Public relations
Geography based branding
My favorite Super Bowl ad this year was definitely Chrysler’s “Imported from Detroit“. It was many people’s favorite as well. In fact, if imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, Chrysler is a little to flattered as knock-offs on that slogan quickly hit the market. This one car commercial had probably done more for some local businesses than years of marketing put forth by the city / state.
This made me think about if other brands can do the same…
I took Kansas, my residence, as an example to start a discussion on LinkedIn. After a month-long lively discussion, I concluded that branding a geography is probably harder than one may think. First of all, no geography is homogenous. This presents a unique challenge to branding, as it’s a discipline that is based almost entirely on consistency. For example: New York City – some brand it as the capital of glamour while others brand it as the capital of grime.
So, how could one brand leveraging geography? By the product that geography produces. Florida oranges. Kansas beef. Detroit automobiles.
“Imported From Detroit” is a trademark of Chrysler Group LLC.
Overcoming Apathy with No Money
Continuing with National Volunteer Week, I’m inspired by a recently posted video on TED by Dave Meslin on Apathy. Dave highlighted what causes Apathy in communities. Namely, it’s not easy for people to figure out how to get involved!
While some of the challenges he highlighted are systematic, others have simple solutions. The private sector has one thing over the public sector: $$$$$ at their disposal. So, the private sector can buy creative talents, buy space, buy media even. However, there is one thing the public sector has in abundance: Passion.
Here are a few simple thoughts:
Ad: Think like a big advertiser. Know what message you want to deliver. Create your marketing materials accordingly. Note message is singular, not plural. In an ad, you have limited time to get their attention. So, hit them with the most intrigue message, and let them seek you out to find the rest. (Yes, include a website or some way for them to follow up with you.)
Space: Pound the pavement. Create an awesome flyer and distribute in the neighborhood. Get what space you can.
Media: Do you know how often news articles are simply reprint of carefully crafted press releases? You can do the same. You can write press releases, keep in mind what are the important messages. Send it to your local newspaper and there is a chance you would get printed. Local newspaper is struggling to find a voice in this age where people read their news online. Localization is what’s going to save newspapers. With that in mind, don’t forget digital media. Digital media give everyone access to a national audience. You own website can host a variety of information. Just make sure the information is organized so it’s easily found. Yes, this is the website that should go on the ad / flyer.
That’s what the pros call integrated marketing campaign. You may not have $$. But you have talents from volunteers that can yield results far better than money can buy.
Think like a big advertiser
Did you know that April is National Volunteer Month and that President Obama officially declared last week as National Volunteer Week? I did my part and participated in Day of Caring this past Saturday organized by United Way, an annual volunteering day that coincide with National Volunteer Week. All this made me think about how marketing should be applied to not-for-profit enterprises. Now, big non-profits are run like big corporation, with some of the best marketing talents steering the ship. However, many local organizations or campaign lacks such talents. And to be fair, there are many well-marketed not-for-profit campaigns, and there are many poorly-marketed for-profit campaigns. Every lessons that are applicable to not-for-profit enterprises are applicable to for-profit enterprises.
So, on Saturday, I volunteered for Lawrence Complete Streets at the Valet Bike Booth during our Earth Day celebration. First of all, a little introduction on what this is: Complete streets are designed and operated to enable safe access for all users. Pedestrians, bicyclists, motorists, and public transportation users of all ages and abilities are able to safely move along and across a complete street. Complete Streets policies direct transportation planners and engineers to consistently design with all users in mind including drivers, public transportation vehicles and riders, pedestrians, and bicyclists as well as older people, children, and people with disabilities.
Now, this is a totally cool initiative. For Lawrence, it’s particularly important because it’s a bedroom community. What does that mean? That mean it’s a community for of young families and retirees. Kids and old people are probably the biggest beneficiaries of Complete Streets. I was assigned the task of Public Educator, which was to promote Complete Streets to Earth Day spectators. I was given the task to either solicit email addresses or to give out informational cards.
Despite this being a cool initiative, I had the hardest time with this task! Because until I came home after my volunteering, I was not that educated about Complete Streets. This made me very uncomfortable in soliciting email addresses. The information cards was nicely done with various web and social media addresses for people to find out more information about Complete Streets. (I used that card after my volunteering to learn more.) However, I still didn’t feel confident handing them out because it felt like junk mail to me.
So, what lessons lies here?
1) Sell to yourselves first
2) Think like an advertiser to sell to others.
SELL TO YOURSELVES FIRST
What do I mean? Ultimately, I wasn’t sold on the initiative. To be fair, the event organizers gave us all a nice speech on the initiative. However, it was long winded and unfocused. That was the reason why I wasn’t confident in selling it to others. I didn’t know what I was selling. (I got much more excited about it afterwards when I started studying the website at home.) Companies first sell internally, before they sell externally. That’s why employees are given free or discount products. You try it, you like it, you work hard at selling more of it. It is impossible to be good at selling something that you don’t personally like. Your indifference in the product will show through. (Think political campaigns. Politicians first sell to their own party before they sell externally.) So, first start with educating and selling internally first. Select only those whose are most passionate to sell externally.
THINK LIKE AN ADVERTISER TO SELL TO OTHERS
Advertisers have 30 seconds (or in these days 140 characters). Don’t think you have more. That’s why advertisers are very disciplined in their efforts. So, in essence, the organizer’s long winded speech was of absolutely no use. Instead, think like a marketer and think through these two very important question:
- What is the desired action from your audience?
- Why should they take that action?
Oh, and if all else fails, marketers know they can always rely on “the children” and the American patriotism. (No one argue against them.) Using some interesting facts on the national Complete Streets website, I would have empowered my ambassadors with the following 30 second speech:
“Did you know that raising medians and designing better intersections and sidewalks can reduce pedestrian risks by 28%, making the streets safer for our children? Learn more about how you can get involve on these websites.”
“Did you know that if we have more bike paths and as a nation make just 0.5% more trips using bikes, we could save 462 million gallons of gas, lowering US dependency on foreign oil? Learn more about how you can get involved on these websites.”
Photo credit: Complete Streets
Jeannie Chan is a Brand Manager for a Fortune 500 consumer goods company. She considers herself a marketer, a traveler, and a foodie. Jeanne lives in NYC. 
