A few days ago as I was leaving the office for the night, I walked to my car and was surprised to find an imprinted reusable grocery bag hanging from my driver’s side mirror. I can’t lie; at first I was a little startled by the bag. I didn’t see it until I rounded the corner of my car, and I wasn’t expecting anything but the mirror to be there. But once I glanced around the parking lot to see the same white grocery bag hanging from the mirrors of all the other cars, I realized it was an advertisement.
Of course, I wasn’t going to stand outside and read the contents, so I tossed the bag onto my passenger seat and headed home. While I intended to take the bag home and check it out there, curiosity got the best of me on my drive and I ended up reading the entire message printed on that bag at various red lights.
So what’s the moral of my story? Apparently flyers aren’t the only thing people are leaving on cars these days! While I wouldn’t advise that you go hanging bags and other various promotional products on cars in parking lots (I did have mixed feelings about it, and I’m not even all that crazy about my car), I did think it said a lot about marketing in our society.
Savvy marketers are moving away from the disposable and concentrating on making longer lasting advertising impressions. When this company left bags on our cars, they literally put their brand into my hands. I got a new grocery bag and a constant reminder of their business. Not only was I exposed to their message, but they’ll gain even more advertising impressions every time I take their bag to the grocery store.
Again, I’m not saying you should run out and hang bags on the mirrors of the cars in your lot, but unexpected promotional advertising can be an effective means of getting your message out there.
Kim
Marketing Coordinator