Send Some Cookies
One question keeps popping up all the time from small business owners ... "How can I apply big brand marketing to my small business ... especially when I have such small budgets?"I say ... "Easy! Think of your business as a brand and think of your marketing as a brand experience."
Never did this ring more true than with the box of cookies I received in the mail the other day. I rarely get packages at home anymore. In fact I rarely get any kind of mail at home anymore. Just junk.
But much to my child-like delight, I received a small box the other day and couldn't wait to open it.
Know what it was? A box of cookies from the gentleman I had recently hired to wash the exterior windows of my house. I brought him back for the second time in about 18 months because he does such a good job and there's no way for us to reach the high windows. And he is such a nice man to deal with.
Nothing and everything. He wanted to thank me for my "loyalty" and surprise me with a little treat, or so he said in his hand written note attached to the box.
Wow, now there's a small business owner that gets it. Not a lot of cost, and not a lot of effort. But he just made my experience with him that much more meaningful, with an attempt to create an emotional bond with me.
Perhaps he had heard that Doubletree Hotels makes chocolate chip cookies for their guests. Perhaps he took a page out of big brand marketing and applied it to his small business. Perhaps he thinks of himself as a brand and wants to deliver a great brand experience.
Perhaps. So I ask you ... "What's your experience?" Jim.
Jim Joseph
President, Cohn & Wolfe NA
Author, The Experience Effect series
Marketing Professor, NYU