Monday, March 17, 2014

A Social Limo, a Birthday Gift, and a Marketing Lesson

An unexpected text popped up on my phone on my birthday. download_20140310_200910

Jason Solomonson said “My brother Chad says that today is your birthday and that you are in Austin. He thinks we should meet.”

As you know, relationships are important to me.

The way I measure the value of the relationship is how often someone says “there’s someone you should meet.”

Even though Chad and I haven’t seen each other (or even chatted in a while), he did me the favor of making the recommendation to his brother.

I’m ALWAYS open to meeting new people. You NEVER know where good ideas come from.

The challenge in this particular case was: time was limited. I had a slate full of meetings and had to leave earlier than I would have liked for the airport because cabs were in such demand at SXSW that I knew it would be tough.

Then, as if the script had been written, Jason sends a pic of a limousine. (here’s the video)

“FYI… Brightline has @TheSXSWLimo limousine that we are sponsoring in case you have seen it.”

Lightning struck.

“Well, I do have to go to the airport at 4pm. Any chance a birthday present limo ride is in the cards?”

“Sure!!” he wrote.

BINGO. Problem solved.

Now, let me tell you why this is such smart marketing.

You see, at SXSW, cabs are at a premium, so ppl are in need of transportation.

So, the idea of renting a limo available for clients/prospects is a way that Brightline says “we care about you.”

It delivers value without asking anything in return. (Hear him in his own words.)

Naturally, when you are in the limo, you are going engage in conversation with the team and you will hear about the really (and I mean, REALLY) cool stuff that Brightline does.

It creates a talkable moment.

I took a video, pics and am blogging about it. Heck, I got a limo ride that made me feel special.

They relieved a huge concern of mine and made my afternoon stress-free. So, I am going to tell people about that. Why wouldn’t I?

Jason reached out, just wanting to connect because Chad made the recommendation. No agenda.

Then, he shared something that he thought was value.

Then, he delivered value.

Those three moments built Brightline from a company I’d never heard of to a brand that I am talking about as an advocate…in the span of 1 day.

If this is how they treat friends of their brother’s, imagine how they treat their clients!

Wouldn’t you want people thinking that about you?

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