Marketing Maestro

This photo was sent to us by a friend of a TRUMPU employee in OR.  See the license plate.

If I knew who this was I would send them a Trump U. hat to wear when they drove around...

I finally put up my first You Tube video.

Donald Trump recorded this video when we launched Trump University.  I have a lot of friends who upload all sort of videos to help grow their business and to get themselves some publicity.  I figured it was about time for me to get in on the action so I uploaded this video to see what happens.  We are going to upload a few more over the next few weeks to see if we can use video to market our business and generate sales. One of our videos will have the goal of getting video responses and hopefully creating a viral/word of mouth marketing effort. If the idea comes through the way we hope  it could be a lot of fun for everyone involved.  We will see if everything works out as planned.  Stay tuned or sign up for the video channel to get notified when new videos are posted.

What have your experiences been with video marketing?  Other then being fun is there a return on your invested time?

I know, I know, Hannah and Miley are the same person....

For those who don’t know this weekend has two major activities happening. The Super Bowl on Sunday and the beginning of a one week run of the Hannah Montana 3D movie.

Maybe Disney holds the ‘magic’ behind the genius of Hannah Montana but whoever thought of the latest marketing has done an incredible job.    The movie is basically a recording of Hannah’s concert tour with some back stage coverage. The movie is only in theaters for one week and almost all theaters have sold out of tickets in advance. What is so great about the marketing? 

1. I don’t know of anyone previously releasing a movie of their concert tour especially while still touring. Just think of the increased reach Hannah has created. How many more tickets is she going to sell to concerts and now movies because of this release? I suspect this is a huge financial win all around.
2. The news of the movie was spread via word of mouth and tickets were sold out almost a month in advance in some areas. I guess it helps that the fans are primarily 6-12 year old girls...but I know some mothers chatting about the movie and making sure they and their friends purchased tickets in advance so that they don't upset their girls.
3. Only in theaters for one week. She created scarcity for something that normally is very scalable.

1. Give yourself two names... no seriously:
2. Think about alternative ways to distribute or communicate your products/services.
3. Think about what is worth talking about. Do you have customers who want to talk about your business? Spread news for you? 
4. Create scarcity of your product. (Limited time, limited availability etc). If your product is worth having, then no one wants to be left out or miss an opportunity. Think about how you can create scarcity for your business. Sometimes scarcity can create some buzz in the process.
5. Creating a brand pays off. Like it or not Hannah Montana has a brand that resonates with her target market and delivers what her fans want. Are you branding your business to best serve your clients?

So if you are thinking about catching a movie check if your theater is playing Hannah Montana 3D. If they are, you might want to prepare yourself for lots of screaming girls...

 The word free is very powerful in marketing. Free samples and trials are effectively used to get people to try something new. The theory is that if you try something and like it you will buy more of that product or service.  

The other day I was in the mall and passed by a store named Teavana.   They had some tea pots with free samples in their doorway. I stopped and tasted the different flavored teas because the smell and sounds coming out of the store were welcoming (and I was a little thirsty). The tea was great so I went in to discover what else this store offered. I ended up staying in the store for a half hour. So what was so great about a free tea sample?

What can you give away for free? Can you make the experience remarkable in the process? 

And yes I will be going back for more tea and possibly a tea pot. Got to run it is almost tea time somewhere...

A month or so ago I was talking about Whole Foods and their approach to customers.  I also mentioned some of the trouble their CEO got into with a blog posting he wrote.  Well I just read Andy Sernovitz's Damn, I Wish I'd Thought of That! blog and he pointed out a WSJ article indicating that the board of Whole Foods modified their code of conduct to restrict executives from posting about the company, competitors, suppliers etc unless it is a company sponsored forum (to me this sounds like it is edited, reviewed and approved). 

Andy makes a great point about using blogs and forums in the right way.  In my original post I indicated there are some common sense rules you need to consider when posting especially if you are the head of a publicly traded company.  If there is one thing I learned in the last year or so it is that a blog is a great way to grow your business and build relationships.  It takes time but it works. 

I am sure the board is doing what they think is best but if you ask me (which they didn't) they are missing a great opportunity to communicate with their best customers.

Lets see what happens next. 

Oh and don't worry I will still shop at Whole Foods but I won't be reading their blog...

Josef

Did you see my post a few months ago on the Trump Blog about Green Businesses?  Well if you did then you probably can tell I care about our environment.  Today we joined a social media movement that is trying to bring awareness to the issue across the internet.  If you have your own blog join us and hundreds of other bloggers who commit to writing one post October 15th about the environment and how it impacts their normal blog topic.  Join Blog Action Day!

If you don't have your own blog well then just read all about it but ask yourself why don't I have a blog?...

Green Marketing: this could be fun.

Yesterday in the WSJ I noticed an ad for a Sprint world phone PDA.  Normally I just fly past cell phone ads and Sprint's ads are usually pretty boring to boot, but not today.  The headline read:

'The First $10.5M Cell Phone'

Now that catches your attention. The body copy was equally engaging describing how if you buy the $10.5M cell phone they will throw in your own island.  I can't do the ad justice by describing it, so visit the integrated website (explore the site there is more than just the video). You will get a better picture of the campaign and why it broke the mold of most of their advertising (make that most advertising).

They accomplished an advertising home run in my book.  They pulled together eye catching copy, an integrated web site, and word of mouth marketing (I showed the ad to three people and now you all know about it) .  Is this the end of the campaign? I doubt it.  I wouldn't be surprised to see the ad on CNBC or some other business related media outlet.  They might even tie in direct mail as well. 

I applaud them for creating a fun and interesting tone throughout the campaign.  Do you have the guts to risk hundreds of thousands or probably millions of dollars on an ad campaign? 

The lesson here is that taking risks has its rewards.  The next time you are creating an ad, stop and ask yourself the following question:  Is the ad safe or is it eye catching and maybe a little risky?

I doubt the public will know if this effort increases unit sales or brings in new customers to Sprint, but I would bet they receive some form of industry recognition for the campaign.

BTW - I don't use any Sprint services but once I have $10.5M I will definitely switch to get a free island...