One of the cheapest and most effective ways of marketing your business is to take advantage of topical events.
I witnessed the power of tapping into popular news several years ago when I was working for the Miss Maud Group.
At the time, Miss Maud came up with the ingenious concept of a “coffee bean” poll to coincide with the 1996 Federal Election.
It was a company-wide effort with polling stations in every outlet, the beans counted daily and recorded diligently by my team (I was the Company Accountant at the time and being a “bean-counter” took on a whole new meaning!).
I can still vividly remember my first “Coffee Bean Poll” campaign. The morning before the Election the press and other invited guests excitedly gathered at a special morning tea party where the results were announced in true Miss Maud style…on the largest Queen Sylvia cake you ever did see.
This was just the beginning of the “Coffee Bean Poll” story.
Was it good exposure for the Miss Maud chain?
Yes. The media lapped it up.
And was it good for business?
Absolutely. Miss Maud had people choosing her business over others just so they could put in a coffee bean.
The interesting thing is, Miss Maud’s coffee bean poll not only predicted the winner of that election; it has continued to be a highly reliable indicator in every election since!
And as a consequence, when Miss Maud announced yesterday she was opening her poll for the upcoming Federal Election, the media, including The West Australian, came a running!
If you’re looking to promote your business, cheaply and effectively, you could do a lot worse than tap into a contemporary event like Miss Maud did all those years ago.
Who knows? If you choose wisely, and it’s a cyclical event like Christmas or Easter or the AFL Grand Final, you could be on your way annual exposure with the media.
This article was provided by Anthea Moffat MBA (adv), MIMC, founder and Managing Director of Business Fusion and The Business Masters Club.
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