Target Rocket

Random marketing story: but worth a read!

⚽ The FIFA World Cup kicked off this week and, if you didn’t know, FIFA doesn’t allow anyone to advertise outside of itself and its partnerships.

Well, in the USA, most of our stadiums are sponsored by brands. Here, in Northern Virginia, we have the Capital One Arena (sponsored by the bank), as well as NorthWest Stadium (another bank), and M&T Bank Stadium... makes you wonder if our yearly checking account fees are going straight to the stadiums. Hmmm. 🤔

In any case, Levi Stadium, in California was required to cover the “Levi’s” portion of the Stadium name with a banner draped across it.

Instead of seeing this as a detriment to their marketing, they saw an opportunity.

The draped banner has become the “new logo” for all of Levi’s social media accounts and has brought them more publicity than simply showing their name ever could!

Welcoming the world to the beautiful [redacted] stadium!” was the caption on Instagram after Qatar and Switzerland played in the first World Cup game at the venue on Saturday. The post was overlayed with the popular “How will they know” TikTok audio.

Makes you think about your next customer blunder or project mishap!

Happy Easter or, should I say, 01001000 01100001 01110000 01110000 01111001 00100000 01000101 01100001 01110011 01110100 01100101 01110010

The GBB or the Good-Better-Best Strategy

The Good Better or Best options is a strategy that works psychologically within your customers in a few ways. You’ve probably heard of it by way of “tierd pricing” and we’ve all experienced it when we’ve driven up to the Chick Fil A drive thru and looked through the options where you can order a 6 count for X amount ooooor upgrade it to an 8 count for just a few dollars more and hit with a, “Want to make it a meal with a drink for just X?”

1. The Good Better Best strategy reduces decision fatigue (analysis paralysis). It’s hard to get overwhelmed when you only have three options that are similar but visually different.

2. It enhances perceived value, especially when you’re specific with the better and best options. People can see what they are getting (or what they aren’t) and justify the higher tier because they can see the difference

3. It maximizes your audience. You can now reach people at different price points that you wouldn’t normally reach when they have submit a quote before knowing a price.

So why does it work on the brain so well?

Price Anchoring: The “Best” option makes the “Better” option look like a bargain by comparison. Even if few people buy the “Best” tier, its presence increases the perceived value of the middle tier. You’d want to place your “Better” tier as your go-to because that’s what most folks will order. So, make it work for you and for them!

The Compromise Effect: Human beings are naturally wired to avoid extremes. We often shy away from the “cheapest” (fear of low quality) and the “most expensive” (fear of overspending), making the middle option the most comfortable choice.

Customer Segmentation: It allows you to serve different types of customers (the budget-conscious vs. the luxury buyers) with a single product line. While we are probably focusing on the “Better” tier, we can still get folks in at a lower price point (easier options) and higher price points (and they are willing to pay for the extras).

In 2006, a group of scientists ran a study in a coffee shop using a loyalty rewards card.

To group A: they gave a card with 12 blank squares and 2 of them already filled in. Meaning, they were visually 2 steps closer to earning their first reward coffee.

To group B: they gave a card with only 10 blank squares with 0 filled in.

The loyalty rewards were literally the same. 12 squares with 2 already checked, meaning 10 more squares to go and the other set had only 10 squares total.

Each group had to earn the same number of rewards to get the free coffee.

The study showed that participants with the card that had 12 squares and 2 already checked in actually earned their reward faster than those with the card that had 10 blank squares.

This is “The Goal Gradient Effect.” This concept was coined in 1932 by Clark Hull who he figured out people work harder when they are closer to the goal.

Give your customers some “free” incentive to come back and watch them, well, come back.

Merry Christmas from your team at Target Rocket!

Instagram Update: > from 30 to 5

Instagram has long been huge on the use of hashtags to categorize content from the creators themselves. Listen, I know that I started running out of relatable hashtags around the number 20 mark and 30- heck, I was putting random ones like and .

The head of Instagram has been saying for a while now that the platform is going away from hashtags and, with the burst of Ai this year, it’s no longer needing the help of the end user to figure out what feeds your content belongs in.

So, what should be your new hashtag strategy? Super specific hashtags and well-rounded content. If you’re just makin’ posts about landscaping and using the hashtag “ ”- you might just end up in the feeds of anyone interested in landscaping or those who call themselves landscapes. Instead, focus on more specific hashtags like, “ ” or “ ”.

Make sure your captions are including your keywords vs putting them all in your hashtags and also use your the Locations feature to end up in local feeds of home owners around McLean.

While it feels we have lost an option, I promise you we’ve not. The bots are just takin’ over and now we don’t have to type meaningless hashtags over and over.