Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Da Vinci Code


I was in the grocery store the other day and noticed something called Da Vinci chianti on display. I had never heard of the product before; guess I’m just not an oenophile. But what made that display truly memorable for me was that the bottles were joined by interspersed copies of The Da Vinci Code.

Welcome to another edition of Not Your Usual Marketing Tips from JDK Marketing Communications Management.

So who hasn’t read or seen The Da Vinci Code by now? Forget what trespasses of faith the storyline may be breaching. The point here is that some company called Da Vinci that bottles chianti stuck its thumb in the marketing pie and pulled out a plum.

(Sorry, we’re not here to address mixed metaphors...)

Since the book has become a cottage industry unto itself, we will assume that it was the chianti that took advantage of the 800-pound gorilla in the pop culture consciousness of consumers and grabbed a bunch of the books to, in turn, call attention to itself.

Not a bad idea. In fact, it’s so not bad (sorry, we’re not here to address weird syntax either…) that I would heartily recommend, if pertinent, that kind of approach to you and your business.

Now, to tie in to a massive pop culture presence as The Da Vinci Code may be fraught with the kind of licensing considerations that would quickly render the idea moot. (Even though I have a sneaking suspicion that the distributors for this product threw caution to the wind and just did a localized, “maverick” thing.)

But there may be any numbers of ways that “plain folks” like you and me can still ”cross-promote” our product or service. It starts with finding an affinity profession to yours – i.e. commercial property managers with commercial movers/furniture/flooring dealers…realtors with interior decorators/landscapers…business coach with payroll services/accountant…or a humble copywriter/creative director with printers/web designers.

But you might even find an existing popular product – a drink, a candy, a movie – that you can put an appropriate “spin” on and leverage as having some relevance to you and your product.

The format might be a joint speaking engagement, or trade show presence, or newsletter, or special event, or announcement at a networking group.

Such affiliation may not exactly inspire a movie. But a dramatic “connection” can go a long way in making you memorable in the eyes of prospects and existing clients.

And remember…as with all these editions, we’re here to help you put any of these ideas into practice.


Joel Kweskin

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