Allison M. Shapira

Sunday, July 30, 2006

Good Marketing

This past Friday, I was walking around Harvard Square feeling like a melting ice cube in a hot drink. Sometimes it doesn't matter what you wear; you're still hot no matter what.

As I walked past the beginning of the 66 bus stop, a middle-aged woman on the side of the road asked me if I'd like a cold bottle of water. I accepted gratefully and, after making sure that it was a sealed bottle, I drank it to cool off. I noticed that the woman gave me a business card along with the bottle. On it was written:

"Yes...it really is free!
We hope this small gift brightens your day. It's a simple way of saying that God loves you, no strings attached.
Let us know if we can be of more assistance."

On the back of the business card was a map with directions to Hope Fellowship Church in Cambridge.

I looked around and noticed at least two more people handing out water to grateful passersby. They all just smiled and offered the water with "no strings attached."

I thought it was a fantastic form of marketing for a couple of reasons:

1. It was non-threatening. No one was trying to engage in conversation or discussion about religion. The business card simply said "here we are."
2. The people were smiling and friendly.
3. The give-away was extremely useful and relevant: cold water on a hot day.

What a great marketing effort, I thought. They aren't trying to sell anything, they're just trying to get themselves recognized and associated with a sense of good-will and acceptance. If I were Christian, I would certainly have considered stopping by their church on any given Sunday.

People hand out products on the street all the time, but I rarely accept what they have and I never remember them. The combination of the above three items really made an impression on me, and I will remember their usefulness then next time I need to engage in any form of marketing. Whether you're selling a product, service or idea, you can learn a lot from these three points: be non-threatening, friendly and relevant.

Tuesday, July 04, 2006

Cead Mile Failte

We just returned from a whirlwind weekend in Ireland (as I like to call it, "just toolin' around Ireland"), and we had a fantastic time.

A good friend of ours (the man who introduced Yoav and I) returned to his homeland after about 7 years in the States, and has repeatedly invited us to visit him for over three years now. We finally took him up on his offer.

We arrived at Shannon Airport on Saturday morning after a direct 5.30 hour overnight flight from Boston. We rented a little GW Golf and concentrated very hard on 1) Driving and 2) Stick shift, both on the left-hand side. We were anxious at first but soon enjoyed overcoming both challenges. It was a fun yet practical adventure.

Our first stop was Galway, where we walked around the main pedestrian areas and window-shopped. We happened upon an open-air market, where we picked up some garlic cheese, almond-stuffed olives, garlic-basted white beans, and bread. We enjoyed a decidedly Middle-Eastern feast along the river. Not very Irish, but we had just begun.

We then drove to Carrick-on-Shannon, where Kieron lives.

The roads looked like highways on the map, but they are actually one lane in either direction, winding through the countryside and right down the middle of towns. You often see cows and sheep grazing right alongside the road, on small plots of land separated by stone fences. You might see an entire hillside divided up into these small stone territories.

Kieron used to be the fitness instructor at City Gym in Kenmore Square before he returned to Ireland and the gym closed. He now teaches pilates and salsa in Carrick, which is a small, quaint town right on the Shannon river.

We arrived and immediately went over to a pub to watch England vs. Portugal in the World Cup. Most of the Irishmen there were cheering against England. They eventually got their wish.

At the pub, Yoav had his second Guiness in 5 hours. For dinner, we drove to an out-of-the-way restaurant further down the Shannon.

We stayed overnight at a beautiful Bed and Breakfast owned by Kieron's brother and sister-in-law, called "Ciuin House". It was a stylish, intimate hotel that was beautifully decorated and smelled calm and inviting. We had traditional Irish breakfast the next day, trying blood sausage for the first time. Not as bad as I expected, and the white sausage was actually pretty good! Gourmet adventure successful.

The chef was from Germany, and I jumped at the chance to practice my German – she obliged by switching to it permanently for the rest of our conversation.

After breakfast, we took a boat down the Shannon River, heard some commentary and enjoyed the weather. Afterwards, we went to the Carrick town center, where there was a multicultural festival going on. At lunch, our waiter was from Sardegna, Italia.

Between Kieron teaching me Gaelic, the German chef, the Italian server, Yoav’s Hebrew and my English, that day I spoke 5 languages. My ideal day.

The drive to Dublin was shorter than we thought due to the presence of a nice highway - no nice towns to bisect, but we earned more time to spend in the city instead.

Dublin is not one of the more beautiful cities in Europe, but it has some fun pedestrian areas, one of which was the location of our hotel. The Morgan hotel is n elegant, minimalist boutique hotel located in Temple Bar, a great base for exploring the city.

We were wary of the nearby pubs that proclaimed to be authentic Irish pubs through neon signs and colorful banners outside, instead we asked the receptionist at our hotel where she would take her friends to eat if they were in town for one day. She recommended a great steak house on a side street.

We went out dancing that night at a night club called Spirit. The trance music was refreshing and liberating, after so much hip-hop saturating the night club scene in the States. When you go dancing on a Sunday night, through, you never know what the scene will be, and in fact it turned out to be gay night. Yoav got hit on by someone, and although I had to rescue him and take him to another room, he was at least flattered by the attention.

We tried another place called 4 Dame Lane to finish off the night around 2 AM. Not too late, since on a short trip like this you need to maximize all your daylight hours.

The next day was our last in Ireland, and we spent it all in Dublin. First: the Dublin Castle, where we learned a little of the city’s history. Second: lunch in a great Italian caffe’ where we once again got to speak Italian. Third: the Guiness brewery, where we took a self-guided tour and enjoyed a free pint of Guiness. Finally, we took a cab over to the National Gallery to see a Caravaggio painting. We had exactly 20 minutes in the museum, since I misread the guidebook and we got there late; Yoav said it was the first time he had ever visited a museum and left without tiring of it.

We left Dublin in the evening to drive to Shannon, where we had rented a room near the airport before our flight the next day. The three-hour trip passed quickly thanks to some great techno on the radio. It feels like the beat keeps your heart pumping and your head alert.

We were able to leave Dublin so late because the sun sets at around 10 PM in Ireland during the summer, so you really get to enjoy the entire evening.

Our hotel in Shannon was grand and dark, reminding me of The Shining. There was also no air conditioning, so I was able to lose weight that night just by sweating in bed.

At the airport, there were a number of soldiers on leave from the Middle East, on their way home. Later on the plane, our American Airlines pilot mentioned that today was the 4th of July, where we celebrate our country’s freedom, and how relevant it was to see soldiers on that very day who were serving their country. A very poignant remark.

Our flight back to Boston was uneventful, except for the fact that we upgraded to “Economy Plus”, which means bigger seats but the same food, it seemed.

I regret not having studied Gaelic before my trip – English and Gaelic are both official languages in Ireland, so street signs are in both. Even studying merely pronunciation would have been a great introduction for pronouncing everything around me.

But we planned this trip in less than two weeks, and we weren’t exactly sitting around eating bon-bons during that time. Next trip to Ireland, I’ll learn Gaelic and we’ll travel to the coast.

I really enjoyed these little weekend jaunts – you get to enjoy a new city, feel the vibe, taste the food, enjoy the nightlife, and not worry about seeing everything because it’s simply impossible. You get to experience the city and decide whether or not you’d like to come back. It’s like sampling ice cream, only there are a dozen ways to individuate the tastes of the cream, and it costs considerably more money.

Overall, a thoroughly satisfying international experience. I can’t wait for the next tasting.