The Power Play

This promotional campaign strategy is designed to revitalize a stale sales pipeline or announce an emerging product or service in a crowded marketplace. In this campaign strategy you have to think big—really big.

Here’s an example of a successful power play Taco Bell ran a few years ago. The promotion was that if the failing NASA satellite, while falling to earth, hit the Taco Bell platform floating in the ocean, everyone on earth got one of their new tacos.

The satellite landed no where near the platform but the promotion was a success nonetheless. It garnered world-wide press attention as all eyes were fixed on the Branded platform.

Consider an even more relevant promotional play. A real estate company offering a sweepstakes to win an entire Island in the tropics. Talk about location, location, location! If you sell computers for home or office use, offer a custom-built super-computer!

The key is to think big. The larger the net lifetime value of a single new customer, the larger (and more attention-worthy) the promotion.  As a rule of thumb, if your hands aren’t a little sweaty, you’re not thinking big enough.