Category: Marketing Ideas

Recently, the “Fun Committee” of our company (of which I am a member of) wanted to put on a talent show during our lunch break. After a lot of discussion back and forth, we decided to the alter the traditional talent show format and morph the concept into something else. Everyone in the company was invite to submit a picture of something they were passionate about and we created this fun slideshow from it. We felt like it was a great way to broadly highlight each employee’s specific interests and passions rather than only focusing on a performance. Enjoy.

Check out this awesome electric go cart put out by Razor. I want one.

Lately, my mind has been on this idea that the brand should have a story that can be summed up in a short phrase. Here are a few examples:

• Bon Iver – dudes isolates himself to a cabin to write breakup songs.
• Airborne – Invented by a School Teacher
• Postal Service: two guys exchanged recordings over mail (hence the name).
• Oyster: Netflix for Books
• Countless companies “started in a garage.”

The folks at Smart Car wanted to help promote public safety in urban areas. On these type of busy streets, pedestrians can easily cross at the wrong times and get hit by cars. They came up with a booth where people can do a dance and have their moves mimicked in real time on the “Don’t Walk” sign.

Not only is it a fun, clever idea, it also was effective in actually changing behavior: 81% more pedestrians stopped for the “Don’t Walk” signs. Often in advertising, the creative, award-winning idea is praised but if it doesn’t change behaviors, the message has failed.

Check out this amazingly clever video from the Ukrainian band, Brunettes Shoot Blondes.

Tesco has created an interesting and innovative way of using technology to solve a problem and help customers. Check it out:

Here is a great Halloween themed spot from Ikea (Singapore) that pays homage to a famous scene from the horror film, The Shining. The similarities between the scene from the film and the zig zag path that is in every Ikea (along with the kid’s imagination) makes this spot work especially well. Happy Halloween!

In Greg McKeown’s recent book, he explores that idea that often when we become successful, we start to pursue more and more things, watering down our time and energy (what Jim Collin’s calls “The undisciplined pursuit of more”). The antidote to this is the “disciplined pursuit of less, but better.”

The path to doing this is: #1. Discovering the things we want to pursue, #2. Eliminating the rest, and #3. Building a platform for effortless execution. This means saying no to a lot of good ideas or projects so that you can narrow your focus and really excel in a few areas.

I think it’s a great message and certainly one that I’ve tried to incorporate into my everyday work life. I have so many ideas and things I want to pursue but very few of them actually get done. Recently, I’ve delegated a few of my responsibilities away to other members on my team, collaborated on other projects (rather then trying to work on them by myself), and eliminated other unimportant projects altogether. I’ve seen a big difference in what I’ve been able to accomplish and the impact I am making in the organization because I’m able to focus my efforts better and actually get things done.

Check out this video of Greg explaining the concepts in his book:

In addition to my marketing duties, I am also a member of my company’s “Fun Committee.” We recently came up with a company wide challenge to be more healthy. Instead of focusing on the output (results like losing pounds), we decided to focus on the input and came up with a scorecard that rewarded effort. Employees earned points by exercising, going to sleep at a decent hour, avoiding junk food, drinking enough water and eating plenty of fruits and vegetables. We had weekly check-ins through a shared Google Doc spreadsheet and rewarded those that scored well or simply just participated. The big rewards came after 5 weeks, where we awarded 3 Fit bit bracelets and other cash prizes. Over 75% of the company participated and it was a great success in helping push everyone towards achieving their health and fitness goals.

B.J. Novak, best known from his role on the Office, recently came out with an interesting children’s book. The concept is that, although there are no pictures, the person reading it has to say whatever is on the page, no matter how wacky it is. Besides having an interesting twist on a kid’s book, they did a great job in this video of demonstrating the reactions you can expect when you read it to a kid. I’m sold.