7
OPINION
Disruptive marketing
Enhance marketing by embracing creativity and disruption to craft surprising, memorable, and engaging campaigns.
E ver heard of Frank’s RedHot sauce? I hadn’t until Eli Manning showed up on my TV promoting it while I was watching Sunday football. The ad was quirky and funny. The advertisers capitalized on several key marketing strategies:
1. They utilized a recognizable celebrity, Eli Manning, specifically targeting football fans. 2. They placed their product in odd and surprising contexts, such as gardening and fishing. 3. They ended the ad with a disruptive and surprising tagline. SEE FOR YOURSELF. In 30 seconds, Frank’s RedHot was surprising, memorable, and disruptive. Google “Frank’s RedHot Eli Manning” if you want to watch the ad. While this strategy is controversial and not for every product or service, there remain key aspects that can be harnessed for less dramatic campaigns. As engineers, architects, and scientists who design infrastructure and protect our environment, we do not produce commercials or use celebrity endorsements.
However, we do create marketing messages and craft a public image of who we are, what we do, and how we do it. AEC firms promote their services in several ways, including: ■ Placing advertisements in our clients’ magazines and journals.
Gabe Lett
Sponsoring events and conferences.
■
Maintaining a website.
■
Posting on social media.
■
Recruiting new talent.
■
■ Telling the stories of our clients and their projects.
See GABE LETT, page 8
THE ZWEIG LETTER DECEMBER 16, 2024, ISSUE 1565
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker