I want to win. I want my clients to win. I also want my client’s clients to win. I think in terms of verticals. Sometimes clients don’t have the budget for cross-promotional marketing. That’s when you get creative. The first blog in this series focused on free ways to promote yourself on the internet. Here we will talk about “Marketing with Meaning.” Rather than interrupting our prospects and customers with the message we want them to hear, consider a marketing message that people choose to engage. Here is an example:
A few years ago, I worked with a car dealer in VA who was taking over a dealership in the Hampton Roads / Chesapeake area. We needed to brand him in a way that would make him memorable. He was spending money on a new website, a new logo, and a television campaign. This was expensive, (and not different than what other dealers in his area were already doing.)
We created a Marketing with Meaning campaign. He partnered with a charity that was dear to his heart –the ASPCA (American Society for the Protection of Cruelty of Animals.) He dedicated :05 of his :30 commercials to them. He donated $1.00 for every test drive to the ASCPA, and he held adoption fairs at his dealership on Saturdays.
This accomplished several things. It brought awareness to the ASPCA, raised money for the cause, encouraged the public to visit the dealership over others because of the donation for their test drive, and brought people out on Saturdays, whether or not they were in the market to buy a vehicle.
These initiatives endeared the community to him and he didn’t have to spend much to win their hearts. The :05 of TV during the week didn’t take away from the :25 of selling cars. As for the television schedules on Saturdays, he was already paying for the live TV remotes. Why not feature some animals that need a good home, along with the cars for sale? And any marketer (or human) knows there are 3 sure-fire things that are a safe bet with consumers when advertising: Sex, Babies and Animals. (So glad the dealer liked animals!!)
I’m not suggesting any company create a philanthropic cause to force a sale. I do recommend that companies think along vertical lines. Think about issues within your industry that are more meaningful than the sale itself. This is the second in a series of blogs that I will be presenting on “Marketing with Meaning.” Each blog will contain examples like the Virginia dealership where a company simultaneously improved the customer’s life, his bottom line, and the community as a whole.
