Creative ideas for an offline marketing campaign?

[cristinabarkerjones]

I want to do something like brainstorming with the creative people who read this thread. Our floor sanding company doesn't have any offline advertisement. Currently, we use only Google to promote our business which is wrong. We want to do something remarkable that will distinguish us from the rest companies in the industry. A marketing campaign that is so creative that people will remember our company for years and will eventually use some of our services. The problem is we can't think of anything so special.
Can you help us by sharing the best offline marketing campaign you have ever seen or created? Any ideas will be appreciated!

 

[Scott@KarmaContent]

Not exactly creative, but I remember being surprised at how cheap it was to advertise on a racecourse. I can't remember the price or the racecourse in question, but the company's website was seen all Saturday afternoon on Channel 4. Depends whether it's relevant to your business and what current prices are.

 

[ethical PR]

I would suggest you bring in a creative agency (develop a brief and you can invite three or four suitably experienced agencies to pitch). They can they develop creative concepts and suggest campaign activity based on your brand, marketing objectives and budget and you can then either pay them to implement or you can implement it yourself if you have the knowledge/expertise.

People on here mentioning campaigns they like isn't going to help you develop concepts that appeal to your target audience and give you that iconic brand presence you are looking for.

 

[NickGrogan]

I think a creative ad is a really bad idea. Apart from being expensive, how is it going to help your business?

I remember years ago there was an advert with a gorilla playing drums, a Phil Collins song I believe. What product/brand was it for? no idea.

Simple and direct is the way to go. Let the big brands waste their money.

 

[NickGrogan]

you'd be better off producing something like this

gets around 150 views per day, all from people who are interested in floor sanding, this is one of several.

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

Simple and direct is the way to go. Let the big brands waste their money.

You are completely right that wasting money on expensive ads is pointless. This is the reason we are looking for creative ideas that won't be very expensive. Giving your customers little magnets with creative design and the logo and telephone of Great Floor Sanding included for instance.

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

you'd be better off producing something like this.

Great idea. I will tell my boss about it. Thank you!

 

[positivesparks]

Hi Cristina, one thing to think about we well is connecting your offline marketing with yoour online presence, ie when marketing offline send people to a special webpage on your site. Perhaps they can access a voucher there or something to entice them to connect with you further. By sending offline traffic to a webpage, you achieve two things:
- your website is the best place for people to learn more about you and what you can offer
- you can measure the effectiveness of your offline marketing because the page you direct people to will show traffic in your Analytics
Good luck!

 

[beasty]

I think a creative ad is a really bad idea. Apart from being expensive, how is it going to help your business?

1. I remember years ago there was an advert with a gorilla playing drums,

2. a Phil Collins song I believe.

3. What product/brand was it for? no idea.

Simple and direct is the way to go. Let the big brands waste their money.

(You think the big brands do not know how to market themeselves? how did they get big?)


You have managed to disprove your own point very efficiently as a decade later you can recall 2 out of 3 elements of a tv commecial

It was for Cadburys chocolate *which has now in this thread got a free mention thousands of days after it existed on tv purely because it was memorable at the time it was very VERY popular and lots of people talked about Cadburys

 

[naturalplus]

To Cristina
Tell me more about your company.

 

[NickGrogan]

You have managed to disprove your own point very efficiently as a decade later you can recall 2 out of 3 elements of a tv commecial

Except that the one thing almost no-one remembers is the brand/product - which from a advertising point of view is kind of important.

Conversely, I also remember the M & S adverts from the same period - mainly thanks to Noemie - but their clothing sales figures haven't been great.

 

[DazRave]

Except that the one thing almost no-one remembers is the brand/product - which from a advertising point of view is kind of important.

Speak for yourself, i remembered it. As soon as you said "advert" and "gorilla" i instantly thought "cadburys".

I even remembered a few of the others they did (all within the same campaign), the children with the strange facial expressions etc.

Not every advert works for everyone, but you STILL remembered the advert, regardless of the product, and just mentioning that advert (without the product name at all) triggered a chain reaction of people thinking about cadburys!

 

[NickGrogan]

It did, which is great for Cadbury's - even gave them a link too.

But would it help smaller/unknown brands like the OP?

 

[AllUpHere]

For any service based business like the one the OP is involved in, creative 'ideas' and marketing 'campaigns' are pointless. A good solid business can be built around a good solid common sense marketing strategy. There is no need to be creative, or plan 'campaigns'.

In my opinion, the OP needs to go back a couple of steps, stop filling her time with thoughts of backlinks and clever ideas, and actually work out how to build the business in such a way that such things are unnecessary.

 

[tombuckland]

I think a creative ad is a really bad idea. Apart from being expensive, how is it going to help your business?

I remember years ago there was an advert with a gorilla playing drums, a Phil Collins song I believe. What product/brand was it for? no idea.

Simple and direct is the way to go. Let the big brands waste their money.

Have to disagree, this was a Cadbury's advert and it was done incredibly well and was very effective. Will never forget the company.

 

[NickGrogan]

Did it make you buy more chocolate? What about today?

 

[tombuckland]

Did it make you buy more chocolate? What about today?

In a way yes.... Same as I remember the Coke and Pepsi adverts

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

Hi Cristina, one thing to think about we well is connecting your offline marketing with yoour online presence.

Great advice. Thank you, Tom!

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

To Cristina
Tell me more about your company.

Great Floor Sanding is a professional floor sanding company based in London. We repair and restore floors, staircases and deckings. You can visit our website from the link in my profile for more information.

 

[Lloyd N8N]

How about pieces of sandpaper with a strap line and your contact details on the back?

I'd take note if I had a piece of sandpaper delivered through my door!

Years back, Skoda did a marketing campaign where they posted their logo/badge through people's letterboxes, with a simple note = Try living with it for a while (or something similar)… thought this was great!

 

[columbo]

How about pieces of sandpaper with a strap line and your contact details on the back?

I'd take note if I had a piece of sandpaper delivered through my door!

The idea ticks a lot of boxes.

Simple, relevant, cheap, unusual - the piece of sandpaper would be a great trigger.

OP, do you realise what a Soho marketing agency would charge you for that idea

 

[StevePoster]

Creative idea for an offline marketing campaign means unique and not copied from other company or individual because this will be your best signature to the users when they remember your quality product and services.

 

[Lloyd N8N]

The idea ticks a lot of boxes.

Simple, relevant, cheap, unusual - the piece of sandpaper would be a great trigger.

OP, do you realise what a Soho marketing agency would charge you for that idea

About 10% less than my invoice that I've emailed over!!

 

[Excel Expert]

Cant help you with direct ideas but I can recommend a couple of things to get your brain in the right area.

Firstly any books on Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson. There are many other authors on the subject but he is the main one. It wont tell you to do X, Y, Z but it will get your taking the right mental approach so you can define your aims better.

There was a video podcast on iTunes called "Help my business sucks". In it they would look at a piece of successful marketing and rip it apart to see why it was successful. He hasn't made any in ages but the back catalogue is still there on iTunes I believe. (Don't bother watching any episodes where he interviews people, they are just infomercials for the person being interviewed. Thankfully there are not many of them)

 

[DazRave]

Cant help you with direct ideas but I can recommend a couple of things to get your brain in the right area.

Firstly any books on Guerrilla Marketing by Jay Conrad Levinson.

Someone referred me to a book by Conrad a few years ago.. and it blew my mind.

I second that piece of advice!

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

How about pieces of sandpaper with a strap line and your contact details on the back?
I'd take note if I had a piece of sandpaper delivered through my door!

What a great idea! Thank you so much for it! I will tell the owner about your idea. I hope he likes it too!

 

[The Byre]

Read 'Ogilvy on Advertising' and do so NOW!

 

[Excel Expert]

With the sandpaper idea I would check some public liability things first. If someone's pet dog gets to it and eats it could poison/damage the dog. It know it sounds far fetched but my dog always ate flyers etc if left the porch door open.

The other issue I see is if the owner is out when the sandpaper is delivered, comes home and opens the door, the door could easily drag your sheet of sandpaper across their polished floor doing a lot of damage.

 

[MASSEY]

I think the creative and quirky ideas are best suited to the larger companies who pretty much hammer their message home the traditional way and still have shed loads of marketing budget left for the quirky and disruptive types of marketing.

A general small business can get enough enquiries and make enough money doing traditional advertising with the added bonus that most small businesses do newspaper ads and general marketing messages quite badly so sometimes i think thinking out of the box is harder than just simply keeping things simple.

 

[Promotion_Girl]

What about investing in a few custom-printed promotional products? Not the standard promo lighters, pens and what-not....I'm talking about getting some really cool products together, having them imprinted with your logo or brand and hitting your target market on the streets?
There are some great products out there by many great online e-commerce sites, but have a look at promotiontube.com for some inspiration! Not only do they offer small quantities at reasonable prices, but you can tailor-make your promotional products without waiting for a middle man to get back to you! Upload your own logo or creative artwork, position it on the product of your choosing and see instantly all costs using their special logo-tool, "Mein Designer"!
Did you know that a branded umbrella creates up to 3000 logo recognition impacts within 10 minutes of it being carried around?
What about a logo t-shirt and turn your employees or even family members into walking billboards? Style them up to make sure that they become talking points!

 

[JamesMcG25]

This thread just makes me want to eat chocolate. What were we talking about again?

Case in point: Creative ads do work.

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

This thread just makes me want to eat chocolate. What were we talking about again?
Case in point: Creative ads do work.

I believe creative ads work, too! That was the whole idea of my post. We want to be as creative as possible with our potential clients and fortunately, they will appreciate it!

 

[ethical PR]

So what creative concepts have you come up with then OP?

 

[cristinabarkerjones]

So what creative concepts have you come up with then OP?

Our marketing department is developing three concepts right now. The owner of the company will choose the one he likes the most in February. I can't tell what the concepts are because of the competitors who might see the post.

 

[Silky]

I believe creative ads work, too! That was the whole idea of my post. We want to be as creative as possible with our potential clients and fortunately, they will appreciate it!

Creative advertising is great - if you have a huge budget. Even then I have to admit I could remember the gorilla ad but had no idea what the product or brand was (fail). The same with Peps or John Lewis. Does your business have £300k to spend on brand building?

I'm presuming the aim of the business is to make money? In which case it's worth tying in your advertising to sales, ie with some kind of call to action. People trying to recall your brand from a fancy ad in years to come won't increase the profit line, but something that works well without breaking the bank can certainly make you flavour of the month with your employer.