THE DIRT ON DRIP MARKETING

Do you remember your teenage crush? Someone you would watch during study hall, pine for during gym class, and whose likeness you would butcher with scribbles in the margins of your notebook? Remember how elated you felt when she or he came around and professed their secret, undying love for you? Yeah, me neither. But imagine if they had! Anticipation and desire are two monumentally huge influences -both during freshman year and also when it comes to advertising a product. Good marketeers are taking advantage. Enter drip marketing, a term which gets its meaning from a slow drip, drip, drip of information released to promote a product. AKA a "teaser", Hollywood is pro at drip marketing, as evidenced by the marketing line-up of District 9. Signs marked benches and parking lots as "HUMANS ONLY", and a Web address took them further down the road. Batman: Dark Knight got fans to send in emails that would slowly reveal the first official picture of the Joker, pixel by pixel. A great way to tease out interest and get fans involved. How you can leverage the hype in your own business? Have something to promote; a new product or service. Hint at it through emails, posters, fliers. Get consumers involved. Create an interactive website that relays only partial amounts of information. When you create an "experience" rather than simply spitting out a glut of information aimed at persuading your audience, that puts you in the puppet master's chair. Drip marketing means control. And when you control the interest of your consumer, that means more attention, better marketing, and more sales.

ARE YOU A CANDYLAND COMPANY?

I don't care if you're 4 or 40, lay down a Candyland board and suddenly you become the next General Patton. I Need a blue card to catch up. Double red and I can hunker down in the Peanut Brittle House. Damn the torpedoes, I'm going for Gumdrop Pass. But the truth is, businesses play Candyland too. Every day. They lay down plans, identify strategies to execute, milestones to overcome. As well they should. Having a written, solid foundation is a great idea for any business (the good ones keep theirs in a big thick binder). However, a company becomes Candyland when they encounter circumstances beyond their control. An unpredictable market. A reticent customer base. In other words, the almighty draw pile. Because as true as the Ice Cream River is cold, trends change. A baker obsessed with cupcakes may find customers are going gaga over his pumpernickel. Distributors may they themselves becoming brilliant retailers.

Just like a good Candyland player, successful enterprises know when it's time to give up specific dreams and reinvent their own desires when to ride the Rainbow Trail to another version of success. Stay flexible. Don't overthink opportunities that come your way. Pursue the unexpected. And keep an eye out for the Lollipop card. That thing is pure gold.