Talk about buzz. Our company was just Yammering about a really creative advertising campaign by 7 Eleven designed to capture buzz from the upcoming Presidential election (and give out some personal buzz in the process). For the next month, you can register your “vote” every morning by stopping into 7 Eleven to fill up your coffee in either a blue Obama or red McCain coffee cup.
This is a fantastic example of viral marketing at its best. When Brian and I founded Jellyfish, we recognized that the rules of advertising were changing. The consumer now has the power to filter out boring, mass marketed, interruptive advertising messages. Advertisers need to give the consumer some tangible value to pay attention.
The 7 Election campaign does this on several levels:
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It is fun and incredibly viral (I’ve already sent this out via e-mail and Twitter and there are lots of folks blogging about it), giving 7 Eleven free brand awareness
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It is timely and press worthy, with traditional news outlets like the WashingtonPost and NewsDay , among many others, writing about it
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It includes a direct response impulse without dropping price (I want my candidate to win and I’m more inclined to grab that cup at 7 Eleven where I can both register my preference and walk around with an advertisement for both my candidate and 7 Eleven)
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It is cheap. Print up some cups, and slap together a website. Beats the heck out of annoying us all with 30 second tv ads, billboards, etc.
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Best yet, it might actual work, as the Company claims to have predicted the last two elections
Don’t like the way the results are shaping? Then you’d better drink up. Kudos to 7 Eleven.
We are working to make sure that the marketing plan for Alice follows the new rules of advertising. Give consumers a reason to tune you in, make your advertising a mutually beneficial event, and consumers should reward you with their attention and (hopefully) their business.
