Grassroots Marketing: Marching to A Different Beat

Grassroots Marketing continues to find new meaning in today’s market. Erik Lokkesmoe, founder of Different Drummer, specializes in global media and grassroots marketing for social good entertainment. His team of marketers, strategists and designers (myself included) continues to seek new ways to tap audiences through progressive methods. Below is an excerpt from A Different Drummer’s marketing package:

 

10 THINGS NO ONE WILL TELL YOU ABOUT GRASSROOTS MARKETING
(AND WHY YOU SHOULD CONTACT DIFFERENT DRUMMER FOR YOUR NEXT CAMPAIGN)

1. GRASSROOTS MARKETING IS LONG-LEAD and LOW-COST, HIGH-TECH and HIGH-TOUCH. It takes hard work and some time to build, but grassroots marketing is an inexpensive way to reach audiences.
2. FAITH MARKETING IS DEAD. There, we said it. The old ways of reaching faith audiences are not working. Just ask pastors and regular attenders. Film fatigue is wide-spread. Different Drummer has the new model that will deliver faith-based audiences time and time again.
3. ALL GRASSROOTS MARKETING IS RELATIONAL. A lot of firms will give you a strategy. But only Different Drummer has the relationships with global influencers to make it happen. Usually within one call, one email, or one meeting – we can deliver.
4. STUDIOS SHOULD SPEND AT LEAST THE SAME ON GRASSROOTS MARKETING AS THEY DO ON BILLBOARD CAMPAIGNS. Billboards create impressions. Different Drummer creates impact.
5. OPENING WEEKEND IS ELECTION DAY. THE BOX OFFICE IS THE BALLOT BOX. Different Drummer has decades of political campaign experience,  mobilizing millions of people to do one thing on a single day: vote. We are using the same tactics and strategies to mobilize millions of people to do one thing on a single weekend: go to the theater.
6. AWARENESS IS MEANINGLESS – unless it moves people to action and then attendance. That is the model created by Different Drummer.
7. ASPIRATIONAL CONTENT IS THE FUTURE. Audiences are looking for aspirational content – feel-good and do-good content – that connects them to a larger theme or cause.
8. THERE ARE MORE THAN 20,000 ORGANIZATIONS AND ASSOCIATIONS, REPRESENTING MILLIONS OF PEOPLE,  WILLING TO HELP MARKET YOUR FILM. Different Drummer can identify and then leverage the marketing power of large membership organizations for your production.
9. GRASSROOTS MARKETING IS THE FUTURE. Spending $35 million on television ads made sense in a broadcast world. In a narrow-cast world with niche audiences, spending 10% of that amount is smart – and will make your campaign that much more effective.
10. DIFFERENT DRUMMER MAKES IT EASY. We know how movie marketing works. We understand the pressure, the pace, and the budget constraints. We make it easy. We compliment your existing campaign, integrating seamlessly into your existing plan. We keep you in-the-loop. We measure our effectiveness so you know exactly the value we brought to the campaign. We are one email or one phone call away.

If you’re interested in finding new ways to pitch your product, visit www.differentdrummer.com to learn more.

Grassroots Video Marketing

As You Tube and other video sharing websites continue to explode, advertisers are scrambling to connect to these web users where traditional advertising methods have failed.

L'oeral Paris is sponsoring a "You Make the Commercial Contest" to connect to teens. Converse shoes is soliciting amateur videos and Mastercard is inviting people to enter their own "Priceless" commercials. TV networks have gotten on the bandwagon as well. USA Networks is asking web users to upload personal videos to inspire new story lines for shows.

More and more companies are creating "Handycam" commercials as entertaining viral videos to brand and promote products. My own sister (shameless plug) stars in a Biore mini series to promote its products in an attempt to appeal to a broader market. Check out the video series at: http://www.condenet.com/promo/biore

So if you're looking for creative ways to expand your brand and find new audiences for your product, you might just grab your digital camcorder and save yourself big bucks on an advertising firm.

Need Inspiration?!

I’m often asked by my clients and colleagues where I get my inspiration for projects. You can usually see a look of excited anticipation in their faces – like I’m about to unveil a profound secret that they can apply in their own lives. I wish I was that guy. You know the guy who seems as if he’s prepared his whole life for that question and drops names and obscure quotes to support every thought on the subject. The guy who eventually shrugs you off as culturally deficient because you don’t get any of the references he makes to independent films. But I digress.

We often find the greatest sources of inspiration through our experiences and connections with other people, things, and places. I find creative inspiration in a number of ways, including: surfing the Internet, viewing work from other artists, people watching, doodling, experiencing textures (i.e., fabrics, paper stock, etc.). Because I spend an abnormal amount of time in front of my computer, I force myself to get away from my office during the day to find moments of stillness and reflection where I can experience my surroundings in rich three dimensional ways. It’s in those moments when I slow my mind down that I’m able to open it to creative possibilities. Zen enough for you?