A few weeks ago I was driving through a heavily populated retail area in Fairlawn when I saw Him. Eileen and I were leaving Target after an exhausting one-hour stay, in which we only went in to return a pair of headphones. That is normal for one of our trips to Target. Go in for one thing, stay an hour, leave $85 later. Target is the king of in-store experience with the right mix of visual merchandising and in-store marketing that keep customers lingering and engaged and spending more money than they ever planned. The in-store experience is a big differentiator between Target and Wal-Mart. However, this post is not about about companies that "get it" like Target. This post is about Him, and other marketing campaigns like Him.
As we were pulling out of Target's parking lot, I nearly ran my vehicle off the road in disbelief when I saw Him. Standing there on the sidewalk in front of the shopping center stood a real pirate. Concerned for the safety of everybody in the shopping center - I went to grab my phone to dial in Seal Team 6 to take him out. After all, Fairlawn doesn't need any more thieves standing in front of shopping centers - it already has fake homeless people with cardboard signs begging for money at every turn. To my relief, as I was reaching for my phone, I noticed the pirate had a stuffed parrot on his shoulder and was holding a sign that read, "Great Clips Adult Haircuts - $6". My first and only thought was, "What an asshole".
Now, as a marketing guy, this bothered me on many levels. First of all, I couldn't help but think of the discussion in the marketing department at the Great Clips corporate office. At what point do you just say, "Eff it Frank, we're gonna dress them up as pirates"? After muddling through all of the options, this was the best the Great Clips marketing department could think of? Instead of finding ways to differentiate their business from their competitors, they decided on a high-school dropout in a $9.99 costume.
Second, and most importantly - who the hell is inspired by a pirate to pull into a shopping center for an adult haircut? I can almost understand the thought process if Great Clips was advertising children's haircuts. In fact, it would be kind of cool if the person cutting a child's hair was dressed as a pirate - the kid would love it. But what normal adult is making that emotional connection? "Sharon, I know that we need to get to Applebee's for our 10-year anniversary dinner, but shit.....that pirate over there is offering $6 adult hair cuts. That 2 for $20 deal is going to have to wait". This is a classic case of not knowing your customer. Who knows though, perhaps I'm wrong. Maybe Great Clips cornered the market years ago on the Pirate demographic - after all, as marketers we continue to push for deeper market segmentation in order to specialize messages.
The most logical reason for the pirate is that this is a marketing event held by the local Great Clips owner and not sanctioned by the corporate marketing department. I would like to think that no corporation could be this dumb, but we see it all the time. From inflatable pink gorillas on top of car dealerships to anything that Value City Furniture does, businesses continue to focus on the wrong tactics to lure in customers. Marketing really isn't that difficult. The key is creating authentic and engaging customer relationships. Don't shout offers at customers, because nobody cares. Not only does your product suck, you do too. Stand out. Be different. Do the unexpected - offer authentic and genuine customer service. These are really simple ways to humanize your business or your brand and stand out among the competition. Hell, all you have to do is beat a pirate? - Rufio, Rufio, Rufioooooo.
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