The element of Surprise. I've often said it's like nitroglycerin.
A little bit used well, it sparks Euphoric Shock and gets the heart pumping.
A little too much handled recklessly, and it can blow up in your face.
Which is why I admire Mark Dickey and his team down at Q92, a radio station in my hometown of Montreal. To mark Valentine's Day, next Friday (which also happens to be Friday the 13th, a date which may be prove itself VERY relevant), the station is undertaking a promotion that is guaranteed to be memorable, no matter which way it ends up.
The promo is called Q92's Ambush Wedding where one of the station's female listeners has the chance to shock her reluctant partner with a surprise wedding at his place of work. As it says on the station's site :
"All the winning woman has to do is sign-up for the contest and then show-up... and keep her man in the dark!"
As admirable as this is in the Surprise marketing realm, what's really astonishing is that more than 200 potential blushing brides (and their clueless soon-to-be-catatonic grooms) have signed up in the contest's first week.
Huge cojones, this station indeed has. Keep watching this space, as I've got to show you what happens to the winner (?) on Feb. 13.
Until then, a standing ovation from all of us here at Surprise Central.
