On February 4, 2011 Coffee Mate hosted a Free Flavor Friday nation wide party. I think the move for more brands to allocate marketing funds to more quasi “guerilla marketing” will provide better results than traditional advertising.
Providing brand advocates the tools to engage their friends & families offer a more trusted and longer lasting impression of the brand. I’m more willing to listed to my co-worker who raves about how good the White Chocolate Caramel Latte creamer is than an ad in a magazine.
Coffee Mate was gracious enough to allow me to host one of their Office Parties. My wife is a reent coffee convert and loves sugaring up here coffee with Coffee Mate creamers. The provided party kits allowed regular people to invite, engage and give free sample of product.
Coffee Mate also gave away 120,000 coupons for free bottles on their facebook page or those not attending a Free Flavor Party. The giveaway was close to having a negative effect as the coupon mob turned angry as the Coffee Mate facebook app crashed under the mad rush. Coffee Mate calmed the masses by releasing an additional 20,000 coupons for the inconvenience.
I wonder what the long term affects will be of Free Flavor Friday.