News

Beyonce A.K.A. Sasha something-or-other…

You probably saw Georgette’s post in GO and on her Ask Geo blog this morning commenting on the new Sasha Fierce.   The whole alter-ego question sparked a hilarious discussion in our office at least. Most of us would agree that once you have transcended the need for a surname, you’ve really “made it.”  Prince, Madonna and I dare say now Barack, have all climbed to this the pinnacle of pop culture and the same goes for songstress Beyonce, but maybe she didn’t notice that part.  Reports that the diva not only named her latest album “I Am …Sasha Fierce,” but that she feels this is part of her identity and has set up a MySpace page with the moniker, jump out to the marketing crowd evoking a collective “what the?”  As far as I can tell there are no confirmations of an actual name change, rather this is all publicity for boosting sales of the new album, but I hope that her agent and marketing staff are advising against playing the new-name-game.

The music industry seems rife with name changers, but the top spot goes to record producer, rapper, actor, men’s fashion designer, entrepreneur and dancer Sean John Combs or Sean Jean, known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, Diddy and Puffy.  He must have not gotten the memo that it is OK to have several interests without having to assume a new identity for each.  Here is the explanation from Wikipedia; “he was originally known as Puff Daddy and then as P. Diddy (Puff and Puffy being often used as a nickname, but never as recording names). In August 2005, he changed his stage name to simply “Diddy”. He continues to use the name P. Diddy in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, the latter after a legal battle with another artist.” Confused?  So is everyone else, and you don’t need to be a marketer to figure out that altering your identity when you’ve reached recognition retracts from brand building.  Sean Combs himself admitted that people didn’t know what to call him and it was confusing for them, and then in an interview in 2005 with the Today Show he told the audience that he switched from Puff Daddy to Diddy saying that “the P was getting between me and my fans.”

Eh? Yes, I’m sure all the fans were just disgusted with that annoying and superfluous ‘P.’ Not. What would get between the consumers of any brand would be changing your name for no apparent reason six times. So Beyonce, you have a beautiful name, brand, image and probably paycheck because of it, stick with it, girl. As for new names for the rest of us, that’s another post.

To follow Cindy’s post yesterday about tips on your advertising message during a recession, I wanted to highlight ways to enhance your web presence on a tighter budget.  First things first, I absolutely love www.fora.tv , a video viewing site with a conscience and intelligence, where you can learn about almost anything.  Videos are posted by FORA on a range of topics from politics to health to business, and especially interesting for the Ad world, ‘new media.’

One jewel I found today presents a timely message with this description: “Two leading practitioners from the online design world present a people-centered approach to finding big answers with small budgets.”

http://fora.tv/2008/06/25/People-Centered_Design_Creating_Web_Sites

These innovative designers make an important point that making your website relevant and engaging all starts with research, and the good news is there are low-budget ways to do research.  They also highlight a few examples of ways to engage an audience by making use of social networking where it is applicable to your market/consumers. 

If your business is slow due to the economy, you are definitely not alone these days.  But this could provide the opportune moment to get into doing some research, while you have the time.  Online surveys (when they are well thought out and results are analyzed) are easily created (SurveyMonkey or Zoomerang) and can provide a great snapshot of the landscape of consumer interactions with your brand.   Podcasts and blogs can also be the top winners in the consumer interaction game, so your research plan might contain a conversation with your consumers that stems directly from your web site.  And of course as mentioned, there is the vast sea of social networking through the usual suspects MySpace and Facebook but also the “create your own” newcomers like NING and CrowdVine.  Still feeling overwhelmed by all the choices?  For minimal expense, a consultation in order to bounce ideas off an industry professional is one way to help refine your goals and a target, which will provide more efficiency and wise spending choices.  This is a time for refining…we will keep looking for the silver lining.  

The Boogie Man is hiding behind every door, at least according to business news sites and pages across the country. And it is true that the economy is charting some scary territory, especially for those of us who haven’t lived through a serious recession yet. Consumer confidence is down. Currency issues are cropping up and gas prices are slumping (which should be good news for our pocketbooks but the larger view shows it’s because of steep drop offs in global economic growth). So, what’s a small-business marketer to do?

We’ve blogged a lot about how you should continue your advertising during a recession, that people still need to shop and those brands that continue their advertising during a downturn actually see good boosts to their market-share once the good times come rollicking back. So what should your advertising message be during a recession? Here are some specific tips:

1. Don’t rely solely on price cutting to get people in the door. Taco Bell is a cautionary tale. During the last downturn, they slashed their prices and have never recovered. Now they’re known more for their $.59 bean burritos than their more, um, expensive fare. Price-sensitive consumers abound, for sure, but look at what your company offers in addition to a good price. A great guarantee? Knowledgeable service? Add-ons like free delivery? If you can’t cut prices anymore, promote those things instead.

2. Keep your message consistent. Your advertising campaign should be consistent and focused on one message for long-term impact. If you do a  special “weekend only” promotion, advertise it above and beyond your regular channels. Or, just slightly modify your campaign to include the new offer. Don’t spend 3 months building up a message only to tear it down with 3 days of ads screaming “Sale!!!!!”

3. Don’t scare people. Don’t do a “Recession Special.” People are looking for reassurance and leadership right now. If you’re a bank, for example, you’ve been particularly hard hit. So offer your experts in small-business financing to speak to local business groups, offer consumers a free loan check-up or get your CEO on the local business pages talking about how his/her organization is prepared to lead through the crisis.

4. Think memorable. Ad budgets should span a variety of channels, depending on your business and target audience. But if you must cut back, make sure your ads are at least memorable and keep in the mix those channels that work for your message. I dare you not to hear Southwest Airline’s “DING!” or Ricola cough drops “Riiiiii…cola.” Find new ways to promote your tagline/sound/look. Southwest gives away a free desktop tool that “dings” when they’re a new fare alert that you’ve requested. Brilliant – not only does the app tell the consumer immediately about its products and services, but it also reinforces their advertising campaign.

5. Keep it entertaining. Maybe your business would benefit from entertaining or funny advertising, provided it doesn’t compromise your brand. During down times, “sin stocks” like liquors, cigarettes and – these days – videogames are all good bets. Why? People want to escape.  If your ad comes on and viewers stop what they’re doing to see it or listen to it because it gives them a giggle, that’s a great way to get your message and brand in front of them.

Optimism may be hard to come by these days, but the reality is people still need goods and services. We’re not living in caves (at least not yet), so get out there and work it to your – and our country’s – economic advantage.  Plus, even if we do end up in caves, I hear the walls make great billboards.

In ad circles, “social media” is the new paradigm. It takes up a lot of blog space and is often touted as the next sure thing in terms of getting young people to respond to ad messages. Corporations have spent millions refining their “social space” and allowing users to have “brand experiences” on sites like Facebook and Myspace…all while trying to contain themselves when the end user has unkind things to say about their products. It’s all about the “conversation,” they rationalize, and the return-on-investment must be there, somewhere, right? Right?! Well, maybe.

In a study out today, young adults (18-34 years old) say they’re more likely to respond to an ad delivered via e-mail or…wait for it…direct mail than messages on social sites. Seriously? Direct mail? Isn’t that the paper stuff that’s in a little box attached to my house? According to some bloggers, young people don’t even know they get direct mail, let alone act on advertising messages that are contained therein.

The study was conducted by Ball State and Indianapolis, Ind.-based ExactTarget, an email marketing firm. I’m a bit surprised by these results, especially given one of the study’s sponsors has a horse in this race in terms of increasing email marketing. While there is some value in social sites, I do think it’ll be a while before Facebook’s advertising and business models shake out.

Bottom line, I think it’s important for companies that count young professionals among its target audiences to have a social networking presence, but don’t throw the advertising model of consistent messaging across multiple platforms out the window just yet. A good plan, integrated across multiple channels and executed consistently will always get you results, regardless of what Joe the Consumer writes on your Facebook Wall.

Just a few sites we have stumbled upon and thought to share: 

Font to the max… Max Kerning (maxkerning.com) takes you through a video comedic journey around and about kerning and font (sort of), but mostly it is a great use of video and visually pleasing design.

Engage in gaming… who says we shouldn’t play games? A few competitive friends got together and created Ibeatyou … “ibeatyou is the place to compete online with anyone in anything.” Why is that cool? Well, what if you engaged your audience/clients/customers by inviting a competition? It’s the same concept as “what would you do for a Klondike bar?,” and the possibilities are endless. Currently on ibeatyou there is a competition for best chocolate face (great for a candy maker or local chocolate shop), best banana pictures (did Chiquita do that?) and even best ‘brace face,’ which by the way at the time of this writing has seen 366 views and might be the next thing in orthodontics advertising.

Intelligence for sale… The Intelligence Group (intelg.com) tracks and highlights market trends and offers “actionable insights” about consumer culture.  These insights translated into a great web site called trendcentral that sends out emails letting us mere laypeople in on the latest and greatest trends in fashion, technology, entertainment, and lifestyle.  Without this little jewel I would have never known that there are now several sites for fashion idea swapping where anyone can proclaim their fashion sense and ask friends for opinions of their outfits.  Who has time to participate so heavily in those sites I have no idea, but in Marketing it is simple good sense to have a grasp of what “they” are doing out there as it will eventually effect business somehow.  Trendcentral continues to impress.

Thoughts? If you have come accross interesting sites, please share! Happy searching.

…what brands would they be? Obama’s a BMW, McCain’s a Ford. If they were spies, Obama would be James Bond and John McCain would be Jack Bauer, at least according to a new 2008 Presidential ImagePower survey, released today, which polled a cross-section of 1,002 registered voters between Oct. 1-6.

“The study suggests that both campaigns have effectively co-branded to broaden and balance their appeal,” said Mary Dugan, executive director at Landor Associates. “Likely voters associated Obama and Palin with similar positive key attributes, despite the strong surface distinctions between the two candidates. Likewise, Biden and McCain are both aligned with similar brands despite their deep policy disagreements. Brands that wish to strike a balance between competing values – such as “experience” and “change” – can learn valuable competitive lessons about how messaging and issue-framing impacts branding from these presidential campaigns.”

For a complete overview of the survey results, click here.

Chart below compliments of Landor Associates and research firm Penn, Schoen & Berland:

A new “I’m a Mac. And I’m a PC.” ad was aired over the weekend. This is precisely what NOT to do when you have products that have struggled in the marketplace because of product defects or service challenges. Just a little tid-bit for a dreary Monday morning:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OsEltyyXgMU[/youtube]


I’m thankful it’s almost election day – the negative campaigning is reaching a fever pitch, and I’m personally sick of hearing bad news everywhere I turn. And while all that should be over Nov. 4 (at least that’s the hope), aggressive, negative advertising will continue to heat up the airwaves. This time it’s all about soup.

Campbell’s and Progresso are not pulling any punches when it comes to attacking each other’s bona fides in terms of MSG and other artifical additives in each other’s products. Progresso hit first, saying Campbell’s adds MSG to 95 of its soups. Campbell’s fired back with an ad in today’s New York Times:

The concern being, according to this piece in BrandWeek, that both competitors are doing more to damage the canned-soup category as a whole than they’re doing to each other.

Calling out a competitor on particular issue via negative and/or aggressive ads is tricky. Here are some things to think about before going negative:

1. Be absolutely certain you’re “better” than your competition in that particular area. For example, imagine you own a carpet cleaning service and your ads claim your competitor cleans with environmentally unfriendly – even potentially hazardous – chemicals. Well, then you’re implying that your company uses environmentally friendly and safe products, so make sure that’s really the case before you open fire on your competition because they will bring it up.

2. Make sure your claims are accurate. In the example cited above, the campaign would backfire if, say, your competitor recently switched its cleaning solvents from the old formulations to new ones that were safer. If you don’t know for sure, don’t go negative.

3. Determine your reason for going negative. Negative ads are tricky and usually do not get the results you want. Is going negative your answer because you can’t think of a better approach? Then you should bring other people to the table to brainstorm – relying on professionals or even your own employees to generate new ideas will only strengthen your campaign. Or maybe you’re mad because your business is slipping and the only cause you can think of is your competition. Well, take a look at your sales cycle or your advertising mix – this would be a more effective channel to put your time and energy.

Generally, negative advertising hardly ever puts your company/brand/cause ahead, and in today’s economy, your ad dollars are too precious to waste on a losing hand.

There is much discussion – and confusion – about “green” marketing. While many have environmental concerns, the exact role of consumer marketing and advertising in this issue is unclear. While green marketing seems like a good idea exactly who is the audience and what do they want to hear from advertisers?

Craig Harper, Vice President of Client Services for Experian Consumer Research, the home of Simmons Market Research, will present findings from the Simmons National Consumer Study GreenAware segmentation system that describes those who have an interest in “goin’ green” (and those who don’t), what they care about, and how to reach them at an American Advertising Federation (AAF)-Northern Illinois lunch ‘n learn this Friday from 11:45 am to 1 pm at Rockford College. Click here for the whole story. DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS TODAY!

Goin’ Green

Lunch ‘n Learn | Friday, Oct. 17

Rockford College – Burpee Center

 $20 for AAF members, $25 for non-members, with a box lunch provided.

Presented by AAF-Northern Illinois

Click here to register

DEADLINE IS TODAY (Wed., Oct. 15)

An often overlooked aspect of marketing is tracking the results of a media campaign. Too often companies skip this step all together. There are many reasons, but one we hear most often is: There haven’t been many ways to measure an ad campaign across all of these media at once.  The reason for this is because traditionally, marketers measured the reach of ads one medium at a time. For TV, it generally was Nielsen; for radio, Arbitron; newspapers and magazines report circulation figures; while the Internet shows hits and page views and other traffic data.

Good news… A small media research company called Integrated Media Measurement released a new technology that measures consumers’ exposure to the audio in ads on television, radio, computers, mobile phones, DVDs and inside a movie theatre — using a consumer’s cellphone.

The state of Michigan had great success this summer with its award-winning “Pure Michigan” advertising campaign. Last weekend I traveled to Frankenmuth, MI, “Michigan’s Little Bavaria,” for the Fall Leadership Conference of the American Advertising Federation District 6 and heard a keynote presentation about the campaign from Mark Canavan, Senior VP, Group Creative Director, McCann-Worldgroup, Detroit, who let us in on some of the creative secrets behind the campaign.

The “Pure Michigan” campaign features stunning photography and videography, strong script writing with narration by Michigan native, Tim Allen, reading with an emotional delivery completely unlike Buzz Lightyear, that evokes memories of happy vacations past, whether they took place in Michigan or not. Each spot tells a story and concludes by telling the consumer, “Your trip begins at Michigan.org.” Here are some examples:

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIYSrn4mssg[/youtube]


[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H9U1hVRMkuE&feature=PlayList&p=6BB32A3962359215&playnext=1&index=2[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuwKCX9X8NI[/youtube]

Click here for an overview of the whole campaign.

Shallow Messages for Shallow Media…Deep Messages for Deep Media

Too often I see local ads that try to cram all of an advertiser’s products and services into a :30 or :60 second commercial. The strength of the “Pure Michigan” campaign lies in the focus on a single story. The spots do not rattle off a bullet list of unique selling propositions, but instead pique consumer interest with a captivating story, then drive customers to the web site where they can learn all they need to know.

A colleague of mine advises his clients, “shallow messages for shallow media, deep messages for deep media.” His point is, media is space, whether columns in a newspaper, or time on radio. The smaller the space the shallower the media. Shallow media require shorter messages.

Billboards are perhaps the shallowest media, because space is limited and the message must be fully understood by a consumer within a second or two at 70 miles per hour.

Newspaper ads, radio and TV spots are somewhat deeper.

Your company website is the deepest medium available for advertising today. Space for ad copy, photos and video is virtually unlimited. Customers can download documents, sign up for more marketing info and purchase your products online. And all visits can be tracked with all sorts of visitor data.

The ability to leverage your traditional radio, TV or newspaper ad with your company website results in a less cluttered, more engaging, and more entertaining production with more direct sales and better understanding of the effectiveness of your campaign. Use shallow media, billboard, newspaper, TV, radio, to capture attention with one single story, then drive the consumer to your web site for all the details.

Last weekend I traveled to Frankenmuth, Mich., “Michigan’s Little Bavaria,” for the Fall Leadership Conference of the American Advertising Federation District 6. So what’s in Frankenmuth that made it notable that it generated its own tagline? Frankly, this little stop between Flint and Saginaw is an excellent example of how to manage the development, maintenance, evolution and extension of a brand.

We were welcomed on Friday by AAF District 6 Governor, Greg Branch, an agency exec from Saginaw, avid antique collector and published history buff. Here are his opening remarks which explains the evolution of Michigan’s Little Bavaria:

In 1845, a group of families from Franconia, now part of Bavaria in southern Germany, came to what was pretty much a wilderness on the banks of the Cass River. They were here to bring Christianity to the Ojibwa. Eventually, they built a small mill town that became a hub of German farm communities. It stayed a pretty sleepy little town of German farmers for about 100 years.

Now, when Michigan natives go away for the weekend, or to a family vacation home, they go “up north.” It doesn’t matter where in Michigan they are, they go up north, which makes it hard for the people in Copper Harbor.

Along the way to “up north,” just off the Dixie Highway and on one of the main routes to the resorts in the Thumb, was this sleepy little mill town, and the Exchange Hotel and the Fischer Hotel. They became popular places to stop for good old fashioned German comfort food and, especially, their family-style chicken dinners.

The Exchange hotel was purchased and remodeled in 1927 by William Zehnder. In 1950, the Zehnder family then bought the Fischer Hotel, and William Zehnder, Jr., known as Tiny, took over its operation. Tiny was a visionary, who understood the most important part of building a brand: take the one thing that makes you different and run with it. And what was different about Frankenmuth was its Bavarian heritage.

In 1959, Tiny notched up the brand development and extension. He launched the Bavarian Festival, remodeled the Fischer Hotel in Bavarian-themed architecture and renamed it the Bavarian Inn http://www.bavarianinn.com/. In 1960, he put the Bavarian Inn waitresses in dirndls. He pushed for other businesses to adopt the Bavarian theme. The brand was born. Today, Frankenmuth is home to two of the largest and busiest restaurants in the United States, in the middle of what’s not so much a town as a brand experience — total immersion in the Bavarian theme.

It’s evolved over the years. Less than 20 years ago, it was seen as a kingdom of kitsch that drew busloads of bluehairs. Led by the Bavarian Inn, the Bavarian Inn Lodge and the Zehnders, the businesses made a conscious effort to become more of a family destination. The Bavarian Festival is one of the most popular festivals in Michigan. Frankenmuth is regularly listed as one of the top three tourist destinations in Michigan. And from the towers on the buildings to the German-style road signs, there’s no mistaking the brand.

So what makes your business or organization unique and how can you use that to brand your group? For those in Michigan’s Little Bavaria, they had schnitzel and oompah music. They enjoyed it and thought others would too. Now they’re one of the top tourist draws in the state. Not bad for a little town called Frankenmuth.

Next up: How the Michigan tourism folks are redefining emotional advertising.

Do you think the public would have been swayed by a plan Hank Paulson labeled a “rescue” package instead of a “Wall Street bailout”? Despite the gnashing of teeth and rending of garments by financial talking heads on TV, if they were talking about an economic rescue instead of a bailout of uber-capitalists, I think it probably would have made a difference in the public’s reaction.

It might seem silly but the words you use in your public relations campaigns have a huge – often disproportional – impact on the announcement’s success in the public discourse. So when you’re talking with the media or prepping a news release or news conference, take a close look at your language. Some things to consider that will help you with your PR writing and talking points:

1. Keep it concise. Your overall message should fit into a sentence or two.

2. Consider ditching the news release. Can you use an “infographic” that illustrates your message or perhaps a short, well-written podcast or video news release instead? They may seem like radical ideas, but in newsrooms’ glut of information, a forced CEO quote about “how excited” he is to “create synergy” is pretty old-school.

3. Write well. Well-written pieces – even emails – that use correct grammar and spelling are still considered the industry standard, despite the decline in our skills in these areas. Read widely: poetry, the New York Times, good novels, insightful columnists. Reading more and often will improve your writing.

4. Use the right word. If you don’t know for sure what a word means, don’t use it. Look it up, or, better still, use a different word that you do know.

5. Be creative but not showy. This is a fine line. Crisp, descriptive prose in your media materials will illuminate your message. However, if you’re not sure, don’t embellish just for the sake of embellishment.

Supporting a cause – breast cancer research in October, Breast Cancer Awareness Month, for example – gives everyone the warm fuzzies. Cause-related marketing will not only make you & your employees feel good about making a difference but it also should increase your sales.

Nationally, consumers (particularly “Millenials,” those aged 18 to 24) are much more likely to recall ads that support a cause. And the data suggests that the benefits transcend mere recall rates – consumers are also much more likely actually buy those products and brands that support a good cause. Up to 78% of people said they would switch brands if that company supported a cause they believed in, which is a pretty stunning number.

Consumers tend to be very brand loyal; I bet you still use the same toothpaste brand that you used when you were a kid. The fact that more than three-quarters of people said they’d switch – and did switch, according to a secret shopper type survey conducted by Duke University – is huge. And it doesn’t matter where the purchase is made. These same types of results were replicated both in person at mock convenience stores and at online outlets by survey participants.

There is a caveat, however. The majority of people said they want more information about how the money is used by companies by demanding more transparency.

So pick a cause, any cause. Ideally, it would be something you personally believe in and is related to your business. For example, a tire store could donate part of its profits to Mothers Against Drunk Driving or a florist could donate to a local environmental group. But make sure you’re clear on how the money is used and follow-through on your promise. My guess is you, your employees, your customers and the group you choose to support will all be happy you did.

This year, cable networks brought in more than $7 billion at the upfronts (when the networks trot out their fall lineups for national media buyers), which was a 9.3% gain over 2007. In fact, cable is one of the only ad outlets that is showing strength these days. The reasons? Quality (and award-winning) original programming – like “Mad Men,” “The Closer,” and “The Shield” – and continued growth of audience share makes cable an excellent buy for advertisers, locally and nationally.

On a local or regional level, cable usually gives us and our clients a more targeted audience and a better value in terms of cost per spot. It’s no longer the domain of paint-by-number artists teaching us how to create realistic pine trees  or the lone hangout for social misfits with their own “Wayne’s World” show on public access.

Cable spans a huge variety of markets, demographics and income levels – if you want to target women, there’s Lifetime of course, but also Food Network, HGTV and Hallmark. Want to reach out to guys? Try The History Channel, ESPN or Spike. And you can drill down from there. Cable lets you really hone in on your core audience, buy in bulk (hence increasing your frequency and, by extentsion, the effectiveness of your campaign), and reach an audience that is more affluent than those households without cable.

Cable is not network TV’s poor distant relative anymore, and there are great media buys to be had there – check it out the next time you’re looking to extend your ad campaign.

News flash… the spending confidence of U.S. advertising executives is lower than last year.  Nothing new, right? Well the good news is that “the one medium that is beating the trend is online media,” according to research profiled by by MediaPost and conducted by Advertiser Perceptions, Inc. in Spring of 2008 who polled 1800 ad execs on budget projections.

Diane Mermigas, also a contributor to MediaPost ads to the sentiment that online options are hopeful by commenting that “the gradual emergence of proposed addressable advertising plans (specifically by Canoe Ventures) over the next several years–offering consumers opt-in electronic transactions within new forms of personally targeted infomercials–could generate a windfall of marketing/e-commerce revenues once interactivity is ubiquitous among all media. Such digital options may provide some of the only short-term glimmers of hope even for mega media players.” Reuters reported back in April that in the UK, internet advertising will usurp TV advertising by the end of 2009.  The same story mentions that the UK has the most developed online advertising market in the world, due to increased accessibility to the internet and decreases in the price of computers.  It would follow then that taking a look at practices in the UK might not be a bad idea.  Case in point, a site called SWEEMO (short for sweet moments, www.sweemo.com) that actually sells experiences.  Something like the eBay of cool things to do, it is based in England but boasts that the site is under live construction and will launch in November for USA, CAD, EU, AUS and more.

For specifics and details on what’s next in online advertising from this side of the pond, check out these:

·          MASHABLE.com where you will find multiple posts every day on what is the latest in web media

·         Reuters post What’s Next in Online Advertising? That references the latest OMMA conference/NY

Don’t say boo just yet – Halloween retail sales are set to actually grow this year, according to a number of organizations that track consumers’ spending habits.

According to the National Retail Federation, consumers will up their Halloween budgets by 13-14%, to $5.77 billion, which isn’t much but still better than the Christmas/Holiday season for 2008, which most analysts are already writing off. Here’s what the NRF estimates people will spend on average this year on Halloween:

Halloween Spending 2008

Source: National Retail FederationSo what’s a business owner to do to capitalize on this Halloween trend?

• If you’re a retailer, try devoting a little more shelf space – particularly those in high-traffic spots or near the registers – to Halloween items that have relatively low price points to encourage that “impulse buy.” And, if you still have room, include cross-category displays that create “Halloween Centers” with baking items, pumpkins, greeting cards, candy, costumes, safety items, etc.

• If you’re not a retailer – you’re in a service-related business, for example – perhaps encourage a promotion that ties to Halloween and one that benefits the community at the same time. For example, ask your clients to donate a dollar to buy a pumpkin for a local community center’s Halloween party. If you’re a healthcare organization, blitz the local media with post-Halloween tips like how to treat upset tummies or the sniffles that almost inevitably arise after a night outside asking for candy. Or turn it around and be proactive – go around to your clients dressed up in costume and do reverse trick-or-treating. Drop off a pumpkin and a goody bag full of candy with your card and a discount coupon or some other kind of offer.

We could all use a little fun these days – and Halloween is the perfect time to let it all hang out while promoting your business at the same time.