When GotVMail, a company that offered Advanced Phone Numbers to tens of thousands of business owners throughout North America, changed its name to Grasshopper, they realised they needed to take a risk in order to establish the new brand and deliver the new services.
The Grasshopper team sought to develop a multi-sensory marketing campaign that was focused on a distinctive direct mail piece in order to generate buzz, raise awareness of the new brand, and motivate its audience of entrepreneurs.
This, however, couldn’t be a regular direct mail campaign. No way. It has to be extraordinary enough for recipients to feel compelled to share it with their networks.
Therefore, Grasshopper sought inspiration from its new name. The corporation made a risky move by sending chocolate-covered grasshoppers to 5,000 of North America’s most powerful journalists, corporate executives, politicians, authors, and bloggers.
Not just any grasshoppers, though. The business discovered a grasshopper farm that was environmentally friendly and provided only natural nutrients to the insects. They also tried a variety of the green chocolates they would use to coat the grasshoppers.
Five chocolate-covered grasshoppers were supplied to each of the 5,000 influencers who had been specifically targeted; this helped to promote the Grasshopper brand and generated discussion. FedEx delivery made the items seem more urgent to the recipient, which increased the open rate in comparison to conventional mail delivery.
When the packaging was opened, the material advised recipients to try a chocolate-covered grasshopper, appealing to the “risk-taking” mentality of business people. And it succeeded.
The number of mentions on social media skyrocketed. Visits to websites and YouTube significantly rose. And during broadcasts, news reporters even gave them a try.
According to Grasshopper, the reason the campaign was successful was because it appealed to all of the senses, tapped into people’s innate curiosity, and made an emotional connection with them. Using guerrilla marketing techniques increased the video’s reach by encouraging interaction and spreading it across social media platforms while also capturing the interest of people who did not receive the letter.
Of course, not every promotion calls for chocolate-covered grasshoppers. Grasshopper, however, was able to create a rebranding campaign that tapped into its culture of taking risks and cemented its new company name in the minds of its customers by taking cues from its brand DNA. Isn’t that the essence of effective marketing?