Sarah Palin and a lesson in Marketing Communication
When Yves Behar says, 'Advertising is the price companies pay for being un-original..' he has a point. Its the same, when Seth Godin says that your product must be 'remarkable', i.e., worth making a remark about.At the moment the one the remarks are all about is Sarah Palin. And the noise is so loud (from cheers to the liberal wails) that its silenced the 'Rockstar' convention at Denver. Sarah Palin may be an unknown. But give it a few days. With absolutely zero marketing communication she will be the talk of the town. All carried by media vehicles around the world, more so in the United States. Every major media house, print or broadcast is today talking more about Sarah than anything else. Obama has had his 'empty thunder' stolen from under his very nose.
No brand's ever shocked as much as Sarah in recent times. McCain's bold gamble is a perfect lesson for marketers wanting to take the Publicity route rather than the advertising one. The recipe'? Closely guard the product, let speculation run riot and then unveil a product so fresh and innovative, the media has no choice but to take it in an opinionated manner to the people at large.
Comments
I know that if as a marketer, we can make Consumers to speak about our product, the job is half done.
It would lead to the first purchase most of the time .
But the strategy that you posted about closely guarding the product and not letting people know about, it sounds confusing. Sure, it would work. But, let us assume a scenario in which a prospective consumer hears about this product on the net, he comes and visits the website and he is not able to gather his required quota of information about the product.
Do you think he would come back to it again ?
Regards,
Deeptaman.
http://marketingenvironment.blogspot.com/
The product is so innovative, consumers talk, on their own...
When other prospective buyers hear about the product from delighted buyers, the provocation is strong enough for them to lay their own hands on it. The marketer not saying a word is perfect, as this evokes greater curiosity among buyers to wanna know....
The 'unveiling' part, post the veil of secrecy raises the brand's crescendo even higher....
Thank you.