Tie In Promotions to What Folks Care About

An New York Times article describes how some businesses will be showcasing themselves at the next Times Square New Year’s Eve celebration:

• Leading up to the event, document management company Cintas is sponsoring Good Riddance Day, where paper shredders will be positioned in Times Square to receive photos of ex-lovers, paid-off bills, and other documents we’d prefer not to carry into 2011
• On the magic night itself, Nivea Lip Care is sponsoring the Kiss Platform for those special busses and plans to distribute 30,000 lip balm samples
• The numerals that show the countdown will shine bright because of the Duracell Power Lab
• The ball that descends at the magic midnight moment is provided by Waterford Crystal

     A Times Square promotion might not be on your New Year’s resolution list. Still, I recommend you again look over the four items above with an eye toward how you might tie in your promotions to special events that the folks in your area are thinking and caring about.

• Show attention to celebrations. If you’re holding Columbus Day sales, also start holding Homecoming Game sales. This emphasizes your allegiance to the community you’d like to make purchases from you. Celebrations are happy. Happy people buy more, so get them hanging around your place. Also, associating happiness with your store means those customers will want to come back again after the celebration.
• Pay attention to bad news. The Duracell Power Lab consists of four stationary bikes. Manual pedal power charges the batteries that will light the numerals. After its Times Square New Year’s Eve service, the Power Lab will be deployed to disaster areas, where the pedal power can be used to recharge smart phones and other portable computerized devices. When bad news such as a disaster affects your local area, demonstrate your sympathy by offering discount prices. Or if you choose to raise prices because of increased procurement costs, announce how you’re donating a portion of the additional amount to a disaster relief fund.
• Make the relationship of the promotion to the event clear. Research findings from University of Miami show how viewers’ memories for the sponsors of Super Bowl commercials frequently get muddled. This is less likely to happen with commercials that make the relationship to the event as clear as the premium Waterford Crystal on the Times Square New Year’s Eve ball.

For your profitability: Sell Well: What Really Moves Your Shoppers

Click below for more:
Stage Special Events to Build Sales
Show Fair Pricing by Contributing