Magnets Get Your Message Front and Center

This column originally published on August 20, 2007 in The Appleton Post-Crescent.

“What’s on your fridge?”

It may not be the kind of marketing question one would expect to hear these days, but it certainly qualifies as a legitimate one when it comes to grass roots marketing. That’s because, in this instance, we’re talking MAGNETS!

The fact is, refrigerator magnets have become one of the most powerful marketing tools known to mankind. Okay, so I may be exaggerating a bit, but there’s no denying the magnet craze is quite the subtle marketing phenomenon. People are drawn to them, plain and simple (sorry for that one).
Not sure you agree? Well, what’s on your fridge? What’s keeping your most important papers front and center, or making sure your most frequently called numbers are available at a quick glance? That’s right, magnets. And many of them have logos and phone numbers, perhaps even Web addresses, for the companies that provided them.

Let’s pause for a moment and think about that. As a marketer, for a matter of pennies, I can have my brand and direct phone number (think pizza!) in YOUR kitchen on YOUR fridge. Duh. Let me call 1-800-NoBrainer. It doesn’t get much better than that.

As most marketers do in attempting to lend some very scientific, quantifiable credence to an argument, I asked around the office. I did a quick sampling of more than five and less than 10 colleagues. I figured that was a legitimate number that limits the error factor. What I found was nothing short of astonishing. It turns out, people will give up refrigerator real estate at the drop of a hat…as long as it’s for a good magnet cause.

The hands-down marketing winners, without getting too brand specific, were the critical “service” categories: physician, veterinarian, dentist, poison control, banks and credit unions, the local ask-a-nurse lines (ThedaCare-on-Call and NurseDirect) and, in virtually unanimous numbers, pizza delivery. That’s pretty effective marketing when you can deliver a message that says, “Psst, before you take food out of the fridge, consider calling for a pizza.”

All the parents, of course, had at least one school or daycare magnet, without fail. I was impressed that the library reference magnet received more than one response as did county and city recycling. Religion played a big role, with the Packers schedule scoring several magnets from the group! Seriously, churches did make the list. Those football schedules, by the way, were sponsored by various real estate or insurance agents as well as restaurants like Vince Lombardi’s Steakhouse.
Though the magnet world is clearly dominated by those important service categories, there was one response that really fascinated me. Baskin-Robbins. Now, keep in mind that this response came from a colleague who recently gave birth, so it’s quite conceivable there had been an ice cream emergency or two in the recent past. Even so, I’m not aware of Baskin-Robbins delivering, so why would one call Baskin-Robbins? Perhaps with a frantic, “Before I run over, I’m just checking to make sure you have some ice cream left?” But it certainly does demonstrate that the fridge magnet marketing game is open to any and all players.

So, forget that familiar “What’s in your wallet” campaign we hear on the telly, and give much more attention to what’s on your fridge. And then let us know. Please drop us an email at the address below to let us know what your most important magnets are…the ones you just simply can’t live without…and we’ll toss them into the next column.