If they'll play on your site, they'll pay on your site

Last year, I told you about Meijer, a 180 big box store in the Midwest and the very cool promotion they unleashed on Chicago and Cincinnati around Halloween.  Their headless horseman rode wild through the streets...having some fun scaring the downtown crowd.

Well this year, they've upped the ante.  They've created a 3D experience where you can "put on a mask" and record a Halloween greeting.  Basically, it's a digital hologram called augmented reality.  (Kevin Dugan explains it better than I can.)

Using this technology and your webcam, you can record a :30 video message wearing one of the masks and altering your voice to match the mask.  Then, you can e-mail it to someone, or share it on Twitter or Facebook.

Come on...you know you want to try it.  Go give it a spin here.

But...this isn't just for fun.  Much like Office Max's Elf Yourself success (read about their PR results here and here) this is ultimately about selling product.  PR is dandy, but are we moving product?  

Yes, it will.  But it doesn't happen overnight.  Office Max and Meijer need to wrap their arms around the idea that this is a long term strategy.  (And I suspect they both have)  This is not a "put out a 20% off coupon and watch them flock in" sort of an effort.  This is brand building.  This is buzz building.  This is about creating connections.

And when someone feels an affinity or connection to your business, eventually they'll come back and buy.  I've said it before but...marketing is not a sprint, it's a marathon.  And both Office Max and Meijer are proving they're in it for the long haul.

Comments

[Alyse]

This is a great idea. Marketing is about interacting with customers and leads, getting them excited about a product/service and ultimately driving them to the sale. This is a prime example of how customers can connect with a brand and even help promote it. We highlighted this article on our network as one of many integrated strategy articles and resource: http://www.onlinemarketingconnect.com/integrated-strategy

[Drew McLellan]

Alyse,

Thanks for spotlighting this blog post and sharing it with your readers!

Drew

[seo services]

What an idea for online business, this is really a great idea by doing this surely you will get a good response from the customer those who are interested to purchase the product from the online market.