I always like to call attention to smart, low-cost ideas that provide powerful marketing value, and I have to thank my sister and her cat, Noel, for making me aware of this one.
When my sister and her husband took a vacation recently, they needed to board Noel. My sister looked around and found a nearby pet resort that seemed to be a nice place — far nicer than the vet’s cages in which our childhood pets spent our vacations, emerging upon our return like prisoners of war.
How do you convince consumers that hot dogs are healthy food? Coney Island hot dog entrepreneur Nathan Handwerker did it with stethoscopes, says writer Bob Bly in his book “All American Frank: A History of the Hot Dog” (http://www.bly.com/AllAmericanFrank).
Handwerker’s price of a nickel per dog couldn’t overcome public worries about the quality of the meat. There was a perception that processors used tainted beef.
There are many reasons that companies will try to handle their marketing communications needs in-house. Sometimes, budget is the primary driver, but more often, there’s a belief that nobody in the outside world could ever understand the company as well as its employees.
That’s probably true, and it’s exactly why an outsider offers you a significant advantage.