Turning marketing upside down this Christmas

Have you ever stood in “wonder” at those streets with lighting and decorations everywhere? Are the neighbours trying to outdo each other, or thinking more lights equals more celebration? More and more lights, it’s like shouting louder and LOUDER. Is that what’s Christmas becoming, is Christmas merging with marketing? Is marketing about shouting LOUDER? I recently saw something different in a shop; an upside down Christmas tree. The owner told me we’ve only got a few as they won’t appeal to everybody. Those who do can afford the extra fittings and won’t quibble amount the price, so they make a higher margin. I thought that’s interesting, it’s not louder, but different. Of course it wasn’t as different as my favourite Christmas tree, here I was decorating it.

Where else would my tree be, but underwater?

How can you turn your marketing upside down?

What can you take from that idea? Is there a small offering you could make to your more discerning clients?  Could you add  a small service to some clients? That’s less focus on shouting loudly and more focus on what specific, loyal clients might want (and pay for). What could you learn from:

• the print company that allows their clients to take their leaflets over 6 months and change design midway
• the Graphic designer who includes a logo refresh, two years after the initial order
• the web designer who hosts a quarterly forum on new techniques in the industry
• the graphic design company who gives their clients the copyright to the work (Oh, didn’t you know that designers legally own the copyright?) and register it for them.

How could you adapt these ideas? Do your clients realise what you already do for them? I was shocked to see how many irrelevant cold calls my phone answering service shield me from and pleased I don’t get bothered with them.

 What will turn your marketing upside down this Christmas? Can you be different, not louder?