Start Up St. Louis

Tissue Pack Marketing

parkviewer — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:14:06 +0000

One of the more clever concepts in awareness marketing in Japan is starting to get attention in the United States, advertising on the front of small packs of tissues. Advertising agencies have stuck logos on just about everything imaginable, but how many times in the winter do you wish you had a small packet of tissues handy to take care of a runny nose?

This concept creates an authentic value exchange with the customer – the advertising is giving something to the customer and in return the customer has the option of reading the advertisement, possibly many times. According the an article in Japan Times, over four billion tissue packs are handed out in Japan every year.

In a recent Internet survey of over 100,000 Japanese consumers conducted by Marsh Research, 76 percent said they accept free tissues. (That’s a much higher acceptance rate than for leaflets.) When asked if they look at the advertisement accompanying the tissues, slightly more than half said they either “definitely look” or “at least glance at” the advertisement. When asked why, many respondents said they hoped to find a coupon or special offer. Yet others displayed a very Japanese sense of obligation for having received a gift, giving answers like “sekkaku kubatte kuretakara (because they were so kind to have given me something)” and “yappari moratta ijo minai to shitsurei ni naru ka na to omo tame (given that I accepted them, I figure it would be rude not to look).”

As you surmised, the concept of tissue-pack marketing was indeed developed in Japan. It dates back to the late 1960s, when Hiroshi Mori, the founder of a paper-goods manufacturer in Kochi Prefecture called Meisei Industrial Co., was sniffing around for ways to expand demand for paper products. At the time, the most common marketing freebie in Japan was boxes of matches, often given away by banks and used primarily by women in the kitchen.

Figuring tissues would have wider appeal (because everyone has to blow their nose, and carry insurance against public toilets with no tissues), Mori developed the machinery to fold and package tissues into easy-to-carry pocket-size packs. The new product was marketed only as a form of advertising and wasn’t sold to consumers. Even now, pocket tissues hardly exist as a retail category in Japan because everyone expects to receive them for free.

Japan is still the main market for tissue-pack advertising, but the practice is beginning to spread overseas.

Off Campus Media, a integrated marketing company focused on the college demographic is planning to use the tissue pack marketing concept on several college campuses this fall. “We have student ambassadors that are often distribution funny postcards and promotional items to increase awareness for our advertising partners”, said Mark Sawyier, CEO. “I think the tissue pack marketing idea is great.”

Too Little Value

The Future of Retail

Why Not Ask Your Customer?

Moving Off Campus Launches Improved Website and Begins National Expansion

parkviewer — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 06:00:22 +0000

MovingOffCampus.com can now help college Students find apartments and more at over 2,000 colleges and universities.

St. Louis, MO (Jan. 14, 2009) Moving Off Campus, a leading integrated marketing company announced today the launch of the next generation of its website for college students. Specifically the new site features:

- Improved design and navigation for visitors and members.

- An apartment directory featuring millions of apartments around college and university campuses

- Over one hundred thousand business listings around college and university campuses.

- Ability to search by distance for apartments, business and events from over 2,000 college and university campus.

- Expanded community content pages.

- Free coupon posting service for businesses.

- Free listing service for businesses wanting to reach college students at universities around the United States.

- Daily specials sections featuring what is going on off campus.

MovingOffCampus.com completed its second phase of expansion last year to a handful of college and university campuses in St. Louis, Chicago and Boston. After working with focus groups and making several major design and technical upgrades, MovingOffCampus.com is now available to college students at over 2,000 university campuses around the United States.

“We’ve learned a lot from our initial launch and are excited to introduce our platform to college students across the country,” said Mark Sawyier, founder and CEO of Moving Off Campus. “We are confident that the time and resources invested in the website will pay off as we continue our national expansion”.

MovingOffCampus.com, although still in its infancy, has exceeded expectations in both campus market penetration and advertising click-through rates. At its first six campuses MovingOffCampus.com signed up over 8,000 student members and advertising click through rates were consistently five to ten times industry averages.

“Our focus is on college students,” said Robert Dowling, content manager for MovingOffCampus.com. “Our listings of apartments near universities, our reviews and features cater to, and are often created by college students – we create a more relevant and valuable experience for college students.”

MovingOffCampus.com is a completely free site for business and property owners interested in being more visible to college students. MovingOffCampus.com hosts one of the most comprehensive apartment listings in the United States through its own database of off campus housing around universities and the integration of apartment data from Apartments.com.

In addition to the free listing services, MovingOffCampus.com provides integrated marketing services that leverage the Internet, social media, peer-to-peer marketing on and off campus and a broad range of advertising activities.
In support of its national expansion Moving Off Campus is recruiting college student campus ambassadors to support marketing efforts, help increase awareness of the web site, and develop local content. Students interested in internships or ambassador positions should visit the jobs section of MovingOffCampus.com.

About Moving Off Campus -

Founded in 2006, Moving Off Campus is an integrated marketing company focused on effectively connecting advertisers with the 18 million college students in the United States. Through a combination of on-campus marketing, off-campus events near universities, social media and a content rich Internet sites, Moving Off Campus produces superior results for college students and advertising partners alike. Moving of Campus is headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. For additional information visit http://www.movingoffcampus.com

Is Twitter the Next Netscape?

parkviewer — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:26:11 +0000

Twitter’s PR team must be working late each night because over the past several weeks dozens of articles have appeared in almost every media channel. Many of these articles examine the twitter business model and try to hypothesize a path to prosperity or failure. Read the rest of this entry »