One great marketing idea I took from
the pages of Niemann Marcus, the
high end retailer who on occasion will sell an item that is off the charts
expensive or over the top flamboyant. One such item I saw for sale a few years
back was when Southfork Ranch, the home of the fictitious Ewing Family of the
hit show Dallas, put up for sale square foot sections of the property for $25
or $250 a piece I can’t remember, most likely $250, and you got a cool certificate authenticating
ownership. This was back in the late 70s when the show was at its peak and they
sold these like hot cakes. I am sure they came with a million restrictions but
how cool was it to show your friends a certificate that you owned a piece of
Southfork? And the funny thing is, is that any business online or offline can
copy this outrageous marketing technique.
When I had a restaurant a few years
back I put a $2,500 martini on the menu that came with a diamond at the bottom.
Did I sell any? Heck no, not during the recession we were in but the publicity
I got was worth 50 times that. Prior to opening our doors for the very first
time, I ran a few ads creating the
excitement for our Grand Opening, and being in a small, ski resort town in New
Hampshire any “outside the box” news usually got folks attention and got them
talking. Well, you can imagine the fuss my $2,500 martini caused and all the
people dying to see who would be the first to purchase it and from this fuss
came publicity and more publicity and thus traffic to the restaurant just to see it on the menu. That’s
right, people came in JUST TO SEE IT ON THE MENU and of course while they were
there they gave me their business.
While my $2,500 martini was a great marketing ploy it paled in comparison to Neiman Marcus and their marketing creativity and the things that they sold;
(Other OUTRAGEOUS IDEAS right here!! www.InsaneMarketing.net )
*How about a LIVE Black Angus Bull with a sterling silver grill for a pre-inflation price of $1,925 (1952)?
*A suit of armor for $20,000.
*A $10 million zeppelin with a cabin for 20.
*A $1.7 million outer space trip 63 miles in the air in one of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Spaceships.
*A $1 million Jack Nicholas designed golf course in your back yard
How about the $100 burger or $10,000 dessert that can be had in Manhattan? You are not going to sell many if any (if you do, that’s a NICE profit margin), but the publicity and bragging rights you can ascertain from this is immense! For example if you own a tanning salon, have a tanning lotion private labeled exquisitely for your company only, and then sell it for $250 and see what people say. How many people will ask about it? Everyone! And don’t be surprised if you sell a few. I am serious.
What can you sell that will generate shock appeal, publicity and get people talking? Create a product or service, add some outrageous price to it and promote the hell out of it. What can be your $2,500 martini or $100 hamburger?
While my $2,500 martini was a great marketing ploy it paled in comparison to Neiman Marcus and their marketing creativity and the things that they sold;
(Other OUTRAGEOUS IDEAS right here!! www.InsaneMarketing.net )
*How about a LIVE Black Angus Bull with a sterling silver grill for a pre-inflation price of $1,925 (1952)?
*A suit of armor for $20,000.
*A $10 million zeppelin with a cabin for 20.
*A $1.7 million outer space trip 63 miles in the air in one of Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Spaceships.
*A $1 million Jack Nicholas designed golf course in your back yard
How about the $100 burger or $10,000 dessert that can be had in Manhattan? You are not going to sell many if any (if you do, that’s a NICE profit margin), but the publicity and bragging rights you can ascertain from this is immense! For example if you own a tanning salon, have a tanning lotion private labeled exquisitely for your company only, and then sell it for $250 and see what people say. How many people will ask about it? Everyone! And don’t be surprised if you sell a few. I am serious.
What can you sell that will generate shock appeal, publicity and get people talking? Create a product or service, add some outrageous price to it and promote the hell out of it. What can be your $2,500 martini or $100 hamburger?
