Buzz Builder

The Green Dragon Bistro and Brewpub and Kenny & Zuke's Invite Buzz with Novel Financing

Jonathan Brinckman has a fascinating article  on Page One of the business section in today's issue of The Oregonian on how The Green Dragon Bistro and Brewpub and Kenny & Zuke's Restaurant  in Portland are appealing to beer lovers and foodies respectively for initial financing. Both businesses are scheduled to open this October.

In the case of The Green Dragon Bistro and Brewpub, people who give $2,500 become "founders." The cash is a personal loan to Jim Parker, one of the pub's four owners. Founders are paid back $500 for five years, have a guaranteed seat at a bar stool with their name on it, enjoy a first beer each night for free, receive a mug with their name etched on it, and get 10 percent off their tab for five years.

Kenny & Zuke's Restaurant is declaring people who give $2,000 as "members." The cash is an advance purchase. Members get $2,400 in transferable gift certificates spread out equally over 24 months, 20 percent off catering services, invitations to all restaurant parties and two Kenny & Zuke's T-shirts.

I just spoke with another Portland restaurateur who is struggling to create buzz for his newly-opened restaurant, and I'm sure that he would have benefited from an arrangement similar to those above. Just imagine the commitment that people lending you money have to see you succeed. How can they not become excellent sources of positive word of mouth? Furthermore, attracting such financial support before you open your doors is a wonderful way to convince the media that your place is worthy of their attention. In fact, I'm so impressed with the creativity of The Green Dragon Bistro and Brewpub and Kenny & Zuke's Restaurant that I'm curious to try them when they open. If their food creativity matches their financial imagination, I'm sure that I'll be in for a treat.

Freshpet Builds Buzz Through My Dog Bella's Blog

I was reading my dog Bella's blog (yes, you read that correctly) and she provides a great example of a pet food company carrying out a clever word of mouth marketing campaign.

Bella was bit surprised when she bit through the envelope and read the letter offering free food. But, being the trusting and hungry dog that she is, she took Freshpet up on its offer for complimentary samples of their new Homestyle Select dog food in exchange for a possible review. She ended up giving the food a "two paws up" rating.

The initial offer for Bella to try the product came via a personalized email from a company intern asking that Bella respond by August 26 since his internship will end then. The letter was short, to the point, and, most importantly, a personal appeal.

I'm surprised that more companies like Freshpet aren't reaching out to bloggers. Good bloggers like Bella have credibility and relationships with their readers that traditional advertisers lack so their recommendations carry weight. Furthermore, anytime a blogger writes about a product and includes a link to a company's website, it increases that website's search engine ranking since search engines value links from credible blogs. Come to think of it, by blogging about Bella's recommendation of  Freshpet, I too am helping that company's search engine ranking.

Reaching out to bloggers is not about spending a lot of money nor trying to portray yourself as something your aren't. Rather, it's about telling bloggers what makes you, your product, or your company different and why that information would be interesting to their readers. And, if you have something you can give away to prove your point, you certainly should.

New Seasons Uses Savvy Marketing and Merchandising to Build Buzz

In my hometown of Portland, Oregon, New Seasons , a local grocery store chain, is ringing up high sales in spite of highly competitive marketplace featuring major national players including Whole Foods, Safeway, Albertson's, Fred Meyer, Trader Joe's, Wild Oats, etc. New Seasons has done an excellent job staking out the position as the responsible and fun local place to shop through its innovative marketing and merchandising.

While New Seasons runs local newspaper ads, it takes an entirely different approach than that of other stores. The weekly ads for New Seasons feature a handful of product in attractive layouts. Rather than focusing on price, they romance the origin of the food sources and their high-quality. Notably absent are the screaming low price messages and cluttered pages that other grocers feature.

Over the past few months, New Seasons has been highlighting the local farmers and ranchers who supply their stores. New Seasons oftentimes features one of their producers in their weekly newspaper insert while others can be found in front of their stores on weekends talking to people about their products.  In a liberal city like Portland where people like supporting the economic Davids vs. the Goliaths, it's a strategy that makes a lot of sense and creates loyal shoppers.

Recently, I've become a regular viewer of the well-produced videos  on the New Seasons website featuring the locals who raise the fruit, vegetables, dairy items, and meats that they sell. What a brilliant way to sell the sizzle rather than the steak! With such savvy marketing, it's no wonder that New Seasons is able to sell its goods at a premium.

The Retrofits: Viral Marketing Ideas for Up-And-Coming Band in Portland, Oregon

Yesterday, I heard the Portland, Oregon-based band call The Retrofits  for the second time. They played most of the tunes from their debut album Away from Hear. I liked their great sound, which combines the instrumentation of a jazz ensemble with the catchy melodies and arrangements of a mainstream rock band, so much that I bought their CD.

When you listen to The Retrofits on the band's MySpace page, I bet you'll agree that they deserve success. However, with thousands of bands launching albums every year, it is increasingly difficult for a new band, even a very talented one like The Retrofits, to make it big. Standard promotion techniques such as free tracks available on MySpace, playing at local festivals and venues, and touring small clubs around the country are just not sufficient to create buzz because so many other bands are doing the same thing.

The Retrofits need to find innovative ways to get in front of people who don't know them. On the The Retrofits' website, they are smart to collect people's names and emails. And, they even ask whether folks would be willing to promote the band as "RetroFriends." If you click yes, you see a page  that say "RetroFriends are fans and friends of ours that help us out with everything that goes along with promoting the band. You can be involved as much or as little as you would like. In return, you can get fun stuff."

The RetroFriends should be asked to do some important things for the band such as spreading the band's online buzz. On Amazon, there is only one customer review of the album. On CD BABY, there are no reviews. On Apple iTunes, there are five reviews but none since March 2, 2007. The band should appeal to their fans to review them on influential websites where the CD is available for sale. Also, running a check on Technorati, I saw only a couple of blog posts about the bands. The RetroFriends need to get out their and start sharing their passion for the band on popular music and cultural blogs.

Also, the band should send out an email to all their contacts with an MP3 attachment of the most popular track on the album.  The message that should accompany the track should be simple such as "Hey, I hope you're having a great summer! Thanks for supporting our band over the years. We're having a blast playing songs from our debut ablum Away from Here.  In case you haven't picked up a copy of the CD, you can do so at iTunes, Amazon, or CD BABY or from Music  Millenium stores in Portland. We're also attaching a free track from the album with this email. If you like it, please forward it to your friends. Thanks and we hope to see you at one of our shows soon. You can check out our touring schedule and more free songs at our MySpace page."