Filed under: Minnesota Marketing, Remarkable Blogs and Sites | Tags: Chocolate Rain, Minnesota Music, Tay Zonday, YouTube Video Awards
A 25-year-old University of Minnesota grad Adam Bahner, better known as “Tay Zonday” climbed the YouTube charts in 2007 and is now being acknowledged for it. Zonday is one of 12 winners of the second annual YouTube Video Awards, recognizing the top user-created videos of 2007. His song and music video “Chocolate Rain” has been viewed over 15 million times. Zonday recorded the video in his Minneapolis living room in a make-shift studio space made of two-by-fours and bed sheets.
Filed under: National Marketing & Advertising, Remarkable Blogs and Sites | Tags: bad commercials, Car Commercials, car dealership, Family Auto Mart, Infomercials, the family man
Just when you think you have seen the worst display of self-promotion, along comes “The Family Man.” He wrote, directed, and stars in his own infomercial for his Family Auto Mart car dealership in Florida. Watch if you dare, but head to the bathroom first. You may wet yourself watching this assclownery. Look out Denny Hecker, if this guy comes to Minnesota, you might be in trouble. Whoa!!!
Click for Family Auto Mart Informercial
Filed under: National Marketing & Advertising, Remarkable Blogs and Sites | Tags: Hotel Marketing, Marketing, Motel 6, Motel Marketing, Motel Six, Podcast, Podcast Best Practices, Tom Bodett, We'll leave the light on for ya
Motel 6 has a series of Podcasts that are actually well done. The use of Podcasts for this company is an interesting marketing idea; subtly brilliant, actually. We all know the voice of Tom Bodett and his token phrase, “We’ll leave the light on for you.” Did you know he ad-libbed that phrase in the studio back in 1986? Anyway, his voice is unpretentious and speaks to the kinds of people who call Minnesota home. The Tom Bodett “Podcasts” are really good, longer radio spots, but they are pretty funny. They’re not overproduced, not too long, and they entertain. Keep in mind that most Podcasts should have a two-way dialogue, but when the copy is this good, Motel 6 can get away with it. Listen here. Motel 6 also brought in Jack Hanna of Letterman fame to do some reads about traveling with your pet — a great tie-in considering Motel 6 is the “Pet Friendly” motel.
Filed under: Minnesota Marketing, Remarkable Blogs and Sites | Tags: Customer Service, Edina Minnesota, Ethan Esparza, Ethan's Lemonade, Lemonade Stand Marketing, Marketing in Minnesota
Near 50th and France Ave., there is a lemonade stand that is giving away free lessons in marketing. Twelve-year-old Ethan Esparza has been in buisness for nearly five years now (most new businesses make it that long) and has grown it on a solid foundation of simple, yet sound, marketing principles: dress for success, location-location-location, good product, simple pricing, and a genuine care for his customers. It’s worked so well that some people simply just give him money for being nice. This tells me that customers these days are desperate to be treated well.In the past four summers, this little lemonade slinger has raked in nearly $3000. Not bad for a one-man shop selling a beverage for 25 cents. Keep an eye on this one. We may see him on the cover of Forbes one day. He already has plans for a cafe and a line of kid-friendly cleaning supplies. Check out his webpage to request an autographed picture and get a copy of his first book, “Money from Lemons.” This story was also recently featured on Kare 11 (NBC affiliate). Check out the video here.
Filed under: National Marketing & Advertising, Remarkable Blogs and Sites | Tags: Baseball website, Brewer's Blog, Brewer's Marketing, Brewers Baseball, Fan Marketing, Pee Your Pants, Sports Marketing, UGC
This is one of the better consumer-generated marketing campaigns I have seen in awhile. Take a die-hard baseball fan with pent-up frustration, some html, and a petition, and you can get people involved in the ultimate of all rallies. Visit http://www.peeyourpantsforthebrewers.com// to see for yourself. This Brewers fan has asked people to pledge to pee their pants if the Brewers go to the playoffs this year. The petition page is hilarious. The idea is remarkable. And it should garner the team a lot of press … especially if they make it. If the numbers get high enough, the Guinness Book of World Records may place this with other Wisconsin records like cheese and serial killers.
Filed under: Minnesota Marketing, Remarkable Blogs and Sites | Tags: Minnesota Marketing, Coffee shop marketing, Coffee & Tea Limited, USP, Cat Poop Coffee, small business USP, Kopi Luwak, Civet Cat
This family-owned coffee shop has been in business since the 1970s and its success hasn’t come through sheer luck. With a 100 year old roaster in the front window, you can often find the owner Jim there roasting beans for his customers. They sell coffee and tea varieties from more than 65 countries, including Rwanda and the Galapagos. They have succeeded by being passionate about coffee. If you are looking for a selection of coffee you can brew yourself, look no further than Coffee & Tea Ltd. in SW Minneapolis.
If you are searching for an example of creating a remarkable small business USP, look no further than Fluffy’s litter box. If you are really having a tough morning, maybe you should pour yourself a cup of Kopi Luwak. It’s made from red beans that have been eaten and shit out by the Civet Cat from Indonesia. And while you might have to pay me to drink this stuff, Edina housewives are shelling out $420 per pound for this stuff at Coffee & Tea Ltd. Now that’s a USP!
