Congratulations to Dawn McKenzie and Lani Larson of Chicago North Shore Rugby on their epic win.  This is a pretty amazing honor when you consider that over 25,000 females play the sport in the United States and that two members of the National Championship team are a part of the Marketing Werks team!

Great job ladies.  We are proud of you.

It’s the only day I didn’t have to hit the snooze button. The only day my mom didn’t have to come into my room, throw my covers back and demand I get up. That first day held so much promise, so much hope and so much excitement - I couldn’t wait to hit the books.

As students head back to school, I can’t help but be jealous. Then I think of days two, three and four and the hand cramps from note taking and aimless staring at the clock - the envy quickly subsides.

At least until next August…

Every Monday after Fourth of July weekend, remnants of bottle rockets and firecrackers litter lawns from sea to shining sea. Of those lawns, over 22,000 catch fire, causing $42 million in property damage.

Aside from those damages, fireworks grant nearly 7,000 people the chance to celebrate their independence in an ER waiting room. Laws –including the law of unintended consequences—can’t hinder our love for these things.

Clearly this is the home of the brave.

Within hours, “#thankyouaaron” tweets poured through. Some users called out their own individual heroes while other users thanked all of our armed forces.

Together, they landed “#thankyouaaron” on the Trending Topic list along side the other big news nugget of the weekend: Michael Jackson’s funeral.

This past Memorial Day, Trending Topics of “#happymemorialday and “#memorialday” filled tweets worldwide. Among the BBQs, boating and gatherings, Americans still took time out of their day to remember. Even if it was in just 140 characters.

Excerpt from San Antonio Express, Jalapeño competition spices up Market Square”,(May 2, 2011)

The Championship has been known to be the most grueling of all eating challenges. And for the first time, three local amateur eaters were selected to represent San Antonio and try to win the grand prize of $3,000. Although they didn’t come close to the 275 count, it inspired Marketing Werks to start their own “Feel the Heat” Challenge a few years ago.

In 2011, Marketing Werks presented the Third Annual “Feel the Heat” Challenge to its werkers! Every year more and more werkers participate and for the second year in a row, Victor James-the-Name Maisano became the champion of the challenge by eating 11 La Costeña whole pickled jalapeños in one-minute. Congratulations!

And The Winner Is... Victor James-the-Name Maisano!

While the 26,000+ Disney Princess SKUs make it a bit difficult to grow up a tomboy today, Disney’s not to blame. Marketers can’t be faulted for making what sells. But they can be challenged to think outside that perfectly wrapped, pink box when developing products and messaging for young girls.

Not every girl is blinded by the pretty-pretty-princess mantra and pink hue—a lesson they may have learned from, dare I say it, Disney Princesses. Belle (dressed in yellow) was an avid reader and dreamer as she eluded the strapping Gaston’s advances, much to the dismay of other single ladies in town. Mulan (dressed in green) went to war and threw down while saving China. Jasmine (dressed in blue) left behind a life she could no longer live and opted for life as a street rat, for a few hours at least.

With messages like this, we know being a princess doesn’t mean sitting in an ivory tower and waiting for Prince Charming. Young girls don’t have to play the role of damsel in distress and there’s clearly money to be made in expanding the marketing messaging.

It’s time these two lived happily ever after.

With 12 years of experience in experiential marketing Brice knows one simple fact: gimmicks don’t work.

“Gimmicks, I think, have a negative connotation and come off as ’salesy’ and ‘forced’ said Brice. “It’s oftentimes associated with ‘trickery’ Here’s a trick that felt so forced that the outcome was catastrophic. Brice remembers Interference Inc. once put out a gimmick that involved neon signs of a “Mooninite” from Cartoon Network’s show Aqua Teen Hunger Force. It “was a big stunt in a big metro area [and] one of their execution tactics was to try to create some buzz around one of their new shows. [They] set out a series of Light Brights around the city,” said Brice. “You know the old school Light Brights that were popular when I was a kid in the 80s? So there are all these Light Brights that people were seeing on their way to work or lunch, but they didn’t know what they were.

According to Wikipedia, Boston police officers mistakenly identified the toys as improvised electronic devices, or bombs. CNN, Fox News, and other media outlets got wind of the story. According to ThePhiIIyGuy.com the ensuing pandemonium lead to Interstate 93 being shut down for 12 hours. “lt was an innocent enough promotion for a show,” said Brice, “but people thought it was a bomb threat.” The Mooninite Light Brights around the city quickly turned into the 2007 Boston bomb scare. When it was all said and done, Turner Broadcasting System and Interference Inc. had to pay $2 million to the city for the damages, and Jim Samples, General Manager and Executive Vice President of Cartoon Network quit. “At the other end of it, I can’t tell you if that gimmick was a failure” said Brice. “lt may have been a failure in that the audience didn’t feel that the brand had their best interest in mind, and it probably made people nervous as they went to work. But from a PR standpoint they got national coverage for about a week. In the brand’s mind, I can’t tell you if they thought it was a failure or not, but in my mind there probably should have been some things that were talked through in order to avoid a situation like that. The last thing you want to do is cause fear in the general public.”

In order for a promotion to work without feeling gimmicky or striking terror into the hearts of consumers. Brice has learned you’ve got to make a brand real and relevant to today’s consumers while still highlighting your brand’s core values. The experiences around it have to add significance to your customer instead of lauding your newest feature, when it really doesn’t benefit them.

Here’s how to do it: “At the core of it, you’ve always got to look at who your core audience is,” said Brice. “Then you have to shape and customize the experience around that target audience.” Then aim to get your audience to interact with your brand, and do so in a simple, relevant way. Try to entertain your audience or make an emotional connection with them. Wondering what simple tactics you can use? According to Brice, try a spin wheel like you’d see at carnivals. It’s highly effective.Then there are premiums, charity tie-ins, and large inflatable objects. They all catch a customer’s eye. Stunts, emerging technology and pop culture relevance will garner their attention, too. You might also try brand ambassadors and random acts of kindness. Sound simple? Not hardly.

“A lot of thought goes into it,” said Brice. He thinks the best programs have a 360-degree approach. “Not only is there advertising behind a product or a promotion, but there’s PR and some kind of online component as well as experiential marketing,” said Brice, who added all of this should be part of the brand’s platform any time a company rolls out a new product or service.

In experience-based marketing, which is Brice’s specialty, he’s learned to appeal to taste, touch, feel, smell and sound, if it’s applicable, to the brand. It’s about making a brand come to life and develop it in such a way that if it were a living-breathing organism, it would interact with the person in an authentic way.

“One of the things people forget is the most important aspect of experienced based marketing. It’s the people who are out there in the field doing these promotions for you,” said Brice. “You could have the coolest signage in the world, you could have the biggest inflatable the coolest tent or be giving out iPads hand over fist, but if you don’t have the right staff in place that can be credible, outgoing, personable, bright, energetic, fun, engaging and educational, then everything you invest is going to fail. It all comes down to the relationship that you build with the consumer.

The simple fact of the matter is that your marketing message is essentially the hand shake between you and the customer. lt’s the relationship starter and it’s your responsibility to make the first impression count. If you don’t have the right people doing it, it’s going to flop.

In the end, skip the gimmicks because, like the Mooninite incident turned Boston bomb scare, they might blow up in your face. Instead, focus on breathing life into the brand and making sure that the people who are doing the promotions have a firm and friendly handshake to make the impression count.

Excerpt from Connections Magazine, “Gimmicks Flop Experience Rocks”, (April, 2011)