ROOTNOTES ONLINE

For year’s readers of my newsletter “RootNotes” know about Huey the furniture dog.  He’s my earstwhile companion at the office when I am in town.  He’s able to sleep on tall chairs without batting an eye.  He’s faster than the speedy UPS guy who comes with treats.  And he’s a frequent contributor of creative content and comic relief with his begging dance for food.

So years ago I decided to put Huey to work in the newsletter.  Huey’s been photo’d in so many different poses when he sees me with my camera he just rolls his eyes  with an expression of “you got to be kidding”.  But I’m not and here’s why.

People love seeing Huey in the newsletter.  They want to know what he is up to and I frequently get comments that people actually read the newsletter because they saw Huey on the outside.  Go figure.

This last month I got a written testimonial from Tracy who works for one of my large customers.  She indicated that she loved seeing Huey in the newsletter.  That was all it took for Huey to demand his own column.  He said I had to give him the column or he would tattle on me to my wife about all the high carb Jimmy John’s bread I give him for lunches.  Well I don’t want the wrath of Nancy for Huey’s extra love handles.  So Huey now has a column and who knows where it will lead.

Before you think this is all frivolity, there actually is an excellant marketing concept at play here.  First of all, for some reason people love seeing pets in marketing.  I guess they know it’s not a big giant corporation sending the message and therefore they pay closer attention to it.  Remember, we are selling to people not companies and so the pets have a certain appeal.  Second, evidently dogs poll higher than any other animal as a pet in marketing.  Not to by cynical but that may be the reason Presidential families have to have a dog when they go to office (Remember Obamas great search at the start of his term for the family dog).  So if you don’t have a dog for your marketing go rent one.

This whole fame thing is going to Huey’s head though.  He is demanding his own fan club.  He cited Mickey Mouse and Mighty Dog as role models.  I bet him an extra large doggy treat that no one would care whether he had a fan club or not.  So here’s your chance to let us know.  Should we start a Huey Fan Club or not?  Let us know what you think about the ideas in this post.  Thanks

Bookmark to:

Tags: Uncategorized // 5 Comments »