Brilliant or Creepy Marekting?

Written by Mike Capuzzi, Decemeber 13, 2012

I would be hard-pressed to come up with a better strategy to improve your next marketing campaign than making sure it feels as personalized as possible. I would challenge you to continue to seek ways to improve the look, feel and personalization as you plan out your 2013 marketing campaigns.

Recently, I came across the MOST UNIQUE personalized marketing campaign I’ve ever seen. Personally, I think the concept is brilliant and while I don’t know what revenue the campaign generated, it’s something you must see.

A Canadian Porsche dealer toured wealthy neighborhoods in Toronto and parked a brand new Porsche 911 in front of the driveways of these affluent houses.

The crew then got out and took photos of the car in front of the house, then went back to their mobile office, uploaded them onto their computer, did a little graphic-editing to make it the flyer background and then printed out a personalized flyer, along with the brilliant headline, “It’s Closer Than You Think” on the spot.

These personalized flyers were hand-delivered to home-owner’s doorstep.

The results? 32% of these targeted luxury home owners came in for a test drive. I could not find any information if anybody bought a new Porsche.

Is this an example of brilliant marketing or is it a bit too creepy in your opinion?

Which ever you think, you cannot deny the creative genius behind this marketing campaign.

Nothing stops people in their tracks like seeing their name in print, or seeing something they recognize being used in the marketing piece.

The Porsche campaign did the same thing with a hyper-personalized flyer which causes the recipient to imagine a new Porsche sitting in their driveway. Creating marketing which allows your prospects to “see themselves” using your product successfully is a very smart marketing strategy.

I would love to hear your thoughts about this Porsche campaign and whether you think it’s brilliant or creepy? Does it go “too far” with the personalization? Leave your comments below!