Adding "Potential" Value

Situation

We have often worked with clients who have been looking for ways to reach people better in some kind of information fair setting. They inevitably have some information they want to pass along and have usually captured it in the form of a simple flyer, but as is often the case with flyers people are not particularly interested in taking one. Often they think, “I’ll just look up the information later when I get around to it.” To make matters worse, a setting like an information fair is a very passive one where exhibitors wait for people to express interest before they can make any kind of connection.

Solution

A fundamental principle of Woolston Inventive is that our marketing is far more effective when we add value, when we give people a reason to take or receive the message we are trying to convey.

We helped the Indianapolis Opera do this in an early spring community arts fair setting. They were seeking to promote their summer Vocal Arts Camp and had put together a flyer with all of the information anyone would need. If someone was already interested in the program they would find this to be a tremendously detailed reference. To generate interest however it was less effective, and even a little overwhelming.

We drew upon the universal love of puzzles to complement the information with a word search. We kept the visual identity of their detailed flyer as well as the handy QR code, and replaced the rest of the information with an inviting scramble of letters! Now the staff could share either or both flyers with people stopping by.

The concept of a puzzle like a word search is powerful because it creates “potential” value. People are interested in taking and keeping the puzzle because they know that they will enjoy doing it at some point. In the format of a flyer, or postcard, or handout, one can easily keep it handy and do the puzzle when there is a little free time... and in the meantime it is constantly reinforcing your brand! You can complement the puzzle with an endless combination of your brand and identity, important information, reminders, etc. And just as appealingly, the ROI is enormous if only because the cost of printed paper is so low relative to most other marketing productions.

We used this same technique to help IU Indianapolis in similar fashion. The university has been involved in a neighborhood block party for the adjacent community for years but previously their presence has not been particularly remarkable because college is not top-of-mind for most of those enjoying the block party (beyond the fact that the university is adjacent). We branded a word search so that attendees would take a copy and keep it handy. The goal of this word search was little more than increasing the staying power of the brand, so we kept the additional content simple by including only a QR code in addition to the prominent branding. We developed three versions of increasing complexity which proved to be an effective way to appeal to a wide range of ages, from young children who could take the simple version to adults who could take the most complex one.

Success

The effectiveness of this tool will be immediately apparent to anyone who tries it out, and was evident for both of these clients. Instantly the Indianapolis Opera found that more people were interested in learning more and they gave out far more information through this method. Likewise for IU Indianapolis, the word search puzzles were incredibly popular and we couldn’t print enough; many people actually wanted all three versions—and we were more than happy for them to take all three as it only extended the impact of the branding!