Mud Swallows

These are mud swallows or barn swallows and they build and nest in the mud structures you see above.  They come to this area in the spring to build and mate.  When they arrive, they swarm the peaks of your home and little bit at time, they pack mud and grass together to construct their nests.  They are not dangerous but a pest, because of the mess.

One of our current clients has a beautiful home in Gallatin River Ranch, and every Spring the mud swallows nest in the peaks of their home.  They are tired of cleaning up after the birds, so they asked us to research tactics to rid their house of the birds.

Last Fall we blasted all the vacant mud homes away with a pressure washer once the birds migrated south.  This Spring we rented a paint sprayer and sprayed their house with canola oil.  When the birds came and tried to build the mud would not stick to the house.  The swallows didn't stay long before they became discouraged and left.

This client could not be happier and we now have an excellent new marketing tactic. 

SWMBIA

I realize this looks like a plug for the Southwest Montana Building Industry Association, but I want to explain what they have done for our business in term of marketing.

We joined SWMBIA in 2011, and the membership has brought us incredible networking opportunities.  The organization encompasses many business involved in all aspects of the building industry, and we have now had the privilege to work with many of the members.

They have introduced us promotional events including the Home Expo, the Parade of Homes, and the members golf tournament.  All of these events have increased our brand awareness in the community and boosted our customer base.  They have linked our website to the SWMBIA website, which has widened customer access to our business.

Thanks SWMBIA for bringing our business to this community.

Did You Know?

The Southwest Montana Building Association (SWMBIA) is a Bozeman-based trade association representing over 10,000 residential home building and remodeling industry members. As Montana and the Gallatin Valley continue to grow.

    

Giveaway Promotions

The SWMBIA Home Expo held at the Fieldhouse on campus is something we have participated in the past two years.  It is a great opportunity for us to meet the community, work with the local builders, and promote our service.  

At this event it is popular to hand out swag with your logo on it.  This giveaway promotion is an excellent way to get our name out there, so we want to hand out something memorable and useful.  

Our service is cleaning glass, so naturally what giveaway item would be better than an eyeglass cleaning shammy with our logo on it.  YAY!  The shammy went over well, but we are always looking for new ideas.

So, get those marketing minds in gear and help a classmate out! 

Here is our logo...maybe that will spark...something.

  

Brand Positioning

The Persuaders discussed how a trend of "being outside the box" in advertising has grown, and some commercials lose sight of their products because they are so "out there."  On the other hand some commercials' comedy makes the product impossible to forget. 

The clip below highlights a few ads that have used "funny" and creativity in a way that informs consumers about their products.  I hope they bring a smile to your face.  

Celebrities selling your product?

Consumers can identify products through their brand name, brand mark, or spokesperson.  I can see that when launching a product, that you want these items to be bold, influential, and unforgettable.

I see so many celebrities today selling different products, and I wonder if the high cost of a celebrity spokesperson is worth it.  Not only the cost, but the risk involved with having someone you can't control as the face of your product.

What do you do when the spokesperson chosen, messes up big time?

I found an article called Celebrities in Advertising are Almost Always a Big Waste of Money, and discussed is Nike's endorsement of Tiger Woods, and how in the end they spent advertising dollars addressing Tiger's "mistakes" instead of selling their products.  Ad Age the authors of the article also conducted a study and concluded that in 2010, one fifth of celebrity ads actually had a negative impact on the effectiveness of the ad.

Hopefully this means consumers are buying products based on things like:  quality, usefulness, and desire.  Not just because Tiger told them too.