backbeat the word is on the street

Going to gigs is not just about the music. At concerts they sell t-shirts, vinyl (making a comeback), all sorta of food and film related things, except for other concerts that people would be interested in checking out!!

Why not let those fans know what else is going on at the venue?  Write up the 2-3 bands on the back of the ticket stub to show what else is coming up.

At the Outside Lands Music fest in San Fran, they gave away these 15 free itune cards – for bands that were at the festival!

How smart is that?

Because any proper music fan would know that music festivals are mostly a way to come across some new bands.  So this is a nice taster, which later helps in making those casual goers into fans! Nice one itunes.

cause driven

Here in Calgary the cashiers sometimes ask you, in addition to your purchase, whether you would like to donate $2.00 to some charity. I usually say “not today” – meaning I would some other time. Sometimes someone ahead in the line will agree to donate, and then 2nd person will also agree . Out of guilt? Or out of good will? I doubt the latter. This needs to be re-designed.

Here’s a better solution: Make the donation be WITHIN the price of the product. And let the consumer know this and they will talk about it.

If these businesses really care THEN  JUST DO IT. Remove the choice and guilt trip you put on us at the very of end of the process.

When it comes time to pay I don’t think people would suddenly look in disgust and leave the bottle on the counter when they see 18 dollars instead of 16 dollars. They would enter that business knowing they donate with every purchase.  Why? Because people attach themselves to companies they relate to. Because they feel good about them. Make your business stand for something! The beer drinkers or grocery consumers will buy products from those companies that have those set of values in place. In this case to do more good for the world.

Don’t believe this will work? Here’s excerpt from page 182 of Max Lenderman’s Brand New World:

A survey reported in Advertising Age found that 90 percent of millennial’s – those born between 1979 and 2001 – said they were “very likely” to switch from one brand to another that had a strong association with a good cause.

why you should care

On my recent travels I was fortunate to have gone trekking in the Kathmandu valley of Nepal with my brother. During our stay, there was news of a Maoist strike planned for Kathmandu city.  This threat ended our trekking tour prematurely – as we were forced to drive into Kathmandu a day early.

Now the trekking tour manager informed us that he would make up for the lost night and dinner included in our package.  So he offered to take us on some excursions around Kathmandu the next day, as the Maoist strike was later canceled!

He never showed up the next day. And why would he? He already had our money. Whats it to him? A whole lot.  The fact that I didn’t get full value for my money is not what most bothered me, but the fact that this guy lost any goodwill  I’d have of spreading word about his company to my family and friends.

All he had to do was offer something, anything to make me feel he cared about my experience. Just some effort to appease the customer on his part would have helped his company far more long term, then this short term gain.

This post isn’t to persuade others not to travel Nepal. It’s an awesome, outer worldly experience from the modern bustle of North America. Walking around buildings, temples that are thousands of years old is an experience you can’t quantify.

However, if someones asking me about trekking tours in Nepal, I will say it was a decent experience. It could have been an awesome experience, but it was just okay because of this encounter.  Whether this trekking company manager realizes it or not, he also represent Nepal tourism to me, my first impression. I will be more cautious agreeing to a tour next time I visit Nepal. But others who encounter this kind of service might never return to Nepal!

Whats the point?

The best kind of marketing is actually giving a damn. Make your customers experience with you a positive one.  Something worth remembering. You want them to leave your business being an happy, enthusiastic, walking spokesperson for your company.  Focus on this far outweighs all the thousands some companies spend on marketing brochures explaining all there nifty products and services.  Listen, have some empathy and you might win a customer for life.