The late, great, American Top 40 host Casey Kasem would sign off his broadcast with his signature phrase “Keep your feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars.” He did this because he did not like saying goodbye. This phrase could not be any more fitting when you are facing challenges in developing great ideas. Keeping your feet on the ground is easy, reaching for the stars when your feet are firmly in a rock-bottom moment in your business life is an entirely different experience altogether. It is the exact experience you need when you want to reach for the stars and deliver a great idea that generates results.
The Rock Bottom Moment
A hot spring day in D/FW delivered a rock-bottom moment for me and my marketing team. We were executing a marketing program for a major telecommunications company going into neighborhoods and building interest and more importantly sales for a broadband internet service. After months of planning and proposing the day to launch had arrived. We developed a tactic that would put us on the doorstep of the consumer. As in, I was standing on the doorstep of the consumer in a neighborhood of about 400 homes. We had canvassed, advertised and hyped a community event at home that was an expo of sorts, food, entertainment and tech demos. The game day arrived and for the next 4 hours we saw a total of 3 people. Three people was our record high attendance.
The Idea Pivot Point
We were a frustrated, okay more accurately we were completely embarrassed. In an instant, the sharp bite of reality set in and I questioned everything about my ability as a marketer. If you have ever arrived at this moment in your career it is a humbling experience and a pivotal moment, because it is in this rock bottom moment opportunity, could be omnipresent. A few moments later as I stood in an empty neighborhood my colleague heard the ever so familiar music coming from an ice cream truck. He saw the opportunity immediately and there in discovered how to reach people in their neighborhood in a delightful and unconventional way. A big expo may have sounded and looked good on paper, but a free ice cream is what would get people to respond.
Sweet Outcome
Two months later our same client was launching an all-fiber network and needed a tactic that could get them into select neighborhoods. The current build out did not allow for mass media tactics and they needed to be specific in where they could engage consumers as some streets could receive the service and 3 streets over could not. From that hot spring day two months ago an idea was developed into a program that eventually spread to over seven states in dozens of markets and would deliver to our client penetration rates that doubled their mandated goal.
With our feet firmly planted in the rock bottom pit, we reached for the stars and created a program that became an award winning field activation campaign and received national media exposure. The failure of the initial expo plan taught us that one idea may not be the best solution but being aware of opportunities 100 feet away can be a game changer as long as you keep reaching.