The Boston Globe just documented why the Boston Red Sox are not only talented on the field, but happen to be some of the savviest marketers in the sports and entertainment business.
If you happen to live in New England, you know that Red Sox tickets are nearly impossible to buy at face value. Unless you get lucky with occasional Website lotteries, you absolutely have to know somebody or know somebody who knows somebody to even have the opportunity to purchase overpriced box seats.
So if Fenway Park sells out every night, why are the Red Sox bothering to advertise at all -- let alone turn a mundane moving van into a marketing/branding billboard on wheels?
The reason is that you can't rest on your laurels. Every opportunity needs to be maximized as a marketing opportunity. The Red Sox, with scouts in Korea, Japan and throughout the Carribbean, are a global brand with a global fan base. Every motorist who lays eyes on that truck -- from Boston to Florida -- ia a potential customer of Sox hats, jerseys, sweatpants, etc.
The Red Sox, heavily pushing a sponsorship deal with Jet Blue, also went crazy with promotional giveaway items such as these foam sports fan #1 fingers:
If you want to give away a fun souvenir at your marketing event, context is everything. At a sports event, foam fingers make all the sense in the world. People will naturally be drawn to them and won't need any prodding to use them and get your branding message out there.
On the beach, opt for printing your logo and slogan on a personalized umbrella and watch the mobs scramble for shade under your marketing pitch. At a computer or biotech trade show, potential clients will gobble up promotional USB flash drives.
At a seminar where participants are being bombarded with documents and paperwork, perhaps a branded presentation folder or accordion folder will make you somewhat of an organizational hero.
Remember to brand yourself the Red Sox way. Even the most mundane events, such as a truck moving equipment from point A to point B, can present itself as a tremendous marketing opportunity!
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Photo credits: The Boston Globe's "Red Sox Truck Day" Slideshow