Once a year, thousands of Americans will leave the comfort of their homes in the wee hours of the morning, shake off their tryptophan hangovers and take to the streets in search of good deals. This annual ritual signifies the beginning of the shopping season and heralds in a month of long lines, crowded malls, overfilled parking lots and endless opportunities for advertisers.
So, with Black Friday right around the corner, how can local advertisers take advantage of the holiday shopping craze? As experts of out-of-the-ordinary advertising techniques, we at Beyond Traditional have brainstormed innumerable, low-cost promotions that can easily be planned and executed within a short turnaround. Through a combination of guerrilla advertising techniques, and the advantage of having a captive audience (in 2010, the line outside of Macy’s in Manhattan stretched to over 7,000 shoppers!), there is incredible opportunity to secure thousands of impressions and one-on-one consumer interactions for your brand.
Here’s one of our ideas, which is simple in its execution but impactful in terms of quality brand-consumer interactions and impressions. Imagine – it’s 11:45 p.m. on a frigid winter evening and the line of shoppers outside of the downtown Target store is 5,000 deep. People have been standing idly in line for the last 45 minutes, the lack of movement has made them colder than they planned for and shoppers huddle together with their friends and family members to keep warm. Out of nowhere, a team of brand ambassadors arrive on the scene, they are equipped with specially-designed hot beverage backpacks full of cocoa and utility belts holding stacks styrofoam cups (printed with your company’s logo), satchels of mini marshmallows and an artillery of miniature candy canes. The team fans out and cheerfully distributes cups of hot cocoa to the grateful crowd. When the last cup is poured and the doors begin to open, the team melts into the crowd and disappears just as mysteriously as they arrived. In the morning, when the deal-seekers return home to tell their tales, despite all of their shopping induced injuries and arguments, they will remember your brand and that much-needed cocoa as a highlight of the day.
Interested in learning more about last-minute holiday advertising opportunities? Contact Sam Bolland at 206.509.9855.
