Marketing idea embraces mystery
The commercial is ambiguous: A silver-haired man in a three-piece suit warns about the dangers of taking too few vacations each year. He then suggests treatment at www.iwantmyvacation.com.
The prescribed remedy?
A trip to Orlando, Fla., and the Universal Studios theme park.
Other companies have launched similarly mysterious websites that, judging by name, have little to do with the products being pitched.
Doritos, for example, has www.innw.com. The letters stand for “If not now when?” and the website offers prizes, a message board and, of course, information on its potato chips.
The anti-smoking campaign “Truth” offers www.fairenough.com, a website devoted to a parody about tobacco executives and their efforts to court teen smokers.
Marketing experts say the strategy works.
“Some of the best marketing creates mystery,” said Richard Band, a senior strategist for Boulder’s Kindred Keziah marketing firm. “They are trying to extend your relationship with the brand longer than just 30 seconds.”
Reign supreme as Asparagus Queen
Missed your opportunity to be prom queen? If you look good in green, your second chance at royalty awaits.
Boulder-based Noodles & Co. is on the prowl for an Asparagus Queen as part of an effort to promote its new seasonal asparagus dishes. Aspiring Asparagus Queens have until May 10 to apply in-store or online at www.noodles.com. Application questions include deal-breakers like “Do you like asparagus?”
One Asparagus Queen and eight state finalists will be chosen May 17. The queen eats free at Noodles for a year. Finalists eat free for a month.
By the way, men are eligible, too.
Fueling business for pawnshops
Pawnbrokers say their business has fallen during the past year, but they expect traffic to increase if gasoline prices continue to climb.
Fort Collins-based Mister Money USA, which has 65 pawnshops throughout the country and in Mexico, has seen the demand for loans fall since the beginning of the year by about 10 percent, said Tim Lanham, president of Mister Money.
But in Aurora, Shirley Widom of Pacific Jewelry & Loan has seen a recent increase in customers.
“Pawnbrokers are a fair barometer of the economy,” said Bob Benedict, executive director of the National Pawnbrokers Association. Business was brisk as the economy struggled in 2002 and 2003, but in 2004 fewer people were willing to exchange their possessions for short-term loans.
Colorado’s average price for regular unleaded gasoline hit $2.239 a gallon Wednesday, according to AAA Colorado, up 40.1 cents from a year ago.
A tip of the hat to Frontier policy
A new sign near Frontier Airlines’ curbside check-in area at Denver International Airport reminds its customers that they can keep their dollar bills in their pockets.
The sign reads: “No tipping please. The only thanks we need is to have you fly with us again.”
The no-tipping policy has long been in place, said Frontier spokesman Andrew Hudson, but the new sign reinforces it.
“Our employees understand that building customer loyalty has its own value,” Hudson said. All Frontier employees offered tips are supposed to turn them down.
He could write a book on Tinseltown types
Boulder public relations exec John Shors has gotten a crash course on wheeling and dealing with Hollywood film executives since he published his first novel in July. “Beneath a Marble Sky” deals with the construction – and attempted destruction – of the Taj Mahal.
At least three production companies approached Shors before he settled on Humble Journey Films, headed by actor Eriq LaSalle of “ER” fame.
“When I heard that Eriq was literally waiting for me to sign a contract and then would get on a plane to go to India for three weeks, I was sold,” Shors said. While in India, LaSalle secured movie partnerships with film executives in Bollywood, he added.
What has Shors, 36, learned from his negotiations with Hollywood big shots? Four things:
“You don’t make much money on the front end; it’s all on the back end. The movie may never be profitable, but if it gets made at all, we’re guaranteed something.”
Slow down. “It’s tempting to take the first offer that comes along, especially because everyone in Hollywood wants to make a deal fast as possible. But if they want your property today, they’ll want it tomorrow, too.”
Hire an entertainment lawyer who can negotiate on your behalf. “They’re expensive, but you’ll get a much better deal.”
Don’t quit your day job while a movie is in the works. Shors has no plans to leave his gig as vice president of Boulder public relations firm GroundFloor Media Inc.
Dish Network serves home karaoke channel
Closet karaoke fans can now enjoy the pastime in the privacy of their homes, thanks to the folks at EchoStar. Subscribers to EchoStar’s Dish Network satellite TV can now access the nation’s first interactive karaoke TV channel.
The service will cost them $4.99 a month but will deliver 20 sing-along tunes on a play list that will rotate biweekly.
“The Karaoke Channel by Sound Choice brings one of the most popular hobbies to the most comfortable place you can think of, your living room,” said Susan Arnold, DISH Network’s vice president of programming, in announcing the service.
And should they find their pads’ acoustics lacking, karaoke fans can buy accessories to augment the power and timbre of their vocals.
Boulder chocolatier has Cannes-do spirit
Boulder-based Chocolove is filling the goodie bags at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival, held May 11-22. More than 5,000 guests at the American Pavilion will find the company’s distinctive chocolate bars in their gift bags and throughout the Pavilion.
Guests on the A-list – celebrities, dignitaries, media and film industry leaders – will get a whole keepsake box full of the gourmet sweets.
The company opened in 1995 and made a name for itself by combining two precious commodities – romance and Belgian chocolate. Today, Choco love bars draw their flavor from Oregon hazelnuts, Amazon cocoa beans, crystallized ginger, cherries, orange peel and raspberries. Then it wraps each bar to resemble a love letter, with address and stamp on the outside and romantic love poems inside.
When not appearing at film festivals, Chocolove bars can be found in specialty and natural-food stores and gourmet grocers.
