WEBINAR ANNOUNCEMENT

In late 2009, the Purple Goldfish Project was launched to find 1,001 examples of marketing lagniappe—giving little unexpected extras (glue). The Project’s goal was to explore “differentiation via added value” as a game-changing marketing strategy.

Companies like Southwest (Bags Fly Free), DoubleTree (Chocolate Chip Cookies) and Five Guys (Free Peanuts) use lagniappe to stand out from the crowd, improve customer experience and drive positive word of mouth.

After more than two years, and with the help of the CustomerThink community, the goal of 1,001 has been reached. In honor of the New Year and giving back, the author Stan Phelps would like to share the biggest takeaways from the Project and insights from his new book, What’s Your Purple Goldfish?

Join us on January 26 to learn:

• The biggest myth in marketing
• What is marketing lagniappe?
• Why purple and why a goldfish?
• Understanding gift economy principles
• The 5 ingredients or r.u.l.e.s when creating a purple goldfish
• The VM matrix and the 12 different types of purple goldfish

Sign up for the webinar here

Lagniappe: As a bonus for signing up for the webinar, you’ll receive a complimentary executive summary of What’s Your Purple Goldfish?

Today’s Lagniappe (thrown in for good measure)

Vintage Esso spot talking about “a little something extra.”

[Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing excerpts as we work towards completing the manuscript for 'What's Your Purple Goldfish?'. Today is Chapter 11 and the last of the ingredients or R.U.L.E.S]

Sticking out in a Sea of Sameness?

The fifth of the r.u.l.e.s is ‘sticky’. You want something that sticks. A strong marketing lagniappe promotes ‘word of mouth’. Your purple goldfish needs to be memorable and talkable.

Two questions to ask yourself:

1. Is it watercooler material?
2. Will your customer want to tell 3 people or 3,000?

Let’s looks at a few examples:

Dropping the Sticky Bomb

On January 2nd (officially the laziest day of the Year), ‘The Make It Great Guy’ Phil Gerbyshak dropped a bomb on me.  A P-nut bomb to be exact. I asked him if he had any examples of marketing lagniappe and he immediately posted this gem from Milwaukee. Phil nominated AJ Bombers.  In Phil’s words:

#152. One of my favorite Purple Goldfish is AJ Bombers (@ajbombers) in Milwaukee. Joe and his team consistently provide the Purple Goldfish by offering free peanuts…shot at you in metal WWII bombers. It’s way fun to get those from the bartenders. Making AJBombers even more fun is the fact he is on Twitter, recognizing customers and anyone who mentions the place, hosts Tweetups at Bombers, has guest bartenders where he donates shots folks can sell…with all proceeds going to the charity of the guest bartender’s choice. Full disclosure: I’ve been a guest bartender and raised money for my charity. Last but not least is everyone who wants one can get a Sharpie and put their Twitter handle anywhere they want at AJBombers, so when friends come in, they can look for your Twitter name and leave you a tweet…in real life.

Do you believe in love at first sight?  I do now. I’m a huge ‘Five Guys’ fan because of the free peanuts. In fact – I put them in the Purple Goldfish Hall of Fame based on their peanuts and the handfuls of extra fries. AJ Bombers takes the P-nut to the next level! Move over ‘El Muchachos Cinco’ . . . you’ve got some company. Of the five main ingredients or R.U.L.E.S, Bombers scores huge on stickiness. At AJ Bombers, the bartenders literally send bombers to deliver the nuts. Joe e-mailed me and added a interesting wrinkle,

“By the way, not only do we offer free p-nuts to our guests while they are at the restaurant, they always get BONUS unexpected nuts with all togo orders.  Their reactions are priceless, they love it.”

Here is a rundown of the Top 5 from AJ Bombers:

1. P-nut Bomber – a signature way to deliver peanuts to the respective booths.  One word – genius
2. Oversize Beach Chairs – a couple larger than life beach chairs.  You feel like a silly little kid while sitting (but isn’t that the point)
3. Quad Cow – take on the quad cow at AJ Bombers.  After you’ve swallowed the last bite of your four patty burger you can sign your name on the sacred cow that adorns the wall
4. Sharpies – grab a marker and leave you name or Twitter handle on the wall.  You are now part of AJ Bombers
5. Streamlined menu – your menu is a narrow piece of paper that details the various burgers.  Grab a pencil and start writing . . . choose wisely

25 years and a handful of Purple Goldfish . . . plus a real Purple Cow

Phil also shared another gem from Milwaukee.  He nominated Pizza Shuttle as #221 in the Purple Goldfish Project:

“I was just thinking about one of my favorite Milwaukee Purple Goldfish, Pizza Shuttle. From the original Andy Warhol “Purple Cow” in the dining area, to the fantastic hold messages (old ones are archived at http://pizzashuttle.com/old.html ), to the old Pizza Shuttle trading cards they let people collect of their drivers, to the fact you get free pizza on your birthday, to the in-store photo booth perfect for taking pictures, it’s all fun. Couple that with late-night delivery of pizza AND frozen custard AND chicken AND burgers, fun, unique people who work there and you get an amazing place to eat and an experience for everyone. A few other wonderfully inventive things they do: The world’s largest pizza, available for dine-in only; An amazing program where they give back HUGE to the community they serve; Delivery to all the colleges, hotels, and universities in the area; Employing nearly 100 people in a town that can desperately use it.”

I find that businesses that tend to get the concept of marketing lagniappe usually have multiple purple goldfish. They understand that in order to stand out you need to differentiate by giving those ‘little unexpected extras’. Pizza Shuttle is no exception. Here is a summary of their Top 5:

1. The Purple Cow (hat tip to Seth) – How many pizza places have a framed Andy Warhol on display?  Genius interplay of pop culture and a homage to the dairy state of Wisconsin.  Cheesy . . . YES and that’s the point.
2. A Picture Booth – Take your experience home with you with a branded strip of black and white photos.  Great memento for a date with your squeeze or a night out with your friends.  A picture may be worth a thousand pizzas.
3. The Largest Pie in Wisconsin – Be memorable by offering a $39.95 gut buster.  According to this article by Josh McDonald it looks like they throw in the ice cream as an added lagniappe.  Nice touch.
4. FREE WiFi – This is becoming a no brainer as of late.  But again – how many pizza places are offering you complimentary wireless access?
5. Unique hold music – Imagine wanting to be put on hold???    Smart move when you have a robust delivery business.  Create some fun messages so people can be entertained while they wait.

Promoting Word of Mouth using spare change

#672 in the Project is taken from a post by Ben Popken from the blog, ‘The Consumerist’:

“As a favor to guests, one hotel washes every coin it receives, just like it’s done since 1938.

The practice at the St. Francis hotel in San Francisco is said to have started when hotelier Dan London observed that some coins sullied a woman’s white gloves.

At the time, coins were used for everything from tips to payphones to taxicabs. Back then washing the coins were a full-time job. Now it’s only 10 hours a week, but the practice continues, passed down from one generation to the next.

The coins are first passed from the general cashier to the coin washer who dumps them into a silver burnisher.

“Along with the coins, the burnisher is filled with water, buckshot to knock the dirt off, and a healthy pour of 20 Mule Team Borax soap. After three hours of swishing the coins around, Holsen uses a metal ice scoop to pour the loot into a perforated roast pan that sifts out the buckshot. The wet coins are then spread out on a table beneath heat lamps. This is where once-rusted copper pennies turn into shimmering bronze coins. Quarters look like sparkling silver bits.”

Marketing Lagniappe Takeaway – There are 5 r.u.l.e.s or ingredients when creating your own Purple Goldfish.  The first is relevance. Do guests of the St. Francis really care that their coins are sparkly?  Other than the germophobes . . . probably not. But this purple goldfish ranks extremely high on ’sticky’.

How do you overtake a luxury brand with the heritage of Mercedes-Benz?

While preparing to launch an unknown brand with no heritage against established European brands such as BMW and Mercedes, Japanese automaker Lexus set out to build the perfect car and retail experience.  Nothing less than a ‘relentess pursuit of perfection’ was the mandate when the brand was launched in 1989.  22 years later the brand is all grown up.  It’s kicking ass and taking nameplates. One of ways that Lexus distinguishes itself is through its customer service and by doing the little ‘talkable’ extras.

Spotlight: Ray Catena Lexus

Lexus treats each customer as they would a guest in their own home. It’s as simple as making sure the coffee is always fresh, the loaner car is always clean, or just giving a friendly smile and hello when passing a customer in the showroom.

[Next Up is Chapter 12 - the beginning of Section 3 in the book.  Section 3 covers the 12 different types of lagniappe]

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra for good measure) – Here is an insightful 3 minute interview with Joe Sorge of AJ Bombers:

[Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing excerpts as we work towards completing the manuscript for 'What's Your Purple Goldfish?'. Today is Chapter 10 and the fourth of the ingredients or R.U.L.E.S]

The How of Marketing Lagniappe

The fourth of the r.u.l.e.s is ‘expression’. Expression speaks to ‘how you give’ as opposed to ‘what you give’.  A purple goldfish is a beacon. It’s a sign that shows you care. That little extra touch demonstrates that the customer matters.

Let’s look a few examples:

Oh Steward . . . there is a dinosaur in my room

One of the signature elements of staying in a state room on a Carnival Cruise is the towel animals. Every night guests return to find one of the 40 different types of animals. A cruise favorite, the folks at a Carnival create about 7 million a year. That’s a lot of folding.

About 5 years ago Carnival released a book called, “Carnival Towel Creations”. The 88 pages encompass a ’how to’ manual on towel animal making. Think it’s easy?  New stewards @ Carnival spend 10 hours of formal training to master the art of the fold.

One of the things that I like about the towel animals is how Carnival has leveraged them across their various touchpoints. They’ve been the focus of advertising, PR, direct mail and online. These towel animals have ‘legs’.

Belt Buckles and a Post-it note

This is taken from a post by Drew McLellan from Drew’s Marketing Minute:

“I am . . .

A frequent traveler
A wee bit impatient
All about efficiency

So it shouldn’t surprise you that I have my travel routine down to a science. I can pack for any trip in less than 10 minutes.

I own a TSA approved messenger bag so I don’t have to take my laptop out when I got through security. I always wear slip on shoes. And I just ordered TSA approved belts so I can scoot through the scanner without having to de and re-belt. (or accidentally dropping trou.)

When the belts from BeepFreeProducts arrived, I was pretty pumped to open the package. This was the final tweak to my travel ensemble. (I know… I can’t help it. Don’t judge me!) But when I dug past the packaging, I found more than the belts.

There was also a handwritten post it note thanking me for my order and saying that they’d included a couple extra belt buckles so I’d have some variety to choose from.

On a simple post it note. Nothing pre-printed, nothing fancy. Just a note from Jim.

It probably cost him 2 minutes to jot the note. But I felt the love. Why?

It was unexpected: This was my first order from the company so I had no real expectations. I hadn’t spent a huge amount of money and they don’t have a super sexy website, product etc. So I wasn’t expecting the creativity and the personal touch.

It was personal: If it had been a pre-printed card, it probably wouldn’t have been as memorable or noteworthy. He addressed the note to me, not “dear customer or sir.” Whether it’s true or not, I felt like Jim really did want me to have those extra buckles. He really cared that I could mix and match my buckles.

Many people believe that creating a lasting love affair with your customers is going to be incredibly expensive. It doesn’t have to be. In fact, you can’t buy their love. If you try too hard or it feels like you are throwing money at it, rather than throwing your heart into it, it will backfire. Instead of them feeling your love, they’ll feel a little cheap, like you think they can be bought. But let Jim’s post it note remind us all that it’s the heart that counts, not the cost.”

It’s not about the Money

3 examples from BMW, Les Schwab Tires and The Four Seasons . . . Total Cost = $0

#190. BMW of Darien [courtesy of Jack Sarsen]

When I dropped my car off for service, I had to move 2 car seats to the loaner. Upon my return, a service guy, obviously recognizing the number on the car, walks out to the loaner as soon as I parked and told me to hold tight. Within a minute my car pulled up and two service guys helped me make the car seat switch with my small children in tow. Another walked out and handed me my paperwork and said ‘Thank you, have a nice day’.

#17. Les Schwab Tires [From Cody Goldberg]

The service people jog to your car when you pull in to the service center.

#192. Four Seasons Hotel [From Stephanie Hadden]

When you check in, the front desk attendant will walk around to the front of the counter and hand you your key while using your name and anticipating your every need. This customer service costs them nothing extra but makes you feel like a million bucks.

Marketing Takeaway: You don’t have to tap into $$$ to go that little extra.  Being quick, responsive and alert with your customer service can make all the difference with your customers.

[Next Up is Chapter 11. Sticky - the fifth and last ingredient of a purple goldfish]

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra for good measure) – Here is an instructional video on towel origami.  This one is for an elephant. It’s only been watched 362,437 times:

[Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing excerpts as we work towards completing the manuscript for 'What's Your Purple Goldfish?'. Today is Chapter 9 and the third of the ingredients or R.U.L.E.S]

Signature Touch

The third of the r.u.l.e.s is the concept of being ‘limited’. What does limited mean? If it’s a small token or extra, it means selecting something unique to your business. Ideally you want it to be ’signature’ to your brand. Something rare, different or just plain hard to find elsewhere. A ‘limited’ extra helps you differentiate your offerings, while providing insurance against being copied by competitors.

Let’s look a few examples:

The Fillmore West

Gene Willis submitted this gem from the west coast:

“The Fillmore, a famous San Francisco music auditorium has hosted everyone from The Grateful Dead to Snoop Dogg. At the end of each show they hand out a limited number of music posters….free. Each poster has it’s own unique artwork, and the date of the show and artist. People collect the posters, and sometimes look forward to getting the poster as much as the show. Generations of posters are framed and make-up the walls. Also, when you enter the Fillmore, there is a bucket of free apples and someone who welcomes you to the Fillmore. No wonder it’s one of the most loved places to see a band perform live.”

The posters and apples are brilliant. It scores high on the five ingredients/rules of marketing lagniappe, especially limited:

R elevant – each is designed with the artist in mind
U nexpected – the posters are handbills that are distinctive in size
L imited – a limited run creates that ‘one of a kind’ special feel
E xpressive – the posters are handed out when the concert-goers leave as a keepsake
S ticky – a collector item that folks share and talk about

Donut Holes and Milk Duds

There are reasons native Chicagoans and tourists alike consider Lou Mitchell’s a must-visit. From the donut holes and the milk duds while you wait to the double-yolk eggs that make every dish even more sinfully indulgent, Lou’s knows how to do breakfast.

Located in the South Loop, the restaurant has been a Chicago institution since 1923, and decades later, they’re still dishing out thick French toast, enormous platters of pancakes, fresh-baked pastries, and of course, those famous skillets. The extras are just as delectable. Lou’s boasts pure maple syrup, fresh-squeezed orange juice and slabs of toast served with every omelet.

Be prepared to make some new friends — chances are good you’ll be seated next to strangers at one of the lengthy tables. Even if you don’t bond with fellow diners, the employees’ perpetually friendly smiles — and free Milk Duds for the ladies — guarantee that you’ll want to return soon.

CHOP

A good friend Doug Pirnie shard his experience of staying at the Four Seasons and receiving a signature purple goldfish when checking out. In Doug’s words:

“At the end of my stay at the Four Seasons in Singapore, they gave me my own personal “chop” – a stamp with my own insignia on it. Chinese tradition is for all documents to be “stamped” with the owner’s/writer’s/artist’s chop. If I can find it, I’ll end you a note with my chop!”

The hand stamp (especially for a Westerner) is something rare and unique. The addition of personalization on the stamp by the hotel makes is special. Two thumbs up for the staff at the Four Seasons who leveraged Chinese heritage to give an sticky compelling gift with the ‘CHOP’.

Guatemalan Worry Doll

Besito means ‘little kiss’ in Spanish.  It’s also the name of an authentic mexican restaurant based in Roslyn, New York.  I met Lilliam Villafane De Giacomo the other day and she waxed poetic about Besito.  She spoke of the amazing food, but paid special attention to two added value items.  At the end of the meal the restaurant hands out wrapped churros and little worry dolls.

The following excerpt from a NYT Review posted on their website mentions the churros and worry dolls.

“The best dessert was the churros given gratis to every table. The warm, long spirals of fried dough rolled in cinnamon sugar were delivered in a white paper bag. Along with them we were given tiny Mexican “worry dolls” to be put under our pillows to take away worries. My only worry was the amount of delicious food I’d just eaten.”

Here is another review from slapphappe:

“A fresh dish of chunky guacamole is created at your table side from perfectly ripened fruits in a molcajete, the authentic Mexican basalt lava version of a mortar and pestle. It was near perfect for my tastes. Even at twelve bucks a pop we occasionally have two bowls. Their beef enchilada, huevos rancheros and chicken enchilada in creamy tomitillo sauce are all very good.

Service is excellent. At lunch today we were each sent home with a complimentary “worry doll” and a wrapped churros to go. Legend has it that Guatemalan children tell one worry to each doll when they go to bed at night then put the dolls under their pillow and in the morning the dolls will have taken their worries away.”

[Next Up is Chapter 10. Expression - the fourth ingredient of a purple goldfish]

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra for good measure) – Check out this commercial featuring a ‘worry doll’. Funny peculiar, but not ha, ha funny given the last month in the financial markets:

[Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing excerpts as we work towards completing the manuscript for 'What's Your Purple Goldfish?'. Today is Chapter 8 and the second of the ingredients or R.U.L.E.S]

What the hell is a schema?

Steve Knox of Tremor (a P&G agency) took me to school the other day.  He wrote an enlightened post in Ad Age entitled, “Why Effective Word of Mouth Disrupts Schemas”.  The premise of the article is how to leverage cognitive disruption to drive ‘word of mouth’.  By doing something unexpected, you force people to talk about their experience.

First off let me admit I had no clue what a ’schema’ was. So here is interpretation of the word:

It turns out that our lizard brain remains typically in a static state. The brain relies on developing cognitive schemas to figure out how the world works.  It recognizes patterns and adapts your behavior accordingly.  It basically doesn’t want to have to think.  For example, every day you get into the car and you know instinctively to drive on the right side of the road.  Fast forward and you’re on a trip to the UK or Australia.  The first time you drive on the left side it throws you for a loop.  Its disruptive to your normal driving schema and it forces the brain to think, thereby it elicits discussion (ie. word of mouth).

Steve provided some great examples in his article.  My one favorite was for a new Secret deodorant that P&G was launching.  The deodorant utilized a moisture activated ingredient which kicked in when you sweat.  The brand understood that this could be positioned against a traditional schema, ie. the more you workout, the more you sweat and the worse you smell.  The tagline for the brand became, “The More You Move, the Better You Smell”.  A staggering  51,000 consumers posted comments on P&G’s website about the product.

I started thinking how this idea of disruption applies to the concept of marketing lagniappe.  The second ingredient in the lagniappe R.U.L.E.S is the concept of being Unexpected.  It’s that little something that’s an unexpected extra at the time of purchase.  It’s the unexpected ’surprise and delight’ that triggers disruption of our schemas.

Let’s face it . . . most companies fail to deliver an exceptional customer experience.  It’s only when a brand goes ‘above and beyond’ we get shocked.  And what happens when we receive that unexpected ‘branded act of kindness‘?  We tell our friends, we tweet it and we post on Facebook about it.

Let’s look at a few examples:

The Power of an Unexpected Discount

I was at the Pepperidge Farm Factory store recently picking up a few things. There was a senior citizen standing in front of me in line buying a few items. Her total bill was $9.96. The clerk informed her that all purchases over ten dollars received a 20% discount and asked her if she’d like to pick out something else. Quickly she made a b-line to the Milanos (good choice by the way) which essentially were free once he factored in the discount. I could tell she left with a smile on her face and a bounce in her step.

Those Milano’s were an unexpected surprise and I can almost guarantee you that she will recount that story a few times. Turns out the folks at Pepperidge Farm make purple goldfishes both literally and figuratively.

An extra acknowledgement for a hotel guest

My friend Jack Monson over at PR Workbench shared this story from a business trip to Minnesota:

A few years ago, I was traveling to the Twin Cities often and stayed several times at the same Courtyard By Marriott in the suburb of Eden Prarie since it was close to two clients’ HQs. By the third trip in a few weeks’ time, I had a nice surprise waiting for me. I walked in after a cold and delayed trip from Chicago to see a big sign in the lobby saying “Welcome Jack Monson.”  The manager informed me that I was their guest of the week (or whatever the title was) and gave me a card for free breakfast in the morning. Not a huge thing, but guess where I continued to stay everytime I had to travel to Minneapolis over the next year…

KLM does a little extra for their fans

#595 in the Purple Goldfish Project came courtesy of Barry Dalton and the following tweet:

A Purple Goldfish to start your morning and creative social engagement by @KLM (cc @9inchmarketing) http://bit.ly/cDs5nt #custserv #cex #scrm

Barry shared a story about the Dutch Airline KLM.  Here is the backstory on the KLM program:

KLM gives small personal gifts at Schiphol Airport to customers who have indicated through social media that they fly with KLM. If you use the location based social networking site Foursquare or place a message on Twitter at @klmsurprise, indicating that you will fly with KLM that day, it may just happen that the KLMsurprise team finds you and surprises you.

As soon as someone checks in via Foursquare at Schiphol or another airport KLM flies to, KLM tries to contact him or her through the @ klmsurprise account on Twitter. The message is that KLM has a little surprise. Next the KLMsurprise team comes into action to quickly offer a surprising, personalized gift before the customer is on board.

Martijn van der Zee, vice president of KLM E-Commerce: “The team devises an original surprise that really fits the person who receives it. We offer people an attentive KLM experience. This way, we gave a PSV fan heading towards New York a Lonely Planet guide in which we had circled all the pubs where he could watch live matches of PSV. Dennis, a customer on his way to a conference in Boston, we gave a notebook in which he could immediately capture the best ideas he would encounter”.

KLMsurprise fits in KLM’s campaign slogan “Journeys of Inspiration” by surprising and inspiring people during their trip.

Martijn van der Zee: “KLM wants to achieve a number of objectives through these actions. The goal is to make our fan base – people who find it worthwhile to follow us on Facebook or Twitter – increase. We also want that our existing followers – almost 80,000 fans on Facebook and 60,000 Twitter followers – remain enthusiastic about KLM and share this with their friends.”

[Next Up is Chapter 9.  Limited - the third ingredient of a purple goldfish]

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra for good measure) – Here’s a look at schemas by Steve Knox.  It’s a Slideshare presentation entitled: ‘Understanding Word of Mouth – The Science of Advocacy’:

[Over the coming weeks I'll be sharing excerpts as we work towards completing the manuscript for 'What's Your Purple Goldfish?'. Today is Chapter 7]

Making lagniappe is like making jambalaya

Have you ever made jambalaya? It’s a bunch of different ingredients all thrown in together. The chef takes a look at what’s lying around in the kitchen and throws it all into a pot. Let it stew with some spices thrown in and voila . . you have a yourself a jambalaya or purple goldfish.

Here are the five main ingredients or if you are acronym fan (like I am), the R.U.L.E.S :

Relevant – the item or benefit should be of value to the recipient.

Unexpected – the extra benefit or gift should be a surprise.  It is something thrown in for good measure.

Limited – if it’s a small token or gift, try to select something that’s rare, hard to find or unique to your business.

Expression – many times it comes down to the gesture.  It becomes more about ‘how’ it is given, as opposed to ‘what’ is given.

Sticky – Is it memorable enough that the person will want to share their experience by telling a friend or three hundred?

Keeping it relevant

The first rule and probably the most ingredient for a purple goldfish is relevancy. If its just a throw in or SWAG (stuff we all get), it probably is not that relevant.  It needs to be something that is valued by your customer.  Let’s look a few examples:

I wonder what that NEW car might look like in my driveway???

The Overnight Test Drive: BMW

I was driving up to New Haven on I-95. I noticed an interesting billboard from BMW of Bridgeport. It was fairly simple purple goldfish:

BMW wants YOU to take an overnight test drive

IMAGINE THAT – they are willing to give you ‘the ultimate driving machine’ for an extended period. No driving around with the salesperson (I hate that by the way) and no more imagining what a BMW might look like parked in your driveway.

I’ve done a little research. There is probably a strong reason why they want you take the car. Here is an excerpt from a JD Power survey:

“When it comes to the test drive, most shoppers expect to be able to test drive the vehicle for an hour or more, with most premium brand shoppers expecting to test vehicles for five hours or more. Most shoppers also expect to be able to take the test drive on their own, without the salesperson accompanying them.”

Strong move from BMW of Bridgeport. Even if those who test drive don’t buy . . . they are probably going to talk, tweet, post or blog about it.

Buy one Pint of Ice Cream TO GO . . .

and Get Two Cones for the Road: Toy Boat

How about making a cone in the comfort of your home? Toy Boat floats in at #144 in the Purple Goldfish Project.

Here is what Molly Holtman of Bite shared about Toy Boat:

”Toy Boat, a great dessert shop on Clement Street in San Francisco, throws in two complimentary ice cream cones (cake or sugar, your choice) when you purchase a pint of ice cream. It’s kind of fun to eat ice cream in a cone at home. Plus, their rocky road and pumpkin ice cream is fantastic.”

This a thoughtful and simple complimentary touch from Toy Boat . . . dare I say sweet genius.

Free Cleaning for Life: Tiffany

One of the nice extras that Tiffany provides (in addition to the little blue box) involves free lifetime cleaning of your rings.  This comes in at #232 in the Purple Goldfish Project.

From the Tiffany.com site:

“Tiffany offers complimentary cleaning to keep your ring as beautiful as it was the day you received it.  An expert will check your stone’s setting and give your ring a thorough cleaning”

My wife and I will stop by once or twice a year and drop off our rings. Come back in an hour or two and they’ve given you a complimentary steam, buff and polish. A nice touch and a very purple goldfish.

[Next Up is Chapter 8. Unexpected - the second ingredient of a purple goldfish]

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra for good measure) – Turns out that many motorists were alarmed by BMW’s of Bridgeport’s billboard.  Here a short video from the AP:

It’s a bunch of different ingredients all thrown in together . . .

The chef takes a look at what’s lying around in the kitchen and throws it all into a pot. Let it stew with some spices thrown in and voila . . you have a yourself a jambalaya or marketing lagniappe.

Here are the five main ingredients or if you are fan of acronyms (like I am) . . . R.U.L.E.S:

Relevant – the item or benefit should be of value to the recipient.  Make sure that the item or service is a true benefit.  It shouldn’t be a one size fits all proposition.

Unexpected – the extra benefit or gift should be a surprise.  It is something thrown in for good measure.  Think ’surprise and delight’ or a ‘branded act of kindness’.

Limited – if it’s a small token or gift, try to select something that’s rare, hard to find or unique to your business. Think ‘signature’.

Expression – many times it comes down to the gesture.  It becomes more about ‘how’ it is given, as opposed to ‘what’ is given. The small gift or extra is an expression and communicates that you care.

Sticky - is it watercooler material?  Is it memorable enough that the person will want to share their experience by telling a friend or three hundred?

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – Here is a video that covers the basics of marketing lagniappe and the Purple Goldfish Project:

What’s Your Purple Goldfish? – Click here to see 320+ examples of marketing lagniappe. Over 200 brands have been submitted to the list. Need some thought starters?

Episode #3 – The Five Main Ingredients of Marketing Lagniappe and a trip to the first Purple Goldfish Hall of Fame Inductee the Doubletree Hotel

I’m joined by wingman Jack Campisi (a.k.a ‘Social Jack’ or ‘Maverick’) on the podcast.

Here is a rundown of the video podcast:

- We discuss the five main ingredients of marketing lagniappe: Relevant, Unexpected, Limited, Expressive and Sticky

- We take a road trip to a Doubletree Hotel

- We discuss the Doubletree Chocolate Chip Cookie (over 200 million served)

HELP me catch another 709 purple goldfish for a great cause.  FISHERMEN WANTED: Click here to send me your example.

How do you integrate the concept of ‘lagniappe’ into your product, service or life?

Here are the five main ingredients or if you are acronym fan (like I am), the R.U.L.E.S :

Relevant – the item or benefit should be of value to the recipient.  Make sure that the item or service is a true benefit.  It shouldn’t be a one size fits all proposition.

Unexpected – the extra benefit or gift should be a surprise.  It is something thrown in for good measure.  Think ’surprise and delight’ or ‘branded act of kindness’.

Limited – if it’s a small token or gift, try to select something that’s rare, hard to find or unique to your business. Think ‘signature’.

Expression – many times it comes down to the gesture.  It becomes more about ‘how’ it is given, as opposed to ‘what’ is given. The small gift or extra is an expression and communicates that you care.

Sticky - is it watercooler material?  Is it memorable enough that the person will want to share their experience by telling a friend or three hundred?

Lagniappe defined: A marketing lagniappe, i.e. purple goldfish,  is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a ‘little something extra’. It’s that unexpected surprise that’s thrown in for good measure.

How do you stand out in the sea of sameness? How do you win repeat customers and influence word of mouth?  Are you Giving Little Unexpected Extras?

What’s Your GLUE?

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