What do you get when you have nothing to lose? As one office supply store sees it, more bang for your buck in the marketing department. Using savvy viral marketing techniques along with a new strategy, the company is hoping to gain headway and market share.
With the idea that office products can be cubicle enliveners instead of mere commodities, the company is treading on non-traditional marketing ground when it comes to office supply chains.
Instead of using huge media buys to get their message across, the smaller chain has been putting their budget towards viral web programs like the “Power to the Penny” spots that entailed 12 web videos with a guy trying to buy big ticket items with, you guessed it, actual pennies. The company claims that from $50,000 in ad money, they received close to $2.8 million in ad value from public relations spots in news stories from this campaign alone.
So what’s their next step?
Other than upping their Christmas quotient (you’ve probably been “elfed” before, right?) after the immense success of their “Elf Yourself” promotion online, the chain plans on redesigning stores and refocusing their marketing on women. With the reasoning that women control 80 percent of business decisions and the same percentage of women are the primary store customers, they are taking a risk by pulling away from the traditional office supply marketing, but the high stakes have the potential to pay big rewards.
Do you think this marketing is too gimmicky or can this chain really make a niche for themselves within a crowded market?
Source: MediaPost News, April 2011
