This fall, Gary and I had a little fun zipping out to BC for the weekend, and found some insanely big pumpkins at Creston Fruit Market, a wonderful roadside market that we usually visit in the late summer for fruit of all kinds. This put me in the Halloween spirit to buy ourselves an absurdly big pumpkin – in fact, the biggest one they had. Which of course got my brain onto really big marketing ideas…but first more about the pumpkin.

The thing was so large, that Donna, the market owner, didn’t even weigh it because it wouldn’t fit on the scale. So all we paid was $40. It probably should have been more like $140, but we’ll accept a gift when it’s given.

Now, Gary is a tall fellow with rather long arms, but it certainly was funny to see him hoisting that huge, orange thing into the back of our van. After some struggle and mutters of, “Happy wife, happy life,” under his breath, we were loaded up ready to roll, thinking that if we were on icy roads, we’d be glad for the extra weight in the back.

Donna had asked me to send a photo of the pumpkin once we carve it, which I’m sure will be an adventure in itself. But this got me thinking of the marketing potential of doing something BIG once in awhile.

Over the years, we’ve had clients with some very interesting capabilities. Mattress makers, chocolate makers, metal workers, and more. On quite a few occasions, I’ve suggested going beyond their normal daily products to instead produce a grand spectacle, the results of which can pay off for years to come. For example:

• Make the world’s largest mattress…maybe even Guinness World Record large.
• Use your metalworking shop to make a huge xylophone for Christmas, that your clients can come and play at your Christmas party (or you can perform on it for some fun Christmas posts).
• Make the world’s most expensive (exclusive) chocolate truffle, with some amazing ingredient that no one could ever imagine.

Or, perhaps you buy the largest imaginable pumpkin, and carve it up to showcase your artistic talents….we plan on asking our son, George, an accomplished tattoo artist, if he’d carve this beauty. Kind of a neat way to promote a talent or skillset.

So if the standard things aren’t working well for you lately, try rethinking your capabilities and just imagine how absurdly big or incredible you could go! You might just find a way to put yourself on the map, and be remembered. I’m not going to promise you’ll go viral, but you’ll have fun trying, and have something really cool to showcase for years to come.

And if you want some really big marketing ideas, contact us today.