BLOCKBUSTER/Indiana Jones event

Check out some of the highlights from the BLOCKBUSTER event I referenced in my last post:

The BLOCKBUSTER store on West Gray in River Oaks

The 104.1 KRBE promotional wheel

Charles the Chuckwalla from the Houston Zoo

Animal artifacts from the Houston Zoo

A visitor makes friends with a king snake from the Houston Zoo

Big winners!

Chance to win tix to the new Indiana Jones movie

I'm helping BLOCKBUSTER put on an event tonight from 6-7 p.m. at the River Oaks store - 1917 W. Gray - just a couple blocks from Shepherd Dr. to celebrate the release of "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull." Houston radio station 104.1 KRBE will be on hand to give out:

- BLOCKBUSTER gift cards ranging in value from one free movie to one year of free movie rentals

- KRBE shirts, koozies, and other fun promotional items

- Free movie passes to the Tuesday premiere of the movie

BLOCKBUSTER and KRBE will be joined by representatives of the Houston Zoo, who are bringing snakes, scorpions, tarantulas and animal artifacts befitting the Indiana Jones theme.

Feel free to drop by and enjoy the festivities.

Free Crisis Communications Webcast

I came across the following announcement through an email newsletter I receive daily and thought I'd pass it along:

Free Educational Webcast from Thomson Reuters: Navigating a Crisis Through Effective Communications

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Register now for the free 30-minute webcast: Navigating a Crisis through Effective Communications.

Two baristas enter - one barista leaves

This weekend marks the Specialty Coffee Association of America's 20th Annual Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota (one of the cleanest cities I've ever visited). Now, I love my caffeine - both coffee and tea. But I admit that I wouldn't even be aware of this event if one of my clients didn't have a stake in it. Did you know that there are regional, national and international barista competitions designed to identify the most proficient and creative espresso masters in the industry? No, they don't duke it out in the octagon, although that may be the next evolution of this hyper-caffeinated sport. More on that later.

A few months ago, I started working with Cuvee Coffee, a specialty coffee microroaster based in the Houston area that specializes in single origin, estate, and artisan blend coffees from Africa, Central and South America, and the Pacific. Their primary clientele consists of independent coffee houses in Houston and Austin, as well as other parts of Texas, Oklahoma, and elsewhere. They also have a retail section of their Web site where home enthusiasts can buy their coffees and/or upscale espresso and brewing equipment. These also make for great gifts for customers, clients, friends, and...ok, ok, enough of the gratuitous and shameful promotion.

The quality of the coffee is awesome, their sustainable business model is admirable, and the folks behind the company are genuinely nice people who truly care about the product and its role in people's lives. All of that really gets me jazzed about working with them and it makes me proud to have them as a client.

Check out some of the recent media coverage:

"Grounds for enthusiasm" - Houston Business Journal

"Conscious coffee equals quality coffee" - Spring Observer

"Wired" - Champions Sun

"Coffee business booming in Houston" - KUHF Houston Public Radio

Clancy Rose is Cuvee's roaster. As if Houston's summer weather weren't enough, Clancy spends a lot of time in the heat of the roasting machine. He also is a professional barista trainer and competes against other baristas from across the country. Clancy's been getting some press of his own as he pursues the SCAA national barista championship this weekend. Here are a couple recent articles highlighting this master of the froth:

"A whole latte art: Competition barista hot for coffee" - Champions Sun

"Competition barista joins Cuvee Coffee as specialty coffee roaster and trainer" - Tomball Spring-Times ran this as an article

Good luck to Clancy as he unveils his signature espresso drink amidst a wave of fanfair, pomp, and circumstance. I have no doubt he will return triumphant and give me something exciting to share with the media and his growing number of groupies.

Cuvee celebrates its 10th anniversary this year. Its owner and founder, Mike McKim, just took it full-time a little over a year ago, but anticipates breaking the $1 million revenue mark this year. Mike and his sales rep, Dan "Man on the Street" Streetman, are spending a lot of time reaching out to Houston coffee houses who want to offer their customers coffee of the highest caliber, so be on the lookout for Cuvee Coffee (not available at Starbucks).

And be sure to connect with Cuvee on FaceBook and on MySpace.

I now offer cubes

Several years ago, I was hired for a full-time position handling marketing for a company. One of the executives asked me to develop a marketing plan for the organization, so I asked for the business plan, to which he responded, "What?"

I told him that I needed to know what his goals and objectives for the organization were - in what areas he saw opportunities to grow and what metrics he was using to define success - so I could base the marketing plan around that. His response was, "You're a marketing guy. You don't need a business plan. Just come up with a plan."

I then asked what my budget was for market research efforts, to which he responded, "What?" I explained that I needed some frame of reference to understand where the organization fit in the local marketplace in relation to the competition and where the growth opportunities and basic SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) existed. His response was, "You're a marketing guy. Just come up with a plan."

Frustrated and confused, I performed my own secondary research and developed a comprehensive marketing and outreach plan as best I could. I presented it to the executive along with a budget for each aspect, anticipating that I would only receive approval for a handful of items as opposed to the kitchen sink. I never expected the response I got. He opened a desk drawer and said, "You know what we really need? Petri, I was in a client's office earlier and he had this cube on his desk that unfolds into different shapes and has lots of cool pictures on it. My eyes were drawn to it and I couldn't stop playing with it. I think what we need is a cube like that. Can you get me a cube?"

I honestly thought he was joking. I sat silent for a moment, then asked how that fit into the strategy and the marketing plan I just presented. He said, "I think this is what we need." And that was that. I stalled successfully for a year and a half until he finally demanded "THE CUBE" and he got his cube.

I am not a fan of promotional products as a strategy in and of themselves. However, I have not let the cube experience sour my feelings about the potential of branded pens, key chains, apparel, etc. as a supporting campaign element or unique event takeaway. I now have a partnership with a promotional products supplier and can offer clients over 600,000 promotional products - yes, including cubes.