Tag Archives: marketing ideas

Generating Brand Recognition Using Social Media: The Case of Moonfruit

You’re probably wondering what in the world Moonfruit is? Or what do they do? That was a question very few people could answer just a couple weeks ago. But with the implementation of an ingenious marketing strategy featuring Twitter and a handful of free giveaways, this company has made a name for itself across the internet.

Recently, Moonfruit decided to give away ten MacBook Pros over a ten-day period, to celebrate their ten-year anniversary. Twitter users could win these computers simply by hash-tagging Moonfruit into a tweet, which would in turn enter them into a random drawing for the MacBooks. Soon enough, #Moonfruit was being tweeted up to 200,000 times a day for an extended period of time, sitting at the top of the trending topics column for nearly an entire week!

With the execution of this viral campaign, Moonfruit has shown that creating buzz around a name and a product can be done without spending much on marketing, and can be accomplished through resourceful, strategic uses of social media. This could have been any company in place of Moonfruit, which just shows how Twitter, Facebook, or any social networking site be used for any company, regardless of their product or services.

The bottom line is that social media can serve as a powerful tool when combined with innovative thinking. By giving away just a handful of computers, Moonfruit likely reaped major benefits in both ROI and brand recognition for their company.

Mom Has Game: Spots Marketing Genius

My Mom has game. Sure, she is a high level executive for her day job – where I am sure she tests actuaries (Society of Actuaries. Her place of work.) like Jordan tested defenses. But, that’s not what impresses me. What impresses me is her attention to creativity. Her grip on marketing and how it ties into the overall picture — something many marketers and communicators don’t grasp.

I could go on and on about my super power mother, but let’s get to the point. Here’s the story she sent me this morning and recommending my clients attempt something innovative or piggyback an idea such as this:

Airline seeks bald men as walking billboards

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Filed at 7:32 a.m. ET

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s national airline is offering to pay bald travelers to use their heads — literally — in a new advertising campaign.

Air New Zealand said it wants 70 recruits to stand in lines in three airports — while wearing temporary tattoos on the back of their heads so the displays can be seen by people lining up behind them.

The airline would pay 1,000 New Zealand dollars ($660) for each walking billboard, a company official said.

The tattoos will promote a new system that is meant to reduce check-in waiting times.

Air New Zealand marketing manager Steve Bayliss described the campaign as ”a bit of fun.”

”It’s a … tattoo on the back of someone’s head, so they have to have their head shaved or be bald already,” he told National Radio on Wednesday. ”It will be an advantage for them to be bald already.”

The tattoos would fade or wash off after about two weeks, he said.

Bayliss added that he won’t be part of the program since he was ”doing OK” in the hair department.

So, what you think? Good idea. Bad idea. Circle the best answer.

Let’s look at the basics. Cost: Limited as they are only giving away basically the price of a ticket. Result: tons and tons of PR, both in the public and in the media. Genius. For what will cost them pennies will drive brand awareness and more importantly, attention.

If you are a franchise, big or small, think creative. Think about stunts that can result in media attention. Consulting your communications firm or firms for ideas. Progressive, my friends. While not overly innovative, this idea has created buzz. Well done.