The small theatre in my town did a version of the 1983 movie "A Christmas Story" this weekend. I wanted to see what a live stage production of this story would be like so I went to see it Saturday night.
Young Ralphie was a marketer at heart! He wanted an official Red Ryder, carbine action, two-hundred shot range model air rifle for Christmas and he used some pretty creative marketing skills to get it.
He started out by "seeding" a conversation with his parents to bring up the idea of him having such a thing at his young age. Then he proceeded to deliver a postcard campaign to his parents over the course of the next couple of weeks. He didn't have a budget for postage so he simply cut off stamps from mail already delivered and then glued it on to the postcards and stuck them in the family mailbox. When his teacher asked the class to write a persuasive essay for their final writing project befor the holidays, Ralphie wrote about - you guessed it - why he should have this BB gun for a present.
Also, he never gave
up, no matter what anyone said to him. Everyone tried to discourage him and tell him that he was just wasting his time, but Ralphie followed his heart. The last straw was when Santa Claus said to him, "You'll shoot your eye out". He still persisted and on Christmas morning there was the gift he had wanted.
The marketing lesson here: Be persistent, go after your dream, follow your heart and don't let other people discourage you. Never, ever give up. Not even if you think you'll shoot your eye out.
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