| Promotions for the Ages
At the end of June, the US Supreme Court issued what the press called a "split decision" on the controversial topic of displaying the Ten Commandments on government property. In a case concerning two rural Kentucky courthouses, the Court ruled that the displays were unconstitutional because they had been set up in recent years expressly for the purpose of "favoring monotheistic religion." The other case concerned a 6-foot granite monument erected in 1961 on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol in Austin. The Court ruled in favor of that monument, saying that it presented a "less blatantly religious statement tinged with secular historical and educational meaning." No, this issue of Creating the B2B Customer isn't about the First Amendment. It's about the little-known story behind the story. It turns out that the Court did better in distinguishing between the Kentucky and Texas displays than even the Justices may have known. While the Texas monument may have served a religious purpose, its original mission was to hawk a movie. It was one of hundreds of similar monuments that Hollywood producer Cecil B. DeMille helped to finance in order to promote his 1956 blockbuster film The Ten Commandments. The sunset-red Texas granite tablets have been a popular draw at the State Capitol ever since. Now that's what we call a promotion! Doing Well by Doing Good Say the word "promotion" and most business people think of an incentive price discount or a contest of some kind. Promotions are popular in both B2C and B2B. Where would radio stations be without those "the ninth caller to reach me" promotions? Where would Detroit be without all of the incentives they're handing out? (Question: when does an incentive discount that never ends become "we're cutting the price because it's the only way we can compete with better cars from overseas?") But there's a completely different approach that can be uniquely powerful. It is to use a promotion to tie your products or services to the greater good. That's what DeMille was doing with the monuments: trying to boost his audience by linking the film to celebration of religious faith. It was socially acceptable then because those were the days of the American mass market when we were all supposed to look alike, dress alike and think alike. As the Kentucky ruling showed, you couldn't get away with it today. Elegance on The Strip
Giving Back to the Industry An example from our own playbook involves the Society of Satellite Professionals International (www.sspi.org), which we manage on behalf of its Board of Directors. Nearly 2,000 working professionals and students belong to SSPI and, in its 22-year history, it has attracted the support of the leading corporate players in the industry, from PanAmSat to Lockheed Martin, Ascent Media to Cisco Systems. Why are they involved? There are member benefits, of course, and SSPI puts on the premier social event of the industry, a black-tie Gala held on the opening night of a major convention. But the reason for its success is that SSPI serves a higher purpose: ensuring the future of the industry, one person at a time. SSPI awards scholarships and provides other programs to attract young people into the industry in order to maintain its "bench strength." It also helps working professionals increase their knowledge, improve their value as employees, and upgrade the overall skill level of the industry. People and companies get involved in SSPI's activities in order to be associated with that mission, and SSPI encourages them to promote their involvement to one and all. The next time you are searching for promotional ideas, here's our advice: think big, think long-term, and think thoroughly about how a promotional "gimmick" can forge a stronger relationship with your customers. Discounting your prices or giving away tickets to a big game are nice, but they don't create a unique and positive profile for you in the marketplace. And they certainly won't become a monument that lasts long enough to spark a legal battle reaching the Supreme Court. News Briefs Senior Partner Robert Bell -
Senior Partner Louis Zacharilla -
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Another great example of promotion contributing to the greater good can be found in none other than Sin City USA.