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How many of you remember Cracker Jacks?

I heard on the radio yesterday that Cracker Jack free prizes have become collector’s items.  With some going for THOUSANDS of dollars!!

In the bestseller Free Prize Inside, author Seth Godin suggests that today’s companies can’t afford difficult and risky technological innovation.  These complex projects are notorious for being late, over-budget, and short on meeting promised deliverables.  The Return On Investment (ROI) falls short.

He also suggests that you can’t afford to spend HUGE amounts on advertising.  Again, the ROI doesn’t justify the expense.

The solution?  Seth says you can profit all day long with CHEAP INNOVATIONS that have a significant ROI.  He calls this the FREE PRIZE INSIDE.

According to Seth a FREE PRIZE is a secondary product benefit so remarkable, that it drives word-of-mouth, and drives sales.  Invest in these, instead of running huge media buys, or huge IT projects.

So you already have a product you’re proud of.  How do you create a FREE PRIZE inside?  Something secondary that will be so remarkable, it will drive word-of-mouth, and sales?

 

Some of Seth’s examples include:

1. FedEx truck mailing slots (drop your mail into any parked FedEx truck you see!)
2. Flintstone vitamins / orange-flavored vitamins (Kids enjoying taking their medicine? What?)
3. A bank that’s open on Sundays
4. A grocery store that gives express lanes to shoppers who buy a LOT (reward your most loyal customers)

Or how about:

1. Hidden music tracks on your favorite artist’s latest CD
2. Fortune cookies at Chinese restaurants
3. Snapple’s humorous facts on the inside of the bottle cap (-ex- Camel’s have 3 eyelids)

As you can see, none of these are terribly complex or expensive for the company to implement.  But by observing customers, finding out what they could use, you can build a cheap free prize inside.

The beauty of these soft, cheap innovations is that if they don’t work, you haven’t spent a lot of money! Scrap the idea, and try another one.

So.  Go buy a box of Cracker Jacks.  Reminisce on your childhood.  And let that inspire you to create your first free prize inside.

Thanks for reading this blog in its entirety!  To show our gratitude, here are some free prizes inside!

1. 1960s Cracker Jack TV commercial (Video)
2. The History of Cracker Jacks (Video)
3. A Free Summary of Seth Godin’s “Free Prize Inside” (pdf eBook)
4. Fortune Cookies aren’t from China (Video)
5. Did you know:
   My favorite hidden track of all time, Lauryn Hill’s “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You” on the 1999 MisEducation of Lauryn Hill, was nominated for a Grammy. 
   First time that ever happened with a hidden track. 
   How’s that for a free prize inside?

Note: Seth Godin’s book, Free Prize inside, was sold in what looked like a mini-cereal box. 

Seriously.

What’s your Cracker Jack Free Prize Inside?

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• August 9, 2008 -- “I’m Running for President.” Driving word-of-mouth by putting your customer in the story. (3)

 What is the Skype Laughter Chain (video)?

First, Skype (for those that don’t know). Skype is a Voice-Over-IP tool that lets you make phone calls from your computer.  All you need is a head set and microphone.  And the Skype software (which is free).  Then you’re good to go.  All calls are dirt cheap, even international ones.  And Skype-to-Skype calls are… free.  Even international ones.

Skype is already incredibly successful, with tens of millions of users worldwide.

So why did they feel the need to create a “Laughter Chain“?

Here’s what they said:

“Laughter is a universal language.”

“It’s no accident that LOL (Laugh Out Loud) is one of the most popular acronyms on the web – we all love to communicate, to share and feel part of a community. Laughter brings us closer together – it’s a language we all understand and everyone loves a good laugh.”

“Spread a little happiness.”

“At Skype we believe that face-to-face communication is the best kind, which is why we’ve created this Laughter Chain to promote our free video calling feature. You can use Skype to make as many free video calls as you want. Seeing the person you’re talking to makes your conversation come alive – you can share excitement, laughter, tears or even just pull a silly face.”

Watching the skype laughter chain, I found it terribly silly.  And infectiously funny.  Who knew watching other people laugh would be funny?  And what does this have to do with Skype again?

Oh yeah. These people are video-conferencing.  For free.  Using Skype’s product.

And Skype is getting thousands more users daily, because of this silly video.

Who’s laughing now?

The thing is,

Interactive = viral.

Interactive = word of mouth.

• So. What is interactive about your product?
• How do people interact with each other, around your product?
• How can you turn that into a viral experience that people just HAVE to talk about?
• Think about the Skype Laughter Chain.

Whatever your line of business - observe how people interact with your product.  And then enhance that - either by using features of your product, or something related to the interaction, which can be used in conjunction with your product.  (Like Panera Bread and free high-speed Internet).

If you bring people together around your product, they’ll talk about it.

They may even laugh about it.

What’s laughable about your product?

Or, if you’re not in the mood for the giggles, how can people interact around your product?  And how can you enhance that interaction for them?  Word-of-mouth, after all, comes from memorable shared experiences.

Let’s hear your thoughts:

How do people interact around your product category? Let’s create a Skype Laughter Chain for your product.  Even if your product is a service - people must interact with it in some way that can be enhanced by bringing people into a shared experience.  Let’s talk about it.

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Popularity: 42% [?]

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Create a story about yourself. About your brand.

People are already inundated with information. Don’t give them more plain information to process.

Give them a story.

Create a story about yourself. About your brand. And then live up to the morals, the lessons, of that story. Make yourself relevant. Make yourself remarkable.

Stories are easier to share than product features or lists of benefits. They’re easier to share than competitive talking points. It’s why our politicians and media seek the perfect image, the perfect narrative.

Stories are a short cut to reading the details.  If people get the story, the narrative, and are sold on that?  They don’t need all the extra noise.

Stories put the audience at the center of the narrative.  Stories make you relevant. They put you in the audience’s world view.

Stories position you as… the friend. the wise advisor. the endearing mascot.

People remember stories.

Here’s one for you:

A little girl came to my door the other day, to sell girl scout cookies.

She was bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Her uniform was impeccable.  She was well-spoken, confident, but respectul.

After listening to her pitch, I was determined to buy some cookies.

I had no cash.

“Could you come back tomorow?”, I asked.

“Well,” she said, as she blew some hair away from her forehead…

“The thing is, my parents are divorced, and I’m with my Mom today, but I’ll be with my Dad for the rest of the week, so can I come back in a week?”

I was deflated.  she said it so matter-of-factly.

“You come back next week, and I’ll be sure to buy your cookies”, I said.

The moral of the story?

This girl was dealing with a significant life challenge.  But you wouldn’t have known it if it hadn’t come up because of my question about her schedule.  she was bright, cheery, and I already wanted to buy from her.

Her persistence and undeterred go-get-it attitude, in the face of her story, made me want to buy from her even more.

And tell others to buy from her as well.

This isn’t about wearing your life challenges on your sleeve. It is about weaving details into a picture that make your offering more compelling, more unique, in this cluttered world.

It doesn’t have to be a real story either.  It can be complete fiction. You could build a myth, a legend, that teaches a lesson analogous to the value you provide.

In another post, I will further explore stories that have been crafted around products. Which make us want to share in the experience.

But for now, if you see a little girl in your neighborhood.  Selling cookies.  Buy a box.  You never know how much it might mean to her.

For now, it’s your turn - what’s a compelling story that has stuck with you?  Or that you’ve told to someone else?

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• August 25, 2008 -- Michael Phelps vs Usain Bolt: How to Gain More Notoriety while Doing Less. (0)
• October 2, 2008 -- How simplicity drives word-of-mouth. (0)
• September 30, 2008 -- Stop redesigning the STOP sign (The customer is often wrong.) (2)
• September 24, 2008 -- “We Heart Pig Lipstick”. Why gimmicks don’t drive word-of-mouth. (1)
• September 22, 2008 -- Find your Ness. 3 ways to word-of-mouth. (0)
• September 11, 2008 -- Want Word-Of-Mouth? Tell the Chinese Backstreet Boys. (2)
• August 22, 2008 -- Tiger Woods Walks on Water: How to be an Oxymoron. (1)
• August 9, 2008 -- “I’m Running for President.” Driving word-of-mouth by putting your customer in the story. (3)

If you’re in I.T., or have friends in I.T., you’ve probably heard of “The Web Site Is Down” by now. Created by Josh Weinberg, TheWebSiteIsDown.com is a HI-LA-Ri-OUS video chronicling a conversation between a sales guy and the web dude.

Some coarse language aside, this animated video will split your sides.

Now THIS is viral. This is word-of-mouth.

Creating something like this is beyond the budget (and creativity) of a lot of small businesses. But you can still get inspired by this. Plus, this works really well for the target audience - techies.

Word-of-mouth for the rest of us needn’t be as technically complicated. If you know any techies, I DARE you to not forward this to them. (You just can’t do it - you’ve got to share this, don’t you? ) It’s perfect for techies, not so much for other groups of people. But that’s just it - the esoteric nature of the inside joke is what makes it so special.

So who’s your audience?

And what would get their attention, speak their language (and remind them how you remarkable)?

What’s your niche’s inside joke?

 

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