Fly on the E-Commerce Cyberwall

The Value of an Original Idea
Watching the Thanksgiving Day football games, I was surprised at the number of luxury car commercials that encourage people to give a $50,000 car as a Christmas present.

(BTW, what is the average income of NFL fans that the car companies think a $50,000 present is within reach of those watching the games?)

But what really struck me was the advantage that the first company to run this kind of campaign had given themselves by being first to do it. A few years ago, Lexus pioneered this Christmas-gift campaign with ads where the gift giver presented the recipient with a Lexus with a big, red bow on top.

This year, I counted only one ad like that. But EVERY TIME I saw a give-our-luxury-car-as-a-Christmas-gift ad by another car maker, I thought of Lexus. I had to consciously make a point of watching for the commercial to identify the make of car it was promoting.

In essence, by being the first to come up with this type of campaign, Lexus had turned EVERY copycat ad by EVERY copycat advertiser into an ad for Lexus.

It just goes to show what power there is in an original idea. An original idea, well executed, can associate your product so strongly in people's minds that once it is ingrained there, even your competitors' attempts to copy your success does more to bring your product to mind than it does to promote theirs.

So what original ideas can you come up with for your business?
Jeff

Labels: creativity, promote business