An updated Marketing plan is important so no one asks "Who Got Fired?"

Who Got Fired? A Rock and Roll Marketing Fairy Tale

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In Blog Post, Hank Yuloff, Marketing Ideas, promotional product, Promotional product ideas

I’d like to tell you a marketing fairy tale. A marketing tale about ‘who got fired?’

Once upon a time, the incredibly popular band Geraniums N’ Grenades* released their 5th album and it sold 10 million downloads in the first week. It happened again the next week and the next, causing their management to alter the plans for the Geraniums N’ Grenades summer tour.

Instead of hitting 60 of the largest cities with averages of 15,000 people, they LOWERED the number of cities and ADDED some shows in 10 places where they could do shows of over 100,000, some as high as 200,000. These mega shows were going to be more profitable and make the image of the band begin to hit “legendary” status.

The marketing of these shows, included some brand new ideas. Since the name of a hit on the new album was “Knocking on Your Door,” they wanted fans who lived in the same neighborhood to carpool to the mega-shows, but needed a way to get them to know each other.

Then came The Idea.
For $4, plus $3.95 shipping, fans going to the show could pop The Smirk on a Stick into their front yard and get other Geraniums N’ Grenades fans to knock on their door and make arrangements to head to the shows together. The Smirk was based on the 60’s Happy Face and was a 6” circle which was attached to a 3’ stick in the ground. Carpools meant having fewer cars which meant fewer parking spots used, which meant more booths to sell merchandise outside the venue. The kicker was that they got the tour sponsor, LearnToPark.com, to give everyone a $10 coupon when they turned in their SMIRK at the concert. The LearnToPark.com logo and their URL were on the stick. Band management saw this as a win for the band because The Smirks cost them nothing since LearnToPark.com paid for them. The fans saw it as a win because they could show their appreciation for the band, and make a profit on the deal. The sponsor, LearnToPark.com, saw it as a win, because their own market research showed that a $10 coupon increased the average sale by $30. Plus the $2.00 they paid the promotional products company, Promotionally Minded, for The Smirks was given back to them by the band, who kept the other $2.

The band even promoted the green effect of car pooling.

Excitement mounted and so did the number of hours of entertainment news coverage for Geraniums N’ Grenades as videos of neighborhoods FILLED with Smirks on a Stick in front lawns showed up on screen. The concerts all sold out and Geraniums N’ Grenades made $5 million dollars more than expected.

So here is the question: Who got fired?

What? Fired?

This is a marketing situation which caused lots of problems for Geraniums N’ Grenades. Though this is a made up story, we think you have an idea of what happened. But the challenges were rather wide spread. To read more, add your best email address in the form below and we’ll send you the full report (teaching that incredible marketing ideas have to be thought through, and every angle be checked).

Also, since it takes more than just sticking a sign in the ground to create great marketing, call us and we will help you establish a plan that will be music to your ears! (800)705-4265

*This is a mythical band, made up for a mythical marketing tale. Any relation to any real band, real or imagined is purely unintentional.