Restaurant Marketing Ideas Blog

Restaurant Marketing Idea 101 Name Give-Aways

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Ever had a restaurant marketing idea in the middle of the night only to have it drift off as you snooze? Here is an idea for your marketing campaign and a tool to assist you.

I used to work for .... we will call him Steve...... He would ask, "Why don't we give away something to everyone named John?  Or Sue?  Or...." The purpose, of course, was to create a buzz in the community and get people talking.

No one ever did follow up on his marketing idea.  Is it because there was no Internet? Was it too scary?  Too hard? 

Check this out.  For your next restaurant marketing campaign, there is a website that will actually tell you how many people have the same name.  First, last and combined names.  There are 96 other people with the name Michael Hartzell.  Go figure. I am not unique anymore.  Sad.

 Here is what I found for Michael Hartzell on howmanyofme.com:

(This is an old idea in my mind... I've seen it on reader boards.  But if you take the old idea, combine it with this internet site data, and use social media as the means to get the buzz.... it's a new game folks.)

Here is the restaurant marketing idea.  Actually, it could be used for any type of business.

1. Find a name or simply pick one out of a hat at random.
2. Find out how many have the name.  (i.e. There are 44,526 people named John Smith in the United States.)
3. Give every person who has the name something so awesome that it will make their jaw drop.  (They still say that don't they? jaw drop?)
4. Give it a time deadline.
5. Be sure to have the fine print.... rules... etc.
   
6. Set up a system to check them off (excel spreadsheet should be fine) and be sure there are no duplicates.
7. Then announce it.  Simple to do in the day of social media.
• Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Myspace, Youtube and dozens of other resources.

The question in my mind will be "Is your stuff any good?"

Will friends tell friends?  Will it get spread around?

The best part?  Using this online tool, you can know in advance what the worst case scenario is... the highest cost.  How many names are there?

The point is this.  It's Christmas, then New Year's.  2010 will be the same unless you do something unbelievable every so often.  Sometimes it works.... sometimes not.  What if this doesn't work?  You are out only time.  Nothing I have talked about costs money until .... the people with the name you selected start making claims.

Pick a more popular name.  Pick just a first name.  Pick just a last... 

Just don't be fearful.  The goal is:  awareness, attention, connection, top of mind.  To do this in the old days?  It would cost money:  TV, Radio, Newspaper.  Now you take on the social media and millions might give you a voice.

Go ahead, pick my name.  Love free stuff.  The challenge will be how will you be sure I know about it using the new social media tools.  Will you have something so amazing that people will go out of their way to pass it on?

Click it ... check your name out.  Don't look at it as a fun tool, think of it as a business marketing tool.

Quote:  "The greater the idea, the more resistance it will receive"  unknown

Thanks @MarcDeCaria for sharing the link on Twitter!