Try going to the dog
I wasn’t going to mention Willie Bean again after my last column. He’s getting so much publicity, any further reporting on this Fairhope-phenom would be both repetitive and redundant. My intent, after that one flash of the doggy pretend-candidate for mayor in the last issue, was to move on to the exciting topic of “Runoff” (mud, not mayoral).
But after attending the second forum for those seeking the mayor’s job, this one sponsored by the Downtown Merchants’ Association, I knew that he needs a return engagement. It’s not that the biped candidates are so unappealing that I’ve turned to hyping the Coffee Loft canine. No, my concern in writing this is how to market Fairhope, not who will lead it.
Actually these two things are related – in fact during this most recent forum the two were almost constantly linked. Along the lines of, “The first thing I’m going to do as mayor is to appoint a Director of Marketing.” Or, “I’ll have billboards put along all the major highways directing travelers to Fairhope.” This focus by most, but not all, of the candidates on marketing the city is a reflection of the constant carping by the downtown merchants that the city government isn’t doing anything to get people into their businesses.
This of course begs the question of having their association (once called “dysfunctional” by a consultant employed by the city, but now under new leadership) do their own marketing. This is hardly a startling concept – local developers market their new subdivisions, hotels have strategies to get people to spend the night with them, and even local small businesses, downtown and elsewhere, are doing their own marketing – both on the internet and using traditional media.
I suspect by now at least one reader (which may be all I got left at this point) is thinking, “I’m reading this because I thought it was about Willie Bean – WHERE”S WILLIE BEAN?” If so, I’ve made my point. Fairhope has a pop culture celebrity right here in our midst. A unique, widely recognized local figure who gets fan mail from around the world – and orders for Willie Bean gear too. People who haven’t the foggiest idea that Fairhope exists, know about the dog who’s running for mayor someplace down south. Well sometimes they don’t even know the south part. Example: A couple of my sister’s Microsoft mini-millionaire friends in Seattle were planning to fly north to get their pictures taken with the famous canine, but couldn’t find the town. “AL” does mean Alaska, doesn’t it?
Skipping over this abbreviation confusion, let’s look at how we got so lucky. It was pure serendipity. The Coffee Loft, in an effort to maintain its status as a “No Politicking Zone,” decided to run a fun candidate: Willie Bean, manager Tress Turner’s big, happy-go-lucky lab. The sign on the front of the shop proclaiming his candidacy along with his picture was intended to make it clear that this was the one-and-only being supported by the business.
What then happened was classic viral marketing. A few silkscreened shirts with his image offered when customers showed interest gave way to a deluge of orders from all over the country – even international. Cottage industry printing was replaced by a mass-production Tee-shirt manufacturer and mail-order far surpassed on-site sales. With virtually no marketing effort (but a lot of work packing and shipping) on the part of the Coffee Loft gang, the Willie Bean story (and his irresistible picture) spread throughout the world like a highly contagious (but virtuous) virus. A perfect example of modern marketing – your customers become your advertisers, promoting your product to everybody – all connected in a geometric progression that reaches millions. And speaking of millions, a corporate lawyer looking at this wild-fire success, estimated that a company using traditional media outlets would have to spend about $20 million to get this kind of market penetration and demographic access.
As I type this, the Willie Bean story has appeared on local news spots all over the country, got pretty good visibility on Letterman, was broadcast on 600 stations carrying Michael Feldman’s show and is now part of the NPR feed to its affiliates. At the local level, Willie Bean has done charity appearances for BARC and fund raisers for a dog park in Fairhope. He caught the first ball thrown out at the Bay Bears game last Saturday (and hammed it up for a second toss). Willie had a meet-and-greet at the K-1 Center – and lost some hair to a young entrepreneur who announced that he was going to sell it on EBay. WB’s hot, Hot, HOT!
And what are the publicity-starved merchants of this community doing to capitalize on this media gold-mine in their midst. Best I can tell – nothing. Not even a passing mention – serious or joking – during the Downtown Merchants’ mayoral candidates’ forum. No one seemed aware of the significance of Willie Bean’s sudden rise to stardom and the opportunity it presents. Lack of imagination? NIH syndrome? Or just old-fashioned pride? Don’t know.
I do know there should be an immediate effort by our merchants to ride his (coat)tail. He’s out there – everywhere – and he lives here. Fairhope: A pretty little city on Mobile Bay with a quaint business district and the most appealing and best-known canine since Eddie on “Frasier” (played by Moose). You gotta be able to do something with this – right now (“Buzz” doesn’t last forever). It would cost almost nothing and have reach beyond anything the city could possibly afford.
And if leveraging off a dog’s marketing success is beneath our collective dignity, at least learn something from it.
Contact Pete Gleszer at jubilee@lagniappemobile.com.
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