This Sunday, the Ithaca, New York Tourism Board created a message that was so successful the traffic crashed their server.
This Sunday, the Ithaca, New York Tourism Board created a message that was so successful the traffic crashed their server.
How? By posting images of Key West vacation spots and providing links to the Florida Keys.
That’s right, the weather is so crappy in New York that they simply gave up and started recommending a warmer, more inviting location.
The stunt generated 150,000 page views, crashed their servers and caused them to take the Florida message down.
On the flip-side, the office also saw a spike in inquiries concerning tourism in upstate New York.
I’m a marketer, my goal is to make the IT guy hate me by breaking his toys. I love this stuff!!!
In 2012, a $4,500 investment in a cheeky YouTube video generated 12,000 orders for razors in 48 hours and crashed the company’s server in about an hour.
It also launched the business phenomenon, Dollar Shave Club.
I would put this minute and a half video up against the Apple Macintosh “1984” Super Bowl ad any day … and it’s $4,500 investment is a hell of a lot cheaper!
You don’t need to spend a lot to crash your servers. What these two examples have in common is authenticity and fun. Let your hair down and take a chance.
People, especially the mysterious and long-coveted millennials, won’t talk about you unless you give them a reason. A million dollar investment in a hum-drum message won’t have the results of a nickel-and-dime investment in something awesome.
Have you ever had a marketing firm give you an idea that you thought was over-the-top? Did you kill the idea because it scared you? You might have missed your shot to tick off your IT guy and crash his techie stuff.
Have some fun, show your company’s personalty and be disruptive.
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