Hats off to Tim Tetrick and the marketing department at the Big M for their nifty little contest to acquire a new nickname for the champion reinsman.
Nearly 1,000 suggestions were submitted via email — including six for the Bionic Man, which was the eventual winner. The Big M packaged the promo outcome into a lighthearted three-minute YouTube spot , which showcases Tetrick and the Big M TV personalities.
I’ve been hearing about this promotion faithfully via the Meadowlands page on Facebook for the past month. Nothing warms my frugal heart like a clever, low-cost promotion, delivered through effective, low-cost mediums. The return in this instance is the connection made between fans and racing personalities (Tetrick and the Big M TV fellas).
Connection to a product is triggered by the senses, connections keep consumers engaged, and engaged consumers eventually marry your product. Despite its potent embodiment of the senses, racing (for the most part) does a crappy job of exploiting this stunning attribute in its marketing efforts.
Interesting characters. Vibrant colour. Big sounds. Extreme emotion.
What comes naturally for us is the marketing envy of every toilet paper, industrial abrasive and data management software company the world over.
Portraying our characters in 3-D through the simple exercise of giving fans an opportunity to decide their nicknames is a brilliant little step towards connectivity.