It is amazing how often a massive marketing opportunity presents itself to a business niche and nobody does anything about it. This brings up the issue of staying on the ball with your marketing and waking up to the possibilities all around you.
If you own a business, you undoubtedly get frustrated with the marketing aspects of it. With so many businesses out there, how the heck are you supposed to stand out? The key is to hit your prospects right between the eyes when they really need something. How do you do this? You wake up, look around and figure out how to take advantage of situations happening around you. Consider this example.
It was a fine summer day in 1999. After consuming a number of adult beverages, a few friends and I tromped into the Rose Bowl to watch the women’s World Cup final between the United States and China.
The Rose Bowl is an interesting place. It is a beautiful stadium, but it doesn’t get a lot of breeze if you are sitting down on the ends. On a sunny, summer day, this can lead one to feel like you are sizzling on a barbeque. It gets blazing hot.
To make things worse, the organizers vastly underestimated the amount of fluids people would want. The water and drinks ran out just after half time. The game went into overtime and then shoot outs. It was a great game, but people were dying of thirst.
Once the game was over, a seriously thirsty crowd came staggering out of the Rose Bowl. And what did they find just beyond the exits? Dasani trucks full of bottled water. Oh, they must have been charging a bundle, right? $3 a bottle? $5 a bottle? Heck, I would’ve paid $20. Dasani, however, saw a huge opportunity. They gave away the water for free. It was like a movie. They were just tossing the water bottles out into the crowd.
I never figured out how Dasani got their trucks out there. Perhaps Dasani was the vendor that blew it by not bringing enough water to the game. Whatever the reason, somebody realized an opportunity had presented itself and took advantage of it. Any you know what? I still buy Dasani today. It is tap water. I don’t really care. When I was dying for something to drink, Dasani was there with free water. I’ll drink it till the day I die. For two or three free bottles of water at the Rose Bowl, I’ve probably spent $1,000 or more on Dasani over the years and I’ll be spending more in the future.
This is not a one off situation. There are always opportunities around you. Just wake up and pay attention. When people really need something or help, they pay attention to who steps up and provides it. That, my friend, is how you get a customer for life like Dasani did with me.
Rick Chapo is with NomadJournals.com - makers of leather journals that make great
unique promotional items for your business or event.
