I just posted a YouTube video @ marketinglagniappe.com to highlight the upcoming book and promote ‘The Purple Goldfish Project’.

I‘m pretty excited.  I’m now 100% laser focused on the manuscript for my upcoming book:

Marketing Lagniappe ‘In Search of Your Purple Goldfish’

I’ve just launched the website that will support the book.  You can check it out www.marketinglagniappe.com or just click on the image above.

9 INCH MARKETING will pretty much be on hiatus as I concentrate on finishing the manuscript.  My goal is to be finished writing by March 1st.

CALL FOR HELP:

I’m still looking for examples for The Purple Goldfish Project.  We’re currently at 120 examples.  Help me catch a purple goldfish or two as the end goal is to find 1,001 examples.  Click on the image below to submit an example:

A week before Thanksgiving I launched PROJECT: Purple Goldfish.  I’m on a quest to collect 1,001 examples of marketing lagniappe for my upcoming book, MARKETING LAGNIAPPE – In Search of Your Purple Goldfish.   For each example I am donating a non perishable food item to the Thomas Merton Center in Bridgeport, CT.

The response has been fantastic.  I thought it would fun to compile my second Top Ten list from numbers #51 to #100.  Without further adieu . . .

10.  Fairfield Granite (#59 submitted by my Father in Law Fred Wills)  ”I recently had my countertops changed at my condo in Shelton, CT. My contractor Fairfield Granite did a great job of installing the granite countertops. They were meticulous with the measurements and did a flawless job with the installation. The bonus or lagniappe was that they presenting me with a granite cutting board that was mounted nicely with rubber cushions. It was totally unexpected and most appreciated. I’ve since told many other neighbors at the wonderful job done by Fairfield Granite and now two of them are in the process of contacting them about a replacement.”

9.  Lou Mitchell’s (#83 submitted by CAA’s Simon Green) “There are reasons native Chicagoans and tourists alike consider Lou Mitchell’s a must-visit — from the donut holes and milk duds while you wait to the double-yolk eggs that make every dish even more sinfully indulgent, Lou’s knows how to do breakfast. Located in the South Loop, the restaurant has been a Chicago institution since 1923, and decades later, they’re still dishing out thick French toast, enormous platters of pancakes, fresh-baked pastries, and of course, those famous skillets. The extras are just as delectable. Lou’s boasts pure maple syrup, fresh-squeezed orange juice and slabs of toast served with every omelet. Be prepared to make some new friends — chances are good you’ll be seated next to strangers at one of the lengthy tables. Even if you don’t bond with fellow diners, the employees’ perpetually friendly smiles — and free Milk Duds for the ladies — guarantee that you’ll want to return soon.”

8.  Martin + Osa (#86 submitted by David Ackerman) “Martin + Osa has a nice little Purple Goldfish. They offer you a complimentary bottle of water when you are shopping in the store. Not just an ordinary 8 ounce generic, they give you a decent sized bottle of FIJI. “

7.  Super Food Town (#71 submitted by Keith Green) “Free balloons and lollipops for the kids! Not that a grocery store isn’t enough fun for a three year old, but what kid doesn’t love a balloon and a free lolli? There isn’t a set place where they hand them out, but people actually find you in the aisle while you are shopping and hand the great freebies over to your child.”

6.  USAA (submitted by Liz DiLullo Brown) “USAA offers a program called Movers Advantage. The program recommends a realtor to use and the opportunity to earn rewards for going through the program. Our first key moment of lagniappe with USAA was when they offered to move UP our closing date. It took us a total of 3.5 weeks to close. In a time of mortgage crisis, they made it painless. Then after closing, we received a call from USAA. It was the representative for the Mover’s Advantage program. Because we had participated in the program and received our financing through USAA, they were sending us a check (equivelant to cash!) for $1,350. Yes, $1,350.”

5.  Carnival Cruises (#64 from Micky Baehr) “On Carnival cruises, each night after returning to your cabin, a towel is on your bed, cleaverly folded into various animal shapes … elephants, rabbit, giraffes, in addition to a good chocolate mint on your pillow. As if you need more food on a cruise!”

4. Grand Central Racquet (#63 from RD Ferman) “Allows customers to select from a box of grips, vibration stoppers, etc for purchases over $50″.

3. Horizon Air (#78 submitted by Marcia Hoover) “The best one I can think of is Horizon Air – the regional affiliate for Alaska Airlines. They have always served free beer and wine to all passengers on their flights. Given today’s economy and stifling service in the airline industry Horizon definitely stands out as a marketing lagniappe.”

2.  Stew Leonard’s (#96 submitted by moi) “Spend $100 or more at Stew Leonard’s and you receive a free ice cream or cup of coffee”.  [We put Stew's in the Purple Goldfish Hall of Fame.  Huge Bonus - Stew Leonard Sr. commented on the post.  Check it out]

drumroll please . . . . . . . and the #1 from our second Top 10 list is:

#1. Courtyard by Marriott (#57 submitted by PR Workbench’s and eNR’s Jack Monson)

“A few years ago, I was traveling to the Twin Cities often and stayed several times at the same Courtyard By Marriott in the suburb of Eden Prarie since it was close to two clients’ HQs. By the third trip in a few weeks’ time, I had a nice surprise waiting for me. I walked in after a cold and delayed trip from Chicago to see a big sign in the lobby saying “Welcome Jack Monson”. The manager informed me that I was their guest of the week and gave me a card for free breakfast in the morning. Not a huge thing, but guess where I continued to stay everytime I had to travel to Minneapolis over the next year…”

Unexpected – Jack as totally surprised when he walked through the door and saw his name.

Relevant – Jack travels all the time and it’s a nice little touch to be recognized as a frequent customer.

Limited – only one customer a week gets the honor.  Jack’s name handwritten on the whiteboard made him feel special.

Authentic – the manager hands Jack the free breakfast.  It’s a nice small gesture that leaves a positive note.

HELP me catch another 893 purple goldfishes for a great cause.  Click here to send me your example.

Here is a post from Joe Pulizzi at Junta42.  9 INCH MARKETING is proud to be part of the distinguished group of 300 blogs to make the list:

Our seventh official release of the Junta42 Top 42 Content Marketing Blogs again featured a record number of blogs (313 to be exact, which is about 30 more than our last update, and up from the 81 original blogs in 2007).

Congratulations to Lee Odden and team from TopRank for moving back into the top spot for the second time.

Congratulations to top 42 (below).  The entire list can be viewed here. For more about the Top 42 or to submit your blog, go here.

1 Online Marketing Blog
2 Web Ink Now
3 EyeCube
4 Convince and Convert
5 Copyblogger
6 PR 2.0
7 TippingPoint Labs
8 Marketing Interactions
9 ContentMarketingToday
10 Conversation Agent
11 Rexblog
12 Writing on the Web
13 Post Advertising
14 Internet Marketing Blog
15 Inbound Internet Marketing Blog
16 Chris Brogan’s Blog
17 Web Strategy by Jeremiah
18 Modern B2B Marketing
19 Marketing with Meaning
20 IdeaLaunch
21 The Viral Garden
22 Winning the Web
23 The Toadstool
24 Direct Marketing Observations
25 Seth’s Blog
26 PR 20/20
27 Keysplash Creative
28 Social Media Explorer
29 Capture the Conversation
30 Brain Traffic
31 Drew’s Marketing Minute

32 Buzz Marketing for Technology

33. 9 Inch Marketing

34 Litman Live

35 Paul Gillin
36 ViralBlog
37 The Content Wrangler
38 Marcom Writer Blog
39 Ducttape Marketing
40 Buzz News
41 Writing White Papers
42 Feed Growth!

Last Thursday I launched PROJECT: Purple Goldfish. The response has been fantastic. After 5 days I’ve had nearly 60 examples of purple goldfishes.

I thought it would fun to compile my first Top Ten list from the initial list of 50.  Without further adieu …

10.  DoubleTree Hotels (a tri-fecta submitted by Matthew Hirsch, Kelly Leslie and Tom Haidinger)  They give warm chocolate chip cookies to all guests when they check in: http://doubletree.hilton.com/en/dt/promotions/dt_cookie/index.jhtml

9.  Whole Foods (submitted by Claire Gallo) When you shop at Whole Foods in West Hartford, CT and buy fish, meat or poultry . . . they offer to give you ice for free. Very nice touch, especially if you have other errands or plan to shop around town.

8.  Les Schwab Tires (submitted by Cody Goldberg) Two great examples from Les Schwab Tires. The service people jog to your car when you pull in to the service center. They fix flats for free . . . whether you bought tires there or not.

7.  Trader Joe’s (submitted by Amy DeRobertis). There’s a fun theme going on here — from Giuseppe Joe’s to Trader Jose’s, the notion of no middle man is seen on its product labels as well as in the mentality of its Hawaiian shirt wearing ‘associates.’ And the ongoing bevy of free samples at its dedicated sampling stations keeps you interested in the constantly evolving choices and happy rather than devastated when your favorite entree goes missing. There’s bound to be something just as great coming down the pike.

6.  Caribou Coffee (submitted by Laura Howells) Caribou Coffee gives you a complimentary chocolate-covered coffee bean with your coffee. This makes me so happy that I seek out the Caribou Coffee whenever I have a layover at the Minneapolis airport. Take that Starbucks.

5.  Double shot of Starbucks to retort (from John Miller) The free cup of brewed coffee with a pound of beans at Starbucks. Not only is it a $2 perceived value, it is instant gratification and appreciation of the brand/ product. (from Peg Connor)  Starbucks, in partnership with iTunes, gives away a free “pick of the week” song every tuesday…you load the code into your iphone and, bingo, you’ve just expanded your musical palate at no charge. I take pains to patronize local businesses, but this perk (pun intended) compels me to stop by Starbucks once a week.

4. Wells Fargo (from Suzanne Lainson) I’ve been going to the same savings-and-loan for years. When it was World Savings, they offered free coffee in the lobby. It wasn’t good, but it was something. When World became Wachovia, they eliminated the coffee. Now that Wachovia has become Wells Fargo, the branch I go to (I don’t know if they are all like this) is now offering GOURMET coffee. Yay!! It’s very nice to have a good cup of coffee when I am waiting in line.

3. Lexus of Greenwich (submitted by Tom Haidinger) – The Lexus of Greenwich Service Team is outstanding and delivers lagniappe in a very meaningful way. With a typical dealership service experience, the “little something extra” you receive is a grease covered paper floor mat left behind (but otherwise you can’t really tell if your car has been serviced). At Lexus of Greenwich you get your car back looking like its brand new – they wash your car inside and out and vacuum it too! It simply feels good to get into your “freshly serviced” car when its been washed as well!

2.  Mario’s Barber Shop (submitted by Jeff Mard) Free lolipop w/haircut (they have cool lolipops, not just regular ones)… does the trick for my 5 yr old every time.

1.  The Fillmore (submitted by Gene Willis a.k.a Chief Wahoo) One from San Francisco…The Fillmore, a famous music auditorium which has hosted everyone from The Grateful Dead to Snoop Dogg….at the end of each show they hand out a limited number of music posters….free. Each poster has it’s own unique artwork, and the date of the show and artist. People collect the posters, and sometimes look forward to getting the poster as much as the show. Generations of posters are framed and make-up the walls. Also, when you enter the Fillmore, there is a bucket of free apples and someone who welcoming you to the Fillmore. No wonder it’s one of the most loved places to see a band perform live.

Some thoughts on why I love the Fillmore example and why I think the posters + apples* are brilliant.  It scores high on the four ingredients of a marketing lagniappe:

Unique – the posters are handbills that are distinctive in size

Relevant – it’s not cookie cutter, each poster is designed with the artist in mind

Limited – a limited run creates that ‘one of a kind’ special feel

Authentic – the posters are handed out when the concert-goers leave the venue.  It’s a nice small gesture that leaves a positive note.  A great tradition.

*In the early days Bill Graham often stood next to a huge bin of fresh apples at the front exit saying good night to the patrons and handing out apples

HELP me catch another 943 purple goldfishes for a great cause.  Click here to send me your example.

Here is the third post in a series called, ‘Sharp Points – 2 for Tuesday’.

The idea behind ‘Sharp Points’ is to highlight two blogs from the Junta42 list of top content marketing blogs.  This week we’ll look at #5 and #6 on the list:

#5. PR 2.0 – Brian Solis blogs at ‘PR 2.0′.  I had a chance to say ‘hello’ to Brian back in May at a conference and wrote the following post about his concept of ‘Entering the Statusphere’.  Solis is at the forefront of how the shifting landscape of media is changing public relations.

Sharp Point to share –  Brian wrote a great ebook entitled, “Customer Service – The Art of Listening and Engagement Through Social Media”.  Check it out here.  One point that especially stood out:

Customer service, product marketing and marcom must fuse into a living breathing commitment of inbound and outbound initiatives that not only answers questions when they come in, but also seek them out wherever they seek insight from peers and other experts.

#6. Marketing with Meaning – Bob Gilbreath of Bridge Worldwide blogs at ‘Marketing with Meaning’.  Bob just released his first book entitled The Next Evolution of Marketing.  I love the subtitle which is ‘Connect with your customers by marketing with meaning’.  Bob’s book is a paradigm shifter.  He talks about connecting with your customer as opposed to merely interrupting them.

Sharp point to share: How ‘marketing with meaning’ is different than traditional marketing? (from Chapter 2)

1. It’s marketing that people choose to engage with.

It involves creating something that people find is

worthy of their time and attention, rather than continuing

to look for ways to cleverly (or not so cleverly) interrupt

them.

2. It’s marketing that itself improves people’s lives.Many

a marketer goes to bed at night, proud to support products

and services that add value. Indeed, they may remove tough

stains, put a smile on faces, or enable priceless purchases,

but we too often utilize the old interruption approach to

present these products and services to our customers.

Instead, we must create advertising that actually adds

value—without necessarily forcing a sale.

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra)  -  Bob offers a free chapter of his book.  Click here to check out Chapter 2 of The Next Evolution of Marketing. If you buy the book . . . he even throws in a handy iPhone app.  Very cool.

Tagged: bob gilbreath, brian solis, marketing with meaning, pr 2.0, Sharp Points, Statusphere, The Next Evolution of Marketing ]]> http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/24/two-for-tuesday-marketing-with-meaning-and-pr-2-0/feed/ 0 9 INCH MARKETING 2 For Tuesday brian solis brian solis ebook marketing with meaning next evolution of marketing http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/21/project-purple-goldfish/ http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/21/project-purple-goldfish/#comments Sun, 22 Nov 2009 03:56:19 +0000 Stan Phelps http://9inchmarketing.com/?p=1868 ]]>

Check out my one minute video.  I need your help to spread the word.

I’m desperately seeking a purple goldfish. . .

I’m in search of 1001 Examples of Marketing Lagniappe for the book, Marketing Lagniappe In Search of Your Purple Goldfish.

A marketing lagniappe, i.e. purple goldfish, is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a little something extra to the customer experience.

Here are the basic ingredients of a purple goldfish: Unexpected, Relevant, Unique and Authentic.

4 examples / thought starters:

1.  Southwest Airlines – Grab you bag . . its on. Southwest doesnt charge for bags

2.  TD Bank – TD Bank has a penny arcade in their lobby, a free service to all who want to exchange coins

3. Five Guys Burgers and Fries – Free peanuts while you wait and extra fries with your order (lots of them)

4.  Stew Leonards – Buy $100 or more of groceries, the register MOOs and you get a free ice cream or coffee

REWARD: For each of the first 1,001 examples of lagniappe I will donate a can of non-perishable food to the Thomas Merton Center. The Merton Center is a soup kitchen in Bridgeport, CT that provides not only provides food, but other programs that help people move out of poverty to become self sufficient.

In addition each Purple Goldfish example will be featured on marketinglagniappe.com and the best examples will be featured in my upcoming book.

2 easy ways to contribute:

e-mail me your Purple Goldfish to stan [at] 9inchmarketing.com
or
write a comment on the Purple Goldfish Project page by going to www.marketinglagniappe.com

Bonus: If your purple goldfish makes it into the book in 2010 . . . you will receive a complimentary signed copy.

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra) – YouTube fact: It is estimated that 20 hours of new videos are uploaded to the site every minute.

]]> http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/21/project-purple-goldfish/feed/ 2 9 INCH MARKETING http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/19/missing-have-you-seen-me/ http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/19/missing-have-you-seen-me/#comments Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:17:46 +0000 Stan Phelps http://9inchmarketing.com/?p=1858 ]]> IN SEARCH OF A PURPLE GOLDFISH

The Purple Goldfish Project:

I need your help.  I’m desperately seeking a purple goldfish.  I’m in search of 1001 Examples of Marketing Lagniappe for my upcoming book, Marketing Lagniappe – In Search of Your Purple Goldfish.

A marketing lagniappe,  i.e. purple goldfish,  is any time a business goes above and beyond to provide a ‘little something extra’ for the consumer.  Here are the basic ingredients of a purple goldfish: Unexpected, Relevant, Unique and Authentic.  Here a four examples / thought starters:

• Southwest Airlines – Grab you bag . . it’s on.  Southwest doesn’t charge for bags
• TD Bank – TD Bank has a penny arcade in their lobby, a free service to all who want to exchange coins
• Five Guys Burgers and Fries – Free peanuts while you wait and extra fries with your order (lots of them)
• Stew Leonard’s – Buy $100 or more of groceries and you get a free ice cream or coffee

REWARD – For each of the first 1001 examples of lagniappe I will donate a can of non-perishable food to the Thomas Merton Center.  The Merton Center is a soup kitchen in Bridgeport, CT that provides not only provides food, but other programs that help people move out of poverty to become self sufficient.

In addition – each Purple Goldfish example will be featured on the website and the best examples will be featured in my upcoming book.

3 easy ways to contribute:

• e-mail me your Purple Goldfish to stan@9inchmarketing.com
• write a comment on this blogpost including your Purple Goldfish
• go to the Purple Goldfish Project page on marketinglagniappe.com by clicking here

Today’s Lagniappe – (a little something extra) Bonus:  If your ‘purple goldfish’ makes it into the book in 2010 . . . you will get a complimentary signed copy.

I had the opportunity to meet Jack Monson during my trip to PRSA International.  Jack writes a blog called PR Workbench where he explores how the worlds of technology and public relations are intersecting.

It’s a small world as the company that Jack works for is based out of my hometown of Norwalk, CT.  eNR Services helps communications, marketing and PR pro’s improve their performance via technology solutions.

Jack and I were talking at the conference about marketing lagniappe.  He told me a great story which I will feature on marketinglagniappe.com as part of the Purple Goldfish Project: 1001 Examples of Lagniappe.

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra)

One of the cool tools that Jack showed involved the AP.  Essentially the AP Planner is a business intelligence tool that leverages the resources of The Associated Press.  Here is a cool fact about the AP.  It was formed in the 1840′s by 5 New York newspapers in an effort to share incoming reports from the Mexican-American War.

Obscure fact:  The first AP news correspondent to be killed while reporting the news was Mark Kellogg.  Kellogg was a stringer covering the Battle of Little Bighorn.  His final dispatch, “I go with Custer and will be at the death”.

I just uploaded a new presentation to Slideshare.  Here is a synopsis of the presentation:

• It talks about how traditional marketing is broken and the need to flip it on its head.
• It discusses Pareto’s 80/20 law and how it applies to traditional marketing.
• I put forth the Phelps 80/20 corollary on traditional marketing.
• It examines the flaw of focusing the majority of your marketing efforts on the purchase funnel.
• It discusses the poor ROI from traditional marketing and the revolving door effect.
• It introduces the idea of flipping traditional marketing by focusing on your current customers.
• It talks about the three benefits of putting your customers first: reduce attrition, increase satisfaction and loyalty.
• I define the concept of marketing lagniappe as the means to provide added value.
• It shows the net effect: new customers become repeats, repeats customers become occassionals, occassional customers become frequents and frequent customers become evangelists.

Check it out.  I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on Pareto’s Law and the concept of flipping the funnel.

Today’s Lagniappe (a little something extra for good measure) – Check out the last slide on the presentation as I’ve put together a mocked up cover for my upcoming book, Marketing Lagniappe – In Search of Your Purple Goldfish

]]> http://9inchmarketing.com/2009/11/10/marketing-lagniappe-paretos-law-and-flipping-traditional-marketing-on-its-head/feed/ 1 9 INCH MARKETING marketing lagniappe - pareto's principle