Though there’s never a guarantee with press you’ll increase your odds by doing something, well, press worthy. That means something different, creative and exciting. That’s how Marble got it. That’s how Kenneth Cole got it. And, that’s how Sorrell Ridge got it. And the beauty of it is that we never even had to pay for most of it. The press actually called us. Luck always plays a part. However, in each case the press that we got, and the buzz it created, was the result of a well-planned, well-executed marketing effort resulting in effective, exciting creative work.
