I was recently at a business card exchange. When I entered I was greeted by Wendy Klinghoffer, Executive Director of the Eastern Montgomery Chamber of Commerce (EMCCC). As we were talking Wendy asked me “Do you remember when you first joined the chamber and we asked you to bring items to our luncheon to promote your business?” I answered that I did. “I remember you brought little packets of purple M&M’s, I thought that was so clever and unique,” explained Wendy. “And they were delicious, they gave me a real pick-me-up.”
Isn’t that what you want from your marketing – clever and unique impressions of your business no matter what it is you do. Just ask Seth Godin, about his Meatball Sundae, it works. I remember fondly purchasing the purple (purple and khacki are RWC’s corporate colors) “designer colored” M&Ms, making up the little packets and printing out the complimentary tags with my contact information. Here was someone remembering me and my business several years later for my purple M&M’s. Don’t be afraid to be unique and try something different for your marketing. Need advice, contact me and we can discuss it, and maybe we can enjoy some M&Ms.
What unusual marketing have you done? What are your corporate colors, or do you have corporate colors? Let me know. Until next time, Tim
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I loved the M&M concept – I will have to try it, or perhaps bring stalks of celery as my next meeting is with a bunch of women who are dieting! I remember being impressed when a woman brought a digital business card to an exchange – you could link it to your computer and learn all about her organization, a nonprofit. But I never did bother to do it, and I often wondered how much the nonprofit actually paid for the fancy cards. So she made an impression, but not so memorable.
I’m wondering, were most people pleasantly surprised by your offering of M&Ms? Were you able to pull it off better because you a man (e.g., would it be dismissed as too “feminine” if a woman did it, and I mean that in a derogatory way.
Anyway, I’m teaching a class on digital marketing to some influential folks who’ve shelled out a fortune for an MBA certificate program. Do you think I should hand out fancy pens with my biz name engraved or plain old cards? Perhaps since I’m being paid for the gig, that would be a no-no. Any thoughts? I know they’re up and comers and I want them to remember me. Perhaps a white paper of some sort?
Hi Joni, thanks, for the feedback. The celery stalks would be quite unique and memorable, as long as you brand them in some way, so people not only remember celery but you and your business and why you brought them. The tie-in is quite important, for me the tie-in was the purple color of the candies as that is my corporate color. The digital business card is unique right now, have you seen cards with odd looking bar codes on them? (I’ll be blogging about it soon). They are square and made of a bunch of pixels. They are called QR codes and are gaining popularity. I recently had them printed on my business card. The person who gets your card, can use their smartphone, with a free application called a QR code reader to scan your code. Instantly all your contact information is downloaded to their phone and contact list, or it can direct them to your website. Pretty cool stuff. So your non-profit woman may have been ahead of her time, but you did remember it, she made an impression. Next time you see a digital card or bar code you’re more likely to try it.
To answer your questions. People were pleasantly surprised with the candies, it was definitely different than the standard brochure lying on the table, they were all snatched up. I don’t think it was perceived differently because I was a man or seen as too feminine. Several woman in the group made it a point to say to me, “you know how to make a woman happy – chocolate!” So you may have a point with me being male, but I think it would also work for a woman. As the event unfolded I wasn’t near my marketing piece for most of the meeting as I mingled and networked, so most folks didn’t know if a man or woman brought the candies.
I think you should bring pens, white papers and business cards, all of it to your MBA presentation. Make it a fun portion of your presentation, ask a few business-related trivia questions at the end of your presentation and give them out as prizes. People love to win. By making your paper and pens prizes you’ll be amazed at how these up and comers will compete. Then after the session as you answer any questions, give them a pen for each question. Your presentation will be what they remember, but you’re reinforcing your marketing and professionalism with the white paper and prizes. Maybe even bring the celery!
Good luck with your presentation, please let me know how it goes.