As we all know by now, eco-friendly positioning and promotion — you know, going green — can appeal to a diverse audience of brand-passionate consumers, stimulating sales for and bonding a stronger loyalty to your brand.Of course, when you're really creative about it, you get the added bump of public relations buzz, in both traditional and social media.
Ripon College is one of those really-creative-about-it organizations. A small liberal arts college of approximately 1,000 students in Ripon, Wisconsin (claims to fame: Harrison Ford was a student here and Speed Queen appliances are made here), the school's marketing minds jumped on the green machine to offer incoming freshman a free (yes, free) Trek 820 mountain bike, free (yes, free) Trek Vapor bike helmet and free (yes, free) Master Lock U-Lock — if they promised to keep their gas-consuming wheels at home.
Oh, and rah-rah marketing bonus: All products are manufactured in Wisconsin.
But the positive bottom lines are many. First, more than 60% of all incoming freshman took the college up on the deal, helping (albeit in a small way) Ripon College reduce its carbon footprint. Second, the school got significant buzz regionally and even nationally, helping elevate its awareness and image. And third, those partnering Wisconsin products (Trek Bicycles and Master Lock) enjoyed a little "PR free ride" on top of the bikes.
Our view? Kudos to Ripon College for the strategy, the creativity, the wheeling (no pun) and the dealing to pull this very attention-getting promo off. Our counsel? Demand that your agency incessantly puts the pedal to the metal and delivers creative marketing like this.
SOURCE: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, NOISE
Reported by: John Sprecher
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