A few weeks back I was invited to talk to an upper division marketing class at the University of Montana on how they could incorporate new media and social media marketing into their final projects. One of the groups had a VERY commodity product, and one that at first glance was/is pretty boring. The group was disparaging of trying to find a way to use the “cool” technologies that I had just spent an hour talking about (twitter, facebook, blogs, foursquare, yelp, etc). I gave them a pretty simple answer that they loved and I thought I would talk about it here b/c it has recently come up again for a current client. That answer is Mascot.
The student group had beef jerky. Now except for the “SNAP INTO A SLIM JIM!” commercials of the 90′s beef jerky while admittedly delicious has never really been what one would consider Hight Tech, or a candidate for social media marketing. But a beef jerky mascot on the other hand could be. I told the group to create a rancher or possibly even a chicken (a la Chick Fil A with their cows) but don’t just create a little image of this mascot, but go full out. Make a backstory for this mascot, mascots are a chance to go completely creative. Maybe Hotrod the Chicken (maybe it’s spicy jerky) grew up with Monty (the U of MT mascot) and they picked on the younger Slash (the Missoula Mauler’s mascot),and back then he was just called Rod. but one day Monty stole Rod’s girlfriend b/c Rod was just kinda boring. And on that day Rod changed his name to Hotrod and vowed to NEVER be boring again! (ok, yeah, a little simplistic, but you get the point). So now we have this cool backstory and graphics for Hotrod, this is where the new media comes in. At no point has there existed a technology to immediately connect with people and actually interact with them on the scale that we now have with social media. So use it! Create a twitter feed for Hotrod showing him doing all kinds completely outrageous things (like surfing ON a shark off the Great Barrier Reef). Create a #hashtag for Hotrod’s out there to post about their adrenaline fueled activities. Create a facebook account and fan page. Treat Hotrod like he was a real person, responding to emails, joining adventure clubs and talking with people. The biggest thing is to treat him as a larger than life celebrity and people will know him, and then by extension your product that Hotrod supports in the same way that sports stars endorse wheaties, or Ashton Kutcher those cameras that he’s got. The great part is that except for some app devo, and some graphics Hotrod could exist completely on free social media sites. Give him a twitter feed showing pics he took while jumping out a plane, or scuba diving. You could prbly go several months before you would even (if you really want to) need to create a costume for you mascot.
I was watching some TV Saturday morning, and caught bits of a new “dance” flick on MTV. The basic premise (this will come into play in a minute) is that a gorgeous dancer obsessed with Disco meets a guy looking for a theme for a new nightclub. One thing leads to another and they decide to open a disco themed nightclub. The problem is that really except for the music (which they remix) and a bit of a choreo’d dance number there is nothing that looks like DISCO in the club. (Oh! except the name: INFERNO. get it? disco inferno. ha! ugh.) If you are working on any project, brand, product, et cetera and you are going to pick a theme, especially one like DISCO, you must commit 120% to that theme. It’s like a wedding, if you tell everyone you’re doing a vintage hollywood theme, and the only nod to that theme is a picture of a Cary Grant in the bathroom, everyone is gonna ask: “Where’s the Hollywood theme?” Now if the groomsmen had fedoras, there is choreo’d dance to “singing in the rain”, a red carpet, etc. Now you’re getting there. A Theme like any element of a brand is a promise to the customer. They look and want that theme, that is why they chose your event, your product, et cetera. ESPECIALLY in a nightclub! The simple head nod to a theme, makes one feel that you just don’t care. You call you club Mardi Gras, I want to see beads, Hurricanes, doubloons, masks, costumes, jazz, and so much purple, green, and gold that it makes me want to puke! When working on your theme, do not exist in a bubble, ask friends, associates, family, and everyone else, what they see in the decorations, and in the font of the adverts. Try not to ask them: “Do you see Disco?” this leads them to a predetermined answer. Instead just ask them: “What comes to mind here?” If their answer isn’t your theme right away, then make some changes and try again. Even in a corporate environment people are less likely to take it as a joke and make lame comments around the water cooler if you fully commit to the theme. The more committed you are to theme, the more committed they become.
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