In a former life, I was a corporate trainer. I was young, naive and was told to go teach management classes to people who had been managers since before I was born. My main problem was that I had all of my hair and none of it was gray.
They were polite, for the most part, during my courses. They were forced into my classes anyway, so they just came in late, left early and ignored the teenager trying to give a lecture (I was 24, damn-it). I was desperate to turn my classes into a meaningful, thought-provoking learning experience. See, I told you I was naive.
I had picked up a little squishy toy at a conference earlier that year from another booth. We had swapped toys, because I was giving away balsa wood airplanes.
I noticed that every person who came into my office HAD to pick up and play with that squishy toy while they were in my office. The interesting part is that they actually paid more attention to me while playing with the toy than they did otherwise.
So I bought toys. At least one for every person who was attending my class. Then I threw them on the table and just left them there.
80% of the attendees picked up and played with a toy. While playing with a toy, these 55 year old managers would start to ask me questions. Most of the time belligerently, but hey, you have to start somewhere.
The next big break came when I professed my training woes to my sister. Her being a caterer, I got a rather predictable answer, “you need more chocolate”.
Knowing the success of the toys, rather than scoff, I jumped at it. I even went a step further and bought some really good chocolate.
Toys in the morning, chocolate after lunch and chocolate right before the class let out. I even did a pop quiz at the end. Anyone who got the answers right was able to keep the toy of their choice.
If you came in late, then the good toys, or chocolate were already taken. If you left early, then you missed out on chocolate and toys. The word spread quickly and I never had attendance issues again.
If your marketing campaign does not include something to consume and play with, you are missing out. Give out free coupons like candy. Make your website interactive to let people “play”.
The moral of this story is that people don’t change. They liked toys and candy when they were in kindergarten and they still do.
Toff Ward
Open Source Marketer
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