Editor’s note: Today’s post was written by Dan Dunlop, president of Jennings Advertising Agency. It was originally printed on his blog, The Healthcare Marketer.
Yesterday I received an email from a colleague and the header read: “Join me in making a difference.” The body of the email read: “This story inspired me to make a difference. Watch it to the end – YOU ARE IN THE VIDEO.” And there was a link to a video from a group called The Big Warm Up. That was all the context I had before I clicked on the link.
When I clicked on the link I was taken to a video, what looked like a TV commercial, promoting a coat donation program sponsored by Lands’ End. The Big Warm Up is an effort to help make the winter season warmer for homeless people nationwide. When you donate a gently-used coat you’ll get 20% off a new coat at any Lands’ End Shop at Sears through 11/30.
The spot is engaging and features great music (no voice over). The cool thing is that at the end of the spot your name actually appears on the label of one of the used coats that has found its way to a new owner. And the copy on the last slide actually refers to you by name. I recorded the spot using my Flip camera and uploaded it YouTube. See the spot below; and please forgive the quality.
When you go to the Big Warm Up website, you can enter info about the person to whom you will be sending the link, and that allows for the customization. This is a very cool use of technology. It reminds me of PURL technology we use with direct mail – where we send a consumer a direct mail piece that includes a custom URL where they will receive a personalized greeting. Check it out and let me know what you think. Go to http://www.video.bigwarmup.com or view my customized video at http://video.bigwarmup.com/index.php?code=679n777KEU73WoM61Luc.
To get the full story about the Big Warm Up, go to www.bigwarmup.com. They’ve got a cool website. By the way, this is a great example of echo branding by Lands’ end and Sears – marketing shared values. Extremely well done.
