Those that know me, know that I am not a fan of the porn king Hugh Hefner.
However, this blog post isn’t about him or his business, but rather on a very smart marketing strategy (yes, I can learn from people I don’t hold in high regard).
There I was, reading the paper. On page two of Section A, up at the top, was a headline I couldn’t pass up “Hef takes revenge“.
Apparently Crystal Harris, the gal that Hef was going to walk down the isle with, broke up with him.
She broke things off with skeletor just days after he agreed to put her on the cover of the July issue of Playboy with the headline “Mrs. Crystal Hefner”.
Oops…
Once you get past the concept that he values this future wife of his so little that he’s willing to show her naked body off to the world, there really is a great marketing lesson.
Maybe he knew things were on the skids before he put her on the cover. Maybe he didn’t. I don’t know… However, his follow up is splendid marketing!
According to the article he has had a big red sticker made up that will cover Crystal’s body that says “Runaway Bride In This Issue!“
Drawing attention with such a tactic will undoubted lead to the sale of many more issues than normal. He has created a reason for people to talk about this issue (such as I’m doing now), which will inevitably lead to more people buying the issue.
Many people will run out there to see the pictures (ummm, I mean read the articles…) of the girl that got away from Hef. By drawing such blatant attention to this issue, he will undoubtedly sell more.
Real business owners look for such opportunities. Hef could have easily left the issue alone. Done nothing. It was already printed… TMZ reported that many boxes had already been delivered even. Hef’s response, the big red sticker will be on newsstands as well.
With my latest book, Scientific Advertising: Crushing Your Competition Like Ants On The Sidewalk, it had already gone to print by the time I received a fantastic idea from Joe polish to put a call to action to a Free Recorded Message that sold more of my services on the cover. I could have just said, “I’ll do that next time.” Instead, I had sticky notes made up in my handwriting and put on the cover when someone orders the book from my site.
Take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves. Move at the speed of instruction!
