Steve
09-24-2006, 02:57 AM
Articles like these can give you ideas.
Have you ever had any crazy promotion ideas that you thought were a little too off the wall?
Promotions gone wild (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/22/smbusiness/crazy_promotions/index.htm?postversion=2006092212) - Not since Crazy Eddie have business owners gone to such extremes to get attention, although now their tactics are ingenious instead of insane.
Over Labor Day weekend, Gonigam's World Furniture Mall near Chicago offered customers up to $10,000 of free furniture if the Chicago Bears shut out the Green Bay Packers.
After the Bears beat the Packers 26-0, over two hundred customers came in and cleared out about $300,000 worth of merchandise. Fortunately, owner Randy Gonigam had insured the store with a company that specializes in prize reimbursement insurance.
Since then, "we've seen a dramatic increase in traffic to our Web site," Gonigam said. "We had a slight uptick in business last weekend, but nothing dramatic," although Gonigam believes that the promotion will continue to reap long-term benefits.
"An awful lot of the people we've talked to plan to buy more stuff."
In another unusual move, Australian marketer Crumpler hosted a "Beers for Bags" event this summer in New York. Customers could trade bottles of Chimay, Brooklyn Lager and Guinness, for messenger bags, laptop cases and bean bag chairs.
As soon as Crumpler began accepting beer for merchandise, the company's two New York stores were flooded with customers, the owners said.
Have you ever had any crazy promotion ideas that you thought were a little too off the wall?
Promotions gone wild (http://money.cnn.com/2006/09/22/smbusiness/crazy_promotions/index.htm?postversion=2006092212) - Not since Crazy Eddie have business owners gone to such extremes to get attention, although now their tactics are ingenious instead of insane.
Over Labor Day weekend, Gonigam's World Furniture Mall near Chicago offered customers up to $10,000 of free furniture if the Chicago Bears shut out the Green Bay Packers.
After the Bears beat the Packers 26-0, over two hundred customers came in and cleared out about $300,000 worth of merchandise. Fortunately, owner Randy Gonigam had insured the store with a company that specializes in prize reimbursement insurance.
Since then, "we've seen a dramatic increase in traffic to our Web site," Gonigam said. "We had a slight uptick in business last weekend, but nothing dramatic," although Gonigam believes that the promotion will continue to reap long-term benefits.
"An awful lot of the people we've talked to plan to buy more stuff."
In another unusual move, Australian marketer Crumpler hosted a "Beers for Bags" event this summer in New York. Customers could trade bottles of Chimay, Brooklyn Lager and Guinness, for messenger bags, laptop cases and bean bag chairs.
As soon as Crumpler began accepting beer for merchandise, the company's two New York stores were flooded with customers, the owners said.