Cake Walk

April 9th, 2009 Posted by Suzy Ogé

Are you invisible? Do you believe you’re putting yourself out there, but people just walk on by without noticing you, your product or your advertising?

Try this…place some freshly baked, brightly decorated cupcakes in your window; wait and watch. Unless your business is, in fact, a bakery; heads will turn. We happened to try this experiment at our office by accident, but when these innocent cupcakes attracted a lot of attention from everyone walking by, we realized we were missing out on an opportunity. Window displays= Retail 101! Even though we are not a retail business, we all have our ideas to sell and our organizations to brand!

So many people walk through their daily routines with their heads down and buds in their ears, trying to take control of their environment and block out the sights and sounds of life. Too bad! They might as well be wearing a Do Not Disturb sign. What can you do to get their attention?

Three strategies to consider; first of all, create an experience or encounter that does not feel staged. Secondly, place your product or message in an unexpected context, and third strategy is too whip up a tasty diversion, such as the bright cupcakes! The cupcakes weren’t branded, but I can tell you that when people were attracted to the cupcakes, they checked out the sign on our door to see if they might have a reason to come into our office. Make sure you keep your strategy interesting and fresh! Once the cupcakes are reduced to crumbs, move on to something new.