Marketing Maestro

The Girl Scout cookie sale is off and running. I was approached to buy some cookies when it occurred to me that the Girl Scouts are great marketers.

Just think about this for a minute.

• The brand is easily recognizable
• They have a sales force of thousands of willing and eager girls (and their families) running around the country selling
• This sales force creates product placement that can't be beat
• They sell huge quantities of their product with almost no overhead
• There is a sense of scarcity - only sold a few weeks a year
• The product selection and pricing model is simple to understand and communicate
• Almost everyone has a favorite flavor so the purchase decision is easy
• The product sells itself because of the machine they have built over the years
• Their product is nostalgic for many so people buy them for the memories
• No fancy promotions or offers are needed to generate sales

This is marketing at its finest...

What other school or organizational fund raisers have as much success as the Girl Scouts?

The big question for marketers is how can you turn your business into a Girl Scout sales and marketing machine?

So how many boxes did you buy this year?