Intro by Skip Cohen
In working with Marathon and keeping their blog filled with ideas, every now and then one comes along that’s just a great way to plant a seed and get you thinking about future promotions. The timing is irrelevant.
I ran across this post in Tamara Lackey’s blog – it goes back several years, but the concept has no expiration date. I wanted to show you how she positioned a Mother’s Day promotion on her blog for gift certificates. The image she shared is priceless, but it’s her message that caught my eye. If you’ve met Tamara or at the very least know her reputation, then you can appreciate the sincerity about her values for life, family and as sappy as it might sound, love.
The idea for a gift certificate for any holiday, if done right, can always be a good idea, but it’s the way it’s communicated that makes it a GREAT idea. Done the right way you can be soft sell and still get great results without being blatantly commercial in your promotions.
I know this wasn’t the only thing she did to promote Mother’s Day gift certificates that year, but it’s such a solid teaser for the concept. And, nobody does it better than one of my favorite people, Tamara Lackey!
By Tamara Lackey
Mother’s Day is this week, in case you hadn’t noticed the deluge of marketing, print ads, radio spots, emails, post cards, commercials and sales! No doubt it’s a marketing heyday, but Mother’s Day is about a lot more than the commercialism of it (although, um, we are offering gift certificates in any amount you choose, last minute happiness ; )
It’s about loving the job – and, yes, omg it’s work – but also needing to feel like it’s somewhat appreciated, even if you’d choose it over again and again and again. So it’s a weird mix of feeling such gratitude for the role, combined with a nationally-accepted opportunity to receive a day’s worth of appreciation for all the effort involved.
An odd sort of paradox, when you really break it down. That’s Mother’s Day. But … Mothering? It’s mostly about what I saw when I photographed this portrait – falling in love and staying in love, for a lifetime. The more you go through the life, the more you realize: How often does that really get to happen??
