Vacation Observations

Spent a week on a beach doing my best not to think about the office. Freed from the daily grind, I still found myself seeking examples of Marketing as Service. Ironically, great examples are few and far between, so here’s a motley collection reflecting various stops on my trip:

• Detachable Wine Labels–maybe this is a personal problem but I simply can’t remember one wine from the next even if it is a sensational vintage. It’s almost embarrassing. So I was delighted to learn about a detachable wine label design from Ben Terrett’s blog (via Noah). If you suffer regularly from CRS (Can’t Remember Sh_t) like moi, this elegant design solution is a genuine service indeed.

• United Technologies print ads–Providing educational information in print ads is such a fundamental form of Marketing as Service it is simply remarkable how rarely advertisers choose to go this route. United Technologies “curious” print campaign which dissect everything from space suits to hybrid electric buses, cruise ships to helicopters, is a sterling example of ads that enlighten, educate and entertain. If you haven’t noticed the ads, check out the supporting microsite (utc.com/curious) to see what I’m talking about. Taking a page out of the How Things Work book series, these highly detailed ads aren’t for the incurious AND speak volumes to the breadth and depth of UTC’s product/service offerings.

• PRSA Webinar–Shortly before I skipped town, the PRSA (Public Relations Society of America) offered its members a webinar by yours truly called “What Recession? Nine Ways to Cut Through Regardless of the Economy.” An article about this 45 minute one-way chat is now posted on the PRSA website. This webinar is another basic example of Marketing as Service, both for the PRSA which hopes that such services will help them retain members AND for Renegade which hopes that one or more of the 200+ attendees will turn to Renegade when they need an engaging interactive brand experience.

• College Tour Guides–Before I got to the beach, I stopped at three colleges with my daughter, the junior. I won’t mention the schools but I will tell you that a well-orchestrated college tour (by the admissions office) makes all the difference. I know this is not a new idea. But it is an example of Marketing as Service. The better the tour, the more engaging the tour guide, the more favorable the response by the prospective student (and check-writing parents). Some schools are more careful than others about the quality of the guides AND this is painfully obvious. Anyone who has ever hired a brand ambassador knows that the good ones well-trained are worth their weight in gold.

As I noted at the beginning, with one drinkable exception, these are fairly basic examples of Marketing as Service. But hey, if everyone was doing this all the time, I’d probably need a new thesis to pursue.