It was during the welcome reception. You know the one. A complimentary glass of fizz when everybody is supposed to be mixing, but it’s just an excuse for the resort to do some pitching.
The diving guys had all their kit set up, the excursion table had brochures and the managers nodded and asked, ‘So where are you from?’
It was a Mark Warner resort (lots of tennis courts); the young professional was looking for business and he had one hour.
So what to do?
He simply worked the room and introduced himself to everyone with this:
‘At six, I'll be on the main court. Play one game against me and if you can win a point, I'll buy you a beer. If you can win the game… I'll buy everyone a beer.’
This would be a pretty cool challenge to watch. And hey, maybe there would be free beer.
But then he revealed the kicker.
‘By the way, you can use a tennis racket; I'll be using this.’
And at that point he would hold up… a frying pan.
I had absolutely no interest in tennis, but I wasn't going to miss this for the world.
And as it happened, neither were the 60 others who turned up for the show.
I can't remember the details of exactly how many beers he had to ‘buy’ but I do know that for the rest of the week from 7am to midday and 3pm until late he was full with high paying private clients.
Of course, nosey Michael had to have a chat.
Just as expected, he confirmed that once he hit on the Frying Pan Challenge he was guaranteed to fill every slot for the rest of the week.
For the first few months, he had a table and a couple of roller posters: ‘How do you sell tennis from a table?’
If you don't stand out - you’re part of the background.
Whatever your passion, to differentiate in a fun and interesting way will always pay back.
Do you have any examples of brilliant, fun marketing ideas? I'd love you to share them on the web version of this newsletter here.
Be Brilliant!
