Hyperlocal Product Launch
October 31, 2011 
Comments Off
Hi
Thanks to everyone who shared emails with me after my last newsletter.
It’s great to hear all the different Hyperlocal Stories and Experiences!
Because of these emails I was inspired to share this quick update with you about
a Hyperlocal Product Launch I am currently conducting.
The launch is for a – Kids Audio Book Product
( Remember This)
The story begins exactly three weeks ago when my hyperlocal newspaper LocalsGuide published a headline story. This newspaper goes out to my entire town (13,000) via direct mail and - EVERYONE – READS IT.
The Headline Story Read:
How was Ashland’s Halloween Parade Really Saved?
You see, three weeks earlier the Chambers of Commerce decided to cancel one of the longest standing traditions in our town. – THE HALLOWEEN PARADE – It was a totally shock and surprise to everyone in the community.
Traditionally the parade has pulled in THOUSANDS of families from around the area to celebrate the event. You could not ask for a better feel-good community event!
When word got out that the Parade had been cancelled…
Well… All hell essentially broke loose with the sounds of mother’s and children screaming in the streets. The Chamber of Commerce and the Mayor had absolutely no idea that the public would react so strongly, they were in shock and caught with their pants down.
After a flood of angry phone calls, facebook protests, and wind storm of emails, the decision to keep the parade was announced… and then not another word was said about the matter.
Obviously the Chamber needs to learn more about local marketing and community engagement, but I saw this as a great opportunity to communicate with my target audience (kids) about our upcoming hyperlocal product launch.
Along with the font page headline we published a full page ad in the newspaper promising to share the real details behind the Halloween Disaster.
The ad simply said:
To Learn The Truth of How the Parade Was Really Saved Visit:
It was very curious and within two days of the paper being out over 100 people had signed up!
Of course the advertisement was very funny and with cartoons of the characters soon to be introduced in the book. Everyone who saw it obviously knew it was a joke… and they played along with it by signing up.
Now, here is where it gets interesting:
Typically people expect large corporations and companies to have slick marketing and product launches.
…but there is one problem.
The problem is that these launches are rarely hyperlocal.
Imagine Nike coming to your town to do a product promotion in a place you know and go.
Well, with a hyperlocal product launch you actually work to enagage and connect with your audience where they feel most comfortable and… secondly you deliver engagement at a highly polished level of professionalism…
This is NOT what local’s typically expect!
Well, after the paper was out I quickly went off to write and produce a free audio story for kids:
How the Parade Was Really Saved!
It was then professional recorded and produced. (20 Mins Total Time)
I made sure to embed it with tons of local details so as to connect it with our community, while
also making sure to make it global in character so that people all around the world would also enjoy it as well.
Once it was completed I used the early registration list of people who had signed up via the newspaper advertisement to launch the story into the community. We also published into facebook as well as several other local email lists.
It worked!!
But that’s not the end of the Hyperlocal Product Launch:
Tomorrow is actually the day of the Halloween Parade here in Ashland, Oregon… and exactly at 2:45pm we will be handing out over 300 copies of the audio story on CD to all the kids in the crowd!
Two days later the next issue of LocalsGuide will arrive in the mailbox with the next call to action.
Can you start to see where this is going?
So.. with all the tools and technology at the tips of our fingers.There’s absolutely no reason why your hyperlocal campaigns and product launches can’t be just as great.
Obviously you need to have your hyperlocal networks setup so you can act quickly and easily
to get things out into your community.
These networks give you leverage so you can balance actual hard costs you will incur,
But if this is service you are selling it represents an excellent money making opportunity.
My final goal will be to generate over1000 raving fans.
I need a hyperlocal launching point from which to get this out into an even larger audience.
I hope you found this interesting.
I’ll keep you posted later this week when I send out the next newsletter as well as
take time to share with you about how to setup a Citizen Journalism Hotline.
Until Then – Keep it Relevant
Shields Bialasik
Comments are closed.