Marketing 101, er, XX

I don’t drink beer, pretty much at all. But if I did, I would prefer Dos Equis. I would, because I love the marketing campaign that has manifested in some of the better television and radio ads around. You probably know them, too; they focus on “The Most Interesting Man in the World,” who has all sorts of clever attributes that set him apart. For example: He has never lost a sock … The police often question him just because they find him interesting … His charm is so contagious, vaccines have been invented for it … Alien abductors have asked him to probe them … If he ever disagrees with you, it is because you are wrong …

Yes, I am a fan of good marketing, which is why I tip my virtual hat today to the campaign for the STEPABLES Tough Ten, a project that has rallied growers, retailers and the public for the production and sale of 10 great plants – not to mention plenty of buzz.

Frances A. Hopkins, president of Under A Foot Plant Company (which produces STEPABLES) notes that the campaign is a hit already this spring. “The growers really took to the idea and have a much more secure feeling in keeping these ten plants in crop rotation at all times,” Hopkins says. “The retailers love it, as they know which plants now to overstock for larger volume sales. But by far, the biggest winners are the consumers.”

The campaign drives sales at garden centers with a new sign and new bench tape. Also, a new STEPABLES garden center newsletter has gone out to the company’s current garden center customers to help all of the retailers understand the attributes of the Tough Ten plants so they can help consumers make the right choice for them.

STEPABLES finishes the push me-pull me marketing – and puts its own spin on what Hopkins calls “follow thru marketing,” adding the Tough Ten campaign to the company Web site. All the Tough Ten plants are profiled on the home page, where there’s a link to a new video showing off the plants’ versatility. Finally, Hopkins and company have produced a new consumer newsletter to put the same message straight into the customer’s home computer.

So how’s the campaign working? Hopkins says well over 60 percent of the company’s orders online include at least one of the Tough Ten plants.

That’s not quite, “Stay thirsty, my friends,” but it’s pretty darned close.

-- Yale

Comments

[ALE]

Great post Yale! I am a fan of good marketing too. :)