The Messaging Times

Post script: a tween is a widely used marketing term for a preteen or a preteenager - a person under the age of thirteen years of age who is between adolescence and teenage years. Generally the term is restricted to those close to reaching the age of thirteen, especially boys aged 11-12 years old, and girls aged 12 years old.

Marketers are always looking for a reason to link products and services to special events. A couple of years ago, I wrote about my surprise that Halloween is considered by some retail marketers to be a gift-giving occasion.

Now, it appears that Cinco de Mayo gives cause for celebration in marketing departments too. If you haven’t received any Cinco de Mayo emails yourself yet, the Retail Email Blog provides an example of one from Fingerhut.

What better reason to buy jewelery, silverware, furniture, cookware, electronics, clothing and other knickknacs than the day that commemorates the Mexican army’s unlikely defeat of French forces at the Battle of Puebla on May 5, 1862? I mean, it just makes sense.

The thing is, marketers don’t need a special occasion to promote products or services. It is common practice to create a promotional event for no reason at all. But it is a marketer’s job to create a story. And it is often easier and sometimes more effective when the story involves an occasion that is already known (at least by name) by the audience. It helps even more when the existing event involves celebrations of some kind (i.e. Thanksgiving, Christmas, the 4th of July, etc.)

Of course, when you share the storyboard with every other competitor in your market, your promotion can often become diluted. So it’s important to create your own unique stories as well. And as always, the value of your offer will ultimately determine if it is worthy of the audience’s attention and action.

Here’s an example of a clever campaign by LeapFrog that found its way into my inbox last October. Notice the request to whitelist their new email address and a link to a web version in case the colorful HTML promotion below gets suppressed in some inboxes.

The Subject Line “This Halloween, Give Treats for their Minds” is followed by the catchy call-to-consider slogan, “Treat Your Kids to Some Brain Candy”. I recently returned to the US after 10 years in Europe and didn’t realize that Halloween was had become a gift-giving holiday until my sister-in-law confirmed it last year. I suppose Christmas is just around the corner, isn’t it?

In the body of the message, Leap Frog displays their “3 Favorite” Leapster Learning Games and “3 Favorite” LeapPad Books. On the side of each trio of products there is a nice green (for go) button that says “Shop all Leapster” or “Shop all LeapPad”.

Overall, I thought that the campaign was eye catching and clean.

I wonder if I’ll get any presents on Columbus Day?