Off-the-Wall Groundhog Day Marketing Strategies

As holidays go, Groundhog Day is arguably the goofiest: Everyone stands around a groundhog's burrow and waits to see if it sees its shadow when it emerges so we can know whether to expect an early spring or six more weeks of winter. As marketing goes, the lighthearted antics of Groundhog Day present plenty of opportunity to get a bit crazy with your strategy through creative publicity stunts. Here are some off-the-wall Groundhog Day marketing ideas you can use as inspiration to craft your own media madness:

Break a world record

An attempt to break a world record will no doubt attract media attention (free press!) and draw a large crowd. You can turn your event into a sales pitch by setting up marketing booths, handing out flyers and brochures to those who attend, or by creating a special offer to all those who attend or participate. Market your record-breaking attempt with postcards and flyers; and make sure local media has plenty of notice so they can run a story before hand and a follow-up afterwards. For best results, try to break a world record that's both relevant to Groundhog Day and to your business. You can find ideas from the ]]>Guinness World Records website]]>.

Get your own groundhog

This is the best Groundhog Day marketing event, bar none. If your community doesn't already have a Groundhog Day ceremony, it's high time you led the charge. As the infamous movie "Groundhog Day" starring Bill Murray depicts, thousands of people will come out for groundhog prognostication. All you need is a few dozen to have lasting and profitable effect - again, set up a booth and make sure your company is branded on all literature. Invite the public via local media, postcards, flyers, posters and banners.

Play find your shadow

This is a creative idea that will take quite a bit of coordination and lighting. Place bright lights throughout your place of business so that no one walking through casts a shadow. Now, adjust the lighting so that you only see a shadow in a few spots. Strategically place top sellers in those spots. Next, challenge your customers to find their shadows. If they do so, they get a steep discount or free product or service. This will have your customers moving all around your store with a sharp eye, viewing many products and also prompting impulse purchases because you've placed your best displays on the shadow spots. Market your event with postcards, posters, banners, flyers and door hangers. It can be challenging to come up with creative marketing ideas for Groundhog Day, but with a bit of ingenuity and inspiration you can come up with a remarkably original and fun event that earns free publicity and plenty of sales. Make sure you saturate your market with promotional materials by printing event tickets, rack cards, posters, banners, door hangers, postcards, banners and other printed marketing literature to yield an outstanding return on investment.