Are you tired of not getting any work from those big companies you drive past each day? Sure it's hard to get in, but with a little imagination and a bit of chutzpah, anyone can do it - even my college-age daughter.
Several years ago Katie needed to raise $7000 in less than two months so her Destination Imagination (DI) team could attend the Global Finals competitions. (DI is a creative problem-solving program for students of all ages.)
But she was done with nickel-and-dime fundraisers! After years of candy sales and car washes, she decided to tackle big companies because they had lots of money.
After serious consideration, she decided to target Pepsi. Why? Because the 16,000 kids & parents attending this event liked their products. And to her, that meant synergy.
So how does a college sophomore pursue getting money from Pepsi? Especially someone who has never taken a business class, has no knowledge of sales, isn't particularly outgoing, and has never met anyone in her life who works at Pepsi.
(Some of you may feel that this story is starting to sound a bit like your own situation.)
When she mentioned her plans to me, I wasn't very encouraging. In fact, I was quite opposed to it and told her not to waste her time because it took forever to get grants from large corporations and she only had six weeks.
Did she listen to me? Not likely. I'm her mother. What do I know?
Katie told me she had absolutely no intention of contacting their foundation. She was going to call on Marketing.
"Why?" I asked, surprised.
"Because I have a good idea," she replied confidently. "I've been searching through their web site. They spend tons of money on promotions. Right now they even have a billion-dollar give-away going on. What I'm going to propose won't cost them nearly that much."
After she shared her idea with me, we brainstormed a bit on how to make it happen. The next day she called Pepsi's VP of Marketing whose name she'd found somewhere on their website. Of course she got voicemail. At the end of his message, he told how to reach his assistant if immediate help was needed.
So Katie punched on through. She talked to his support person, shared her story and asked for his email address. The next day she sent an email. The subject line read: "Marketing Idea for Pepsi from a College Student!"
In it, she briefly introduced herself and the DI program she's involved in. Then she wrote:
"I'd do anything to get back to Global Finals again. So would my teammates. Unfortunately, our team faces financial difficulties. That's why I'm writing you this email. I've been doing a lot of reading about the type of marketing Pepsi does and I would like to propose a fun, cheap co-marketing venture with you.
"If Pepsi will get us to Global Finals, we will be your on-site marketing arm for the entire five days of competition. We are seven desperate college students who will go to desperate measures for you! We'll wear clothing that prominently displays the Pepsi logo to all official events. We'll write and perform an entire competition skit about Pepsi. We'll do everything possible to promote Pepsi in a fun, high-energy way. In fact, we're even willing to walk around the competition dressed as Pepsi bottles!
"We're just the kind of people that Pepsi will want to hire based on what Pepsi's website says about the factors contributing to its success. We are young, fun and are willing to try daring things. We have so many promotion ideas to use at the competition. Just think, for less than $10,000, you will have seven enthusiastic college students as your marketing slaves for five days at the largest creative competition in the world!
"I know this is an outrageous idea, but hope you'll consider writing back for more information! There's very little risk for you and some very positive public relations opportunities for Pepsi. With our team, you will get a lot of bang for every buck! We want to create excitement for Pepsi!
"Thank you very much for your time. Let me know when I can call you so we can talk!"
Several days later Katie received a return email from a man who worked with the VP. Her request was graciously turned down and her team was wished the best of luck.
Did that stop her? If you said yes, you don't know my daughter. It was simply another challenge to overcome. She wrote back again, proposing a slightly lower cost option. Then she wrote back one more time with an entirely different idea.
Ultimately none of her ideas resulted in getting the sponsorship she was going after. But I think we can all learn a lot about selling from what she did.
1. It doesn't take a highly skilled professional salesperson to get through to an executive of a big company. If a sophomore in college with no training can do it, so can you.
2. Research is critical. Katie spent hours studying the Pepsi site. She knew all about the promotions Pepsi was involved in and what the company felt was important. (Note: This was before my book. I didn't tell her any of this!!!)
3. Align your offering with a big company's strategy. It makes you stand out from everyone else. Show that you've done your research. Spell out how your company can help them achieve their objectives.
4. Use intriguing subject lines on emails. In order to get the recipient to read a letter from an unknown person, the subject line has to be enticing, but not sleazy. Katie's was: "Marketing Idea for Pepsi from a College Student."
5. Big companies want ideas! That's right. Katie proposed an idea. Even though it wasn't accepted, her message was read and considered.
6. If at first you don't succeed - try, try again! But don't keep trying the same old thing. Think of a new approach, a new slant on the same approach. Keep at it! Penetrating a big company is a campaign - not an event.
Hopefully this has given you something to think about. After all, if a 20-year old kid can get through, so can you!
_____
P.S. Katie did end up getting a sponsorship, but not through Pepsi. I shared her endeavors in my newsletter back then. She forwarded a copy to Dr. Edward de Bono, the world's leading creativity expert, whom she'd met several months earlier in her college studies. She wanted to him to know much creativity meant to her. The next morning he wrote back with an offer to fund her team's trip to Global Finals.
It's now 3.5 years later. Katie is finishing up her Master's program in Innovation & Creativity from the Edward de Bono Institute of Thinking at the University of Malta. If you can participate in her survey, it would be much appreciated!
Congrats to Katie and wow, she will go far with her creativity. This is the kind of stories that send shivers down my spine, because it shows the opportunities that are wasted amongst Big Corp (even so she got to the big guy, in the end), and how they are not able to think outside the box. This means that sadly, de Bono's ideas STILL haven't reached saturation, and that there are more people and companies who need to go for creativity. Sadly, that she did not (YET) work in BIG CORP but hopefully, she will be able to work there one day to change the creative strategy in at least one company.
Good on you and thanks so much for sharing this (and many other) stories!
Posted by: Andreas | 09/13/2006 at 01:35 AM