Football crumbls with text messaging
The first time I enjoyed Crumbl cookies was at my oldest daughter’s house in Spanish Fork. Since then, I have had more than a few, and a few too many…
Since then, back in March of 2003, one thought kept crossing my mind – Crumbl needs to be in college football and take advantage of intense rivalries across the country. The brand leverage was easy to see, and could be delivered, on-demand via a simple text message. As an example, after the Cougars fall to the Aggies:
It’s not a complicated pitch but think about how easy it is to tap into the brand strength of the word “crumbl”. Every football team crumbls at some point and wouldn’t it be sweet to gloat a little on the way home with a few crumbls in honor of the losing team. <click here - for how-to checklist >
The idea of creating “crumbls” as a new product line, struck me as easy to add (and probably not a new idea). Same basic dough. Same stores. Same little factories, pumping out delicious snacks that bring family and friends together over the best cookie crumbs on the planet – on their way home after the big game! <lol>
It’s pretty powerful to tap into college rivalries and bring raving fans into stores near major college stadiums as they file out and head for home. And guess what, it’s not limited to college football only. Friday night lights for high school games. The NFL on Sunday night, Monday night and Thursday night. And no new stadium fees required to open an in stadium store. That my friends, is a lot of people and a lot of upside!
And no need to buy a list of football fans either. Crumbl collects customer phone numbers in the store when you buy in person. At least they’ve captured my phone number several times at different locations – even though they’ve sent me nothing beyond the traditional cash register receipt. And it’s an easy ask, “text crumbl” to 123456 to join the crumbl victory list”. Or build it into the receipt process. “Thanks for tasting Crumbl this week. Reply with “crumbls” to join our football victory list. We’ll only text you when your favorite team wins!
This is classic brand extension and customer lifecycle marketing - and most companies can do it. Maybe not to the same degree or scale as what Crumbl can do, but with a little thought text messaging and lifecycle marketing can bring strong upside to organizations. So what can your company do to tap into your local raving football fans? <check here - for how-to checklist >
Text messages frequently see a 90% open rate within 90 second of sending – which makes this an ideal channel for reaching a crowd of existing customers as they leave the stadium. The size of the market or in this case the size of the stadium needs to be considered and the urgency in which they are moving also dictates thorough planning. After all, what company wants to invite 65,000 people, to come visit in real-time, to one little store? It could be a customer service nightmare!
However, if you think this is a good idea for your company, start with a strategic customer model, built on recency, frequency, monetary value (RFM) and a few other demographic enhancements and statistical predictors. The picture this creates will make for a big win for you and your company.
I don’t understand why companies ignore ideas and opportunities like this one when they appear to be pretty straightforward. However, as we continue to experience large crowds of people gathering and scattering, I believe the mobile marketing trend will continue and intensify.
Many years ago, I worked for WordPerfect. As I recall the marketing department exhibited at over 300 trade show events each year (check my memory if you have better info). That is a lot of events! Football stadiums filled with raving fans, in every State, on nearly every day of the week is many times larger. Especially when the objective is to match those events against time, location and production capacity – add in the need for personalization, real-time newsfeeds, permission from customers and conversational support… well, let’s just say it will take some serious planning, technology and commitment to do it right.
Retail companies with fixed location storefronts need to learn how to leverage this type of cultural shift. It’s not always about the store and how much foot traffic comes in. Mobile society is here today and may be with us for many years. It will pay big dividends for those that embrace mobile marketing, and text messaging is a smart technology for building on existing relationships. I’m not saying companies should batch and blast, but rather extend the conversation and invite your most loyal customers to say hello on their way home. Give them a compelling reason to stop in, drive by or meet them where they are by drone. Tap into the excitement of the game and win, win, win!