Update 3/9/2011: Winner of the Ms Crabtree contest:
1. Everyone who played and entered their responses below wins a discount coupon to the new Helper Healer Marketer program. Email me here if you’d like that code and I’ll send it right over.
2. Winner of the Helper-Healer Marketer program: Jake Steingart (for his first entry in Comments.)
Congratulations Jake and all the readers who responded!
Contest to win Wow Marketing Program at end of story.
Today my hairdresser related to me the story of Ms Crabtree, the school bus driver, and how she got the children to quiet down in her bus.
One afternoon on a school trip, the children of South Park were screaming wildly and jumping all over the bus. Ms Crabtree turned purple.
She screeched to a halt. The children kept on screaming, barely noticing.
Mrs. Crabb pulls out a pink and white bunny and holds it up by the ears.
She gives them a menacing look…
Children pause…
Ms Crabtree reaches down with her other hand, and pulls out a pistol.
She points the gun at the bunny’s head and screams:
“One more sound and the bunny gets it!!!”
The bus was silent the rest of the trip.
Her marketing goal: sell the children on being quiet.
Her sales pitch: Not direct – if you don’t shut up I’ll shoot you. Nope.
“One more sound and the bunny gets it!”
Wow marketing at its finest. She got what she wanted without threatening the children directly (like, um, you’ll die if you don’t use our vitamins.)
Contest: Win the Wow Marketing Program.
Answer these two questions. Be specific.
1. If you were to create a marketing principle based on a surprise strategy like this, what would it be?
2. Give an example pitch to an imaginary bus full of prospects, where you try to get them to take some action on your product or business. Use an element of surprise or wow to get action, like Ms. Crabtree did.
Don’t name your product or your company. She didn’t name the bunny and we don’t know what brand of gun she had. Right?
I’ll pick a winner before March 1, 10pm PT, when I hope to release the new Wow Marketing program.
Put your responses in the Comments below. No need to sign in or anything. Include your name ok?
