The automotive 'specialty' industry has been booming in recent years, and its Super Bowl is the yearly SEMA (Specialty Equipment Market Association) trade show that was held earlier this month in Las Vegas. Dunlop Tires came up with a pretty interesting marketing idea to create buzz with industry members at the event, by offering anyone a free set of Dunlop tires, if they would agree to get a free tattoo promoting Dunlop.Dunlop also had celebrity tattoo artist Kat Von D on hand, and those that agreed could either get a tattoo of the Dunlop logo, or Dunlop's tire tread. Winding Road adds that one guy was willing to get the tattoo just because it was free, and was amazed that he was also getting a set of tires to boot! The promotion was said to be the talk of the show, with Dunlop filling all its available slots with its tattoo artists within minutes.
Debra at Search Engine Guide calls this 'brilliantly smart', and I agree. First, it's a natural conversation starter. Anyone that sees someone wearing a tattoo with a Dunlop logo is going to want to ask them WHY they have a logo on their arm? Then they explain that they got a free set of tires in the deal, which of course leads to a discussion of how the tires themselves are performing.
But even more so than that, doing this promotion at SEMA, and having it be wildly popular, really makes an impression on suppliers and other industry members at the event. Everyone got to see first hand how many people are excited about the Dunlop brand.
And it's easy to say that anyone that gets a tattoo of a logo for a set of tires is crazy, but you have to remember that a customer evangelist IS crazy about their favorite brands! And Dunlop also knows their customers, and know that the people that want to buy high-performance tires, are also the people that are more likely to want tattoos. So Dunlop did what a company should do in reaching out to their evangelists, they made it easier for them to engage in actions that they were already performing.
Now if I can just find a way to let someone at Ferrari know that my left arm is more than ready for a Testarossa tat, if they are ready to give me the keys!
Tags:The Viral Garden, Marketing
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8 comments:
I agree with Debra. Brilliant and smart.
Wish I'd thought of it...
The tire tread tattoo sounds pretty cool.
Ooops, sorry, wasn't supposed to bring the ink up. Back to pro-blogger here. Very, very intelligent. It's in line with Harley Davidson and the way they encourage brand loyalty.
Very cool idea. It looks like SEMA was full of great stuff- I really enjoyed looking at the coverage on the SEMA Insider site.
im willing to get a tattoo of the dunlop tire. for tires for my 1983 k5 blazer.
billybadassjr71@wmconnect.com
"im willing to get a tattoo of the dunlop tire. for tires for my 1983 k5 blazer.
billybadassjr71@wmconnect.com"
Wow the 'tires for a tat' deal is so popular I think Dunlop fans are coming here to sign up for it ;)
That is a great idea, but heres the thing, where or how do you go about siging up or who do i contact for more information.
c_proudman@yahoo.com
Yes alot of companies have been doin promotional tattoos.i'am a tattoosit myself and have dun more than a few business logos!i'am interested in this promotion myself can u contact me @ therealpez1@yahoo.com if ur still doin this promtion for the tatn tires! thank you....Pez
Great marketing strategy to promote Dunlop tyres.It will be easily pass from one person to another.Free tires will serve as a sample and in time they will be a regular customer.
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