The most significant date in marketing history?

Hi Elizabeth,

> I've been trying to lose weight and have
> been walking laps at a shopping mall. One
> reason I go to the mall instead of using my
> treadmill is because I like to examine the
> advertising and marketing ploys being used
> by the mall merchants. It has been a
> fascinating way to study advertising and
> marketing as well as helping me work on
> getting in shape.

I was doing something similar - I didn't think that others did the same thing! :)

I was trying to walk regularly, and when the weather outside wasn't the best for walking, I'd head down to a very large indoor shopping center (mall) that's not too far away. I'd bring a portable radio with headphones, and walk around a few times to get some exercise while listening to the radio....

However, in my case.... I found I tended to be tempted by the ice cream stand every time I passed it. That was one of the dangers of doing this - in my case! ;)

> One of the thoughts I had yesterday was the
> one wherein I was amazed that companies
> create promotional advertising products
> (much like the things Dennis Bevers sells)
> and then charge people for them! Nike,
> Reebok, Victoria's Secret, etc... all have
> clothing (and other items) that have their
> name splashed all over them and people
> clamor to give them money for those same
> items.

> What's even more interesting is which
> companies are doing this. The aforementioned
> brands are "cool" and supposedly
> will help you get people to think you are
> "cool". Can you imagine someone
> walking around with a K-mart or Wal-Mart
> logo on their t-shirt? How about Playtex
> Tampons or Head-and-Shoulders shampoo?

Yes I agree... It is amazing to think that people are PAYING to advertise these brands for them!

I received a phone call a couple days ago, it was from a local public radio station. They offered a "coupon booklet" (I'm sure you know about these), where each coupon offers you something for free from a particular retailer or business. For example, a free ice skating lesson at a particular ice skating rink, a free entree at a local Indian restaurant, a free "PC Diagnostic Check" at a specific computer service store. All of these things have "dollar values" - so they can offer over $1000 worth of free products and services. They were selling these coupon booklets as part of their fund raising.

In a way, this is also kind of similar to what we're talking about, because these are all (of course) promotional offers. They want you to get the free item, then come back again to pay for their services in future.... It's completely win/win/win/win. The business wins, because they will get new customers. The customer wins, because they get products at a much lower price than they would if they paid for them all. The public radio station wins, because they raise money so they can broadcast for another year. And in this case, the business that put together the coupon booklet wins too - I'm sure they get a cut of the proceeds as well!

I know Don Alm has talked about doing this kind of coupon business before - you can see his post on this at http://www.sowpub.com/cgi-bin/forum/webbbs_config.pl?read=5728

Anyhow, it's another fascinating type of advertising as well.... :)

- Dien Rice