Inflatable Rats and Tired Tactics: Time for New Marketing for Unions

Pardon me as I do a brief Jerry Seinfeld impression:

"Have you ever noticed these inflatable rats that union guys put up?"

For the past few weeks, I've driven by a construction site for what appears to be a new bank. Every morning like clockwork I also see one or two sorry looking guys standing out on the sidewalk with signs on their chest, milling around a giant inflatable rat, like the one pictured at right. It's a rather surreal scene.

I can't help but think that there's gotta be a better way to protest the growth of a non-union building, as they're attempting to do.

Here's how I see it:

• In general, union memberships are down from historical highs in the 1950s when about a third of all workers were in a union. Today it's plunged to around 13 percent, according to this Encarta article.
  
• Whether properly deserved or not, unions have a checkered image in today's world. From the Jimmy Hoffa days of mobster ties, to today's impression that union workers are unproductive, unions need all the help they can get if they want to survive.
  
• It's 2007 and marketing has become a virtual science on changing people's decisions and behaviors. If you have a positive association with a "brand", you are much more likely to buy that brand over a competitor's brand. Case in point-- would you rather have a Lexus or a Ford Pinto? That's branding power (or lack thereof, as the case may be).
  
• The "brand" of unions pretty much bites the big one. Though unions stand up for the rights of their workers, which I think is generally a good thing, there's no way unions will survive if they don't improve their image. It's really that simple.

So back to the inflatable rat image. Suppose you're a parent with a 10-year-old child in the car driving past this inflatable rat. Junior asks you why they have that big scary rat by the building. Without getting technical, what are you going to say? Perhaps explain what a union is all about and the cause they're trying to support. But inevitably, that kid is going to connect the huge ugly rat with workers' unions and pretty much be totally disenchanted with the union "brand" because he made the connection between "ugly" and "unions". And for that matter-- so will many adults! This article from FastCompanymagazine claims otherwise, citing a union leader as saying that businesses go bonkers when they see that inflatable rat outside their store, but my hunch is that that's just a temporary frustration, rather than any kind of a long-term effect that might incite change.

Ok, so in sum, the point I'm trying to make here is that image is everything, and the image of unions is that of strong arming, inflatable rats, and smoke-breaks, which is not going to help recruit new members any time soon in my humble opinion. Granted, I'm not suggesting that stringing up inflatable butterflies and flying kites in front of non-union businesses will do the job of changing people's minds, but in my opinion a cleaner, friendlier, smarter image will be needed if they want to prove to the public that they're still a viable option in today's world.

"What's the deal with these inflatable rats?"

Stand Out from the Crowd: A Marketing Lesson from Zorro

In my other (new and equally remarkable!) blog, Philly Sports Quest, I referenced a story about a Phillies game I went to about 10 years ago at the late, great Veterans Stadium. To summarize, the gist of the story pertained to a rather unusual guy who dressed in an outfit that looked like Zorro and walked by himself around the circular walkway the entire game. I, along with many others, was thoroughly impressed by the fact that he would have the idea and the wherewithall to pull off this mini-stunt, so my friends and I and other fans around us cheered for him every time he walked by.

Well, in my humble opinion, having worked in marketing for a couple of years, I must say that that's some excellent marketing right there.

Generally the way marketing works is a person/company/organization tries to find a way to interrupt a person's day with a brief message about said person/company/organization in order to encourage you to do business with same person/company/organization. You, as an innocent bystander (aka- target audience), didn't necessarily ask for that message to be brought into your life, but for a brief moment... there it is. You can choose to either tune it out or act upon it in some way. And so marketing is measured in how many people act upon your message. But I digress.

Getting back to Zorro... this guy interrupted the game I was watching by walking in front of me and catching my attention, multiple times during the game. Thousands of other people undoubtedly walked in front of me that game, but I have no recollection of any of them. Only Zorro. And that was roughly 10 years ago. He found a way to stand out from the "clutter" of other "interruptions", and leave an indellible mark in my memory. He even found a way to grow his own fan base-- the ultimate mark of a successful brand. And he did all this without a massive budget, or even having to say a word, or brandish a word or logo on his body.

That's how you market right there.

Lessons from a Magnetic Dart Board

As I sit at my computer here at home, I have the pleasure of being able to gaze at my Simpsons magnetic dart board that I got as an engagement gift from my parents (presumably because my lovely fiancee got all the other gifts), featuring classic characters from the show-- namely Homer, Moe, Duffman, and more. Simple, innocent, and good old-fashioned fun stuff.

But in staring at this dart board, in a moment of introspection, I realize this particular magnetic dart board may have a lesson or two glaring right at me, such as...

1. Creativity goes a lonnnnnngggggg way. The Simpsons have been around for a good 17 years or so and going strong (they even have a Simpsons movie coming out). It's the creative characters, story lines, and humor that has kept them around for so long. And expanding the product line to a dart board, a Homermobile model (also hanging on my wall), and so on and so forth show the strength of the creativity of this famous brand.

2. A magnetic dart board is a very imprecise game. You toss the dart at it, the dart slips a little bit once it hits the board, and the magnetic point is so wide that you can hit a fairly broad area, thus overlapping on different scores. "So?" you ask. So, just think about how imprecise life is, and how not everything is perfect, yet you can still hit the mark, without having to make the perfect shot each time.

3. Darts are fun!

Now, I wonder what lessons we can learn from donuts....