Marketing in Unusual Places

This morning I was gassing up my car at a local station in Monrovia -- you know, the kind that have those screens above the pumps that blare snippets of news, sports and lots of advertising at you as you're standing there. If ever there was a captive audience, folks at gas pumps are that.

Since it was relatively quiet and since the volume was especially loud, I could actually hear what was being said. Along comes what I thought was going to be a 30 sec. commercial for Prius. But I heard the announcer saying something along the lines of "let us know what's happening in your community so we can pass that along for free." I looked up at the screen and there's an announcement for a program that is scheduled for the Crowell Library in San Marino!

The point is this: There are 10 screens at that station, one at each pump. And today there were 10 cars (busy but typical morning at this station). And if those 10 people just glanced at the screen when the announcement was up, that's 10 more people (including me) who now are aware of this program on treating my arthritic knees is going to happen at the Crowell Library. Now multiply that by the potential number of people who will stop at this gas station on a typical day and you've got lots of people potentially looking at your announcement!

Take advantage of opportunities to push your message whenever they come along. And, if it's free, that's even better.

Libraries are community places

I've blogged before about Richard Watson and his work with the future of public libraries' group in Australia. He has been putting out information on that project on his What's Next blog. He's got an excellent entry in today's blog that he titled "Turning Libraries into Community Places." And he makes several good points.

Here's one quote from his posting:

"It is the physical interaction of people, information and ideas - in all forms - that create a library and the physical space is hugely important. Libraries are community hubs. They are places where people go to borrow things and find answers, but they are also public spaces where people go to do things. Libraries are not just defined by what’s inside them but who’s inside them and what’s going on or available there."

It's true -- it is not the materials (physical or virtual) that define a library. It is the fact that these are public spaces full of people doing, finding, socializing and connecting. Read his entire post -- it's worth the few minutes it will take.

Future of Public Libraries study: Scenarios

Remember Richard Watson, futurist who predicted that public libraries would be extinct in a few years (a few years by futuring standards)? He made that prediction in his What's Next: Top Trends blog.

Lately he's been working with librarians on developing a set of scenarios about the future. (BTW, he no longer thinks public libraries are going to die any time soon.) He has been blogging about the work-in-progress and his posting have made for interesting reading.

The scenarios are now available on the What's Next blog. There's a summary table available. There are also 4 scenarios (all in draft form still): #1 Inside Out, #2 First or Economy, #3 Eastern Standard, #4 Booked Out. All four carry the future out to year 2030.

I strongly encourage everyone to take a look at these postings and start thinking and discussing them.

What a GREAT marketing idea!

Johnson County Library (Kansas) is using the system's delivery trucks in an innovation marketing campaign. They are taking advantage of the large available side panels and back door to advertise (fictional) business: Captain Ahab's Fine Seafood, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde's Pharmacy, Kafka's Pest Kontrol, and Benjamin Button's Diaper Service.

Since the trucks drive all over Johnson County, they are constantly advertising the library in a unique and imaginative way. And it caught the eye of the local newspaper, the Kansas City Star, bringing more free press to the library. See pictures of the trucks here.

Non-disclosure agreements & libraries

I bet that almost every library director or purchasing officer who has signed a contract to purchase access to an electronic database has agreed to nondisclosure as part of the purchasing agreement. Elsevier recently filed a motion in the state of Washington to try to block the release of "data on the terms of large-publisher bundled contracts" after a couple of researchers filed a public record request for the data. The Washington state court judge denied the motion. Read more about it here.

We all know that pricing for electronic databases is a mysterious art practiced by the vendors. I've always believed that the pricing offered to any one library on any given day depends on (take your pick) a) the phase of the moon, b) solar flares, c) how delicious that morning cup of coffee was, or d) how comfy the bed was at the sales guy's hotel.

Although the Washington case applies to an academic library, one can only hope that this is the beginning of real transparency where pricing for electronic databases is concerned.

Future of Public Libraries study

Somewhere out there in England (I believe that's where these folks are located), a group is doing a Future of Public Libraries study, according to the What's Next: Top Trends (subtitle: A Blog about Trends (for grownups)) I follow. Richard Watson, author of the blog, is reporting on a scenario planning project that is looking at the future of public libraries. Tuesday's post listed the key influences that they are considering, influences that look very familiar: sustainability, demand for space, access equity, pace of technological change, staff resistance to change, etc., etc. I recommend that you take a look at the complete list and then take a look at today's post in which Richard describes the scenario planning process they are using. I plan to keep track of their work and read the resulting documents!

Innovative annual report

If you have read annual reports from companies, agencies, etc., you know they tend to be a bit dry and not exactly keep-you-awake-at-night reading. Check out the Columbus Metropolitan Library's annual report. This Ohio library has produced an innovate and environmentally-friendly annual report that is actual interesting. For example, instead of a paragraph or two on the Ready to Read program, they have a video of a Ready to Read team member talking about the program. Take a look at the online report. It's fun, entertaining and informative. And no trees were harmed.