Everyone's Gifted Beekman 1802

Retailers: You Don’t Need to Be a Marketing Genius to Have a Genius Marketing Idea

You don’t need to be a marketing genius, as Brent Ridge and Josh Kilmer-Purcell, a.k.a.the Beekman Boys, certainly are, to have a genius marketing idea, like this past holiday season’s “Everyone’s Gifted” promotion from Beekman 1802.

All you need is:

  • A clever, memorable concept (i.e. Albert Einstein as the ‘face’ of Beekman’s promotion);
  • Consistently executed across all platforms, including in-store, with signs and shelf talkers calling out ‘genius’ gift ideas, online/website and on social media;
  • Engaging with Beekman inviting its friends and ‘neighbors,’ what the Boys call their customers and followers, to share their ‘genius’ decorating, cooking, cleaning, organizing, or entertaining ideas to earn ‘IQ’ points to be redeemed for discounts; and
  • Authentic for the store brand.  Knowing Brent and Josh as I do, they believe everyone’s gifted, not just because they buy Beekman’s gifts, but because everyone is a unique individual whose special ‘genius’ is to be celebrated.

And while it’s not essential, nimbleness helps.  When a mid-December snow storm endangered shoppers traveling to the Sharon Springs flagship store, as well as threatening holiday sales goals, the Beekman Boys acted fast.

They sent out a social media post announcing that the store was still open, but telling their neighbors, “PLEASE PLEASE stay off the roads until this storm is over…We’d much rather you shop online today and let us get your gifts to you than have you risk getting to us.”  Who ever heard of a retailer tell people not to shop?

But to assure their neighbors can fill their stockings before Christmas Day, Beekman 1802 offered free shipping for all telephone and internet orders within a 50 mile radius received over the weekend of the storm.   The result: booming sales despite the snow and tremendous good will  because neighbors watch out for each other.

Get inspired by hundreds more ‘genius’ marketing ideas from Beekman 1802 and the 16 other ‘genius’ specialty retailers profiled in my book Shops that POP!  7 Steps to Extraordinary Retail Success.  Let the ‘genius’ of these retailers inspire you to become a ‘genius’ retailer too. 

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