The Kid caught the Jersey…But did he miss the mark?
Growing up, I loved the famous commercial with a star-struck boy in the stadium tunnel, stopping to offer a Coke to Mean Joe Greene, who’s hobbling to the showers. Mean Joe reluctantly takes it, drinks it, and speaks the famous words, “Hey kid…Catch!”, trading his jersey for the drink. “Thanks mean Joe!”, and the jingle takes us out in tears.
Ironically, coke didn’t experience any incremental sales increase as a result! But, sales of Steelers memorabilia went through the roof! What happened? While creative, the message was off strategy; it missed the mark.
Consumers were told not to place value on the Coke, rather on the jersey that the kid got. It told us, “Product’s ok, but it’s all about the shirt!” An expensive lesson: Before advertising, make sure your Ministry isn’t shifting people’s focus away from the impact of your Ministry, out of our desire to be entertaining, creative, and different. Communicate your heart, not your personality.
Most marketing mistakes are made in a rush to “get our name out there”, or what I call the “Ready, fire…aim!” approach. Before you spend money advertising your ministry or conference, list your objectives, and hold your team accountable to measuring any ideas back to one question: Will this directly help us achieve any of our objectives?
If not, you may just be helping someone else sell a whole lotta jerseys…
