First – the time change is stupid. Can’t we just move it 1/2 hour and stop the madness?
And now… the rest of the story.
The time change in Spring generally makes everyone really tired for a few days – particularly those of us who have to wake up early. It typically takes me about three or four days for me to bounce back from the big spring forward. Being tired is a problem, and great marketing ideas solve problems. Enter Caribou Coffee…
Caribou coffee has it’s own problem. It must compete with coffee giant Starbucks to get customers. Starbucks is more well known, has more locations, and has a stylish brand that many caffeine addicted people like me love. For Caribou to be successful it needs to get people to change their behavior. They need to get people to try something they don’t necessarily know about, when there is already something they love. Not an easy task.
So we have established the following two problems:
- Problem one – The switch to daylight savings time is horrible and makes us all very tired.
- Problem two – Caribou needs to find a way to get you to give them a try.
Here is the great marketing part. Caribou is taking advantage of the time change to try to get caffeine lovers to change where they spend their time and ultimately their money. How? They are using the time change as a reason to give away FREE ESPRESSO with purchase of a coffee on the Sunday and Monday following the change. This is smart, timely, and a great opportunity to generate positive word of mouth, make some new friends, and potentially gain some new loyal customers.
This promotion seems so obvious, yet it is creative, original, and effective. Proof that great ideas are all around us. Find a problem, develop and idea, and convince people that the time is right for a change.
Time to move the clocks ahead and get to bed. Maybe I will see you at Caribou tomorrow. I will be the tired guy chugging espresso.
