The recent passing of former US President Ronald Reagan has created a large number of media reminicences.
Not the least of which came from the Jelly Belly company.
Jelly Belly makes high-quality, flavorfull jelly beans. I, for one, always foisted off the jelly beans in my easter basket to my unsuspecting little brothers and sisters in exchange for their chocolate until Jelly Bellies arrived, then the deals were reversed!
The Jelly Belly company is mourning the death of Reagan because, in a way, he put their company on the map.
In 1967 Reagan, then governor of California, was trying to stop his pipe-smoking habit and decided to munch on jelly beans when cravings arose.
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The story is told that Jelly Belly sent him some samples, and he discoved that these really were incredible beans.
Now, here's where Jelly Belly got really smart. Instead of viewing him as just another customer, they took advantage of the public relations and marketing opportunities that this presented.
For example,
- When Reagan was running for President, they realized that they had no blue bean that could be used in a red, white and blue collection of beans in a bowl.
So, blueberry beans were born.
- They worked with Reagan to provide small sample packs that he could give away to visitors to the Oval Office.
- They provided a bunch (one report says 6 tons, another 7000 pounds) of jellies for his innauguration.
- They created jelly bean portraits of Reagan.
- And of course, they publicized every one of these activities to the press, supporting the press with background, samples, and stories.
So, they've got a Governor, then President, playfully touting their product (Reagan wrote to the company chairman in 1973, "we can hardly start a meeting or make a decision without passing around the jar of jelly beans.") backed up by the company vigorously supporting that influencer's word of mouth by publicizing it all with the press.
Did it work?
Absolutely!
You've all seen the popularity of Jelly Belly today. At one point, the demand had so stretched their abilities that they were 77 weeks behind in filling orders.
And now, with Reagan's passing Jelly Belly is tastefully working to get one more round of publicity from their relationship by holding tributes and pitching the story to the press, which is grabbing it up as an positive, fun addition to the somewhat macabre process of reporting on the death of a public figure.
What lessons should we get from this?
- Don't be afraid to capitalize on the celebrity factor If a celebrity uses your products / services, tell people about it! That's why you oftentimes see pictures of famous guests on the walls of restaurants, etc.
- Actively work with key influencers who like your products / services Key influencers (those with a public persona) can have a huge impact on your sales if properly handled. Work with them to make sure that they stay happy and publically promote your company. Send them stuff, (including branded apparel), get them publicity tieins with your product, ask them what their concerns are with your product and resolve them (remember blueberry beans!), massage their egos with company tours and meetings with management, etc.
This may be tough if you don't like contributing to the perks of public figures, but it can have a major impact on your business.
- Make sure that you get publicity for your work with key influencers It's a balancing act, but you've got to figure out a way to get the key influencer's attraction to your products into the public eye. Drop their name during interviews, arrange for photo ops, provide your product at their publicity events, etc.
(Great chance for someone here - Oprah just pointed out today on her show that "I've never been to Home Depot" -what would you do if you were in the Home Depot marketing department? Imagine the show you could partner with Oprah to produce?)
- Always focus your efforts on ensuring that your company / product is branded in the interaction Branding is key to these interactions. If Reagan's visitors got the message that he liked jelly beans but didn't catch the Jelly Belly brand name, the publicity would have basically have been useless.
Key to branding is to ensure that your name and differentiation point are tied together. In Jelly Belly's case, their name tied to "great tasting jelly beans" with Reagan eating them because he liked them.
You can find out more about branding in our audio CD
"Brand Your Business and Make Your Profits Explode".
Want to know more about how to do what Jelly Belly is doing to build your publicity? Check out "Kick Up a Media Storm: How to Get Free (or Really Cheap) Publicity" at
Posted June 29, 2004
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