Ask the Misfit: Feeling Creative? Ideas Needed for Promoting Obama Inaugural Products Online

Jake Ferreri asks on LinkedIn:

I am looking for creative, good marketing ideas – any help you can provide would be greatly appreciated, and I’d of course be happy to return the favor if I can.
We are trying to promote our signature line of Obama Inaugural Products (www.InauguralPromos.com ) and were looking for ideas on where to advertise online and offline. Have any experiences worth sharing?

We do not typically do online and offline advertising, but with our unique line of Obama Inauguration products, we’re giving it a "go". That said, we have no idea where to go. We offer both high end gift products like 24kt gold-plated pins and cuff links, to collector’s memorabilia like coins, buttons, tee shirts and hats. We are advertising a bit on Google AdWords, Since the products can be bought in single units, as well as bulk and customized, weren’t sure where to get the best bang for our buck. Any help and contacts would be appreciated.

Thanks a bunch – Happy 2009!!

Marketing Misfit response

Well, I am sure there is a lot you can do on the PPC, Google AdWords, SEO/SEM front but since you asked for marketing ideas in general and you asked if I was feeling creative … then my advice leans more on general marketing and creative observations. So here goes nothing …

The first thing that struck me upon visiting your site was …. WHERE’S OBAMA?? The web, as you know, is a highly visual medium but no where did I see Obama’s face … Obama’s likeness, Obama anything. If there are any issues with using Obama photos or pics … then perhaps a colorful illustration … or perhaps giving close ups of the Obama merchandise or lots of Wash DC imagery/photography ??? And how about Obama’ing the web design just a bit more … finding inspiration from the color/hues on the change.gov site. Overall, I think your brand needs a bit of a personality uplift following some of these cues …

After the brand re-energizing, why not try reaching out to the folks over at Qorvis, who recently launched a very cool mobile application for all things inauguration … you can read more here: http://tinyurl.com/7exxah

If not those guys, then partner with a similar service and align yourself with something (good) related to the inauguration.

You don’t have much time to plan a whole lot so if I were you, I would be diving in and swimming, neck deep, in all things inauguration to find possible partnering and/or PR opportunities

Good luck!!!