Can you believe it? Two big surprise lessons from one fundraiser!
This time, inside the Garth Brooks NHL All-Star dinner, and a Chicago auctioneer is surrounded by some gleaming, high-powered and high-profile items up for bid.
- Two new Dodge Nitro SUVs.
- A custom NHL motorcycle made by the Teutul boys of Orange County Choppers.
- An all-expenses paid trip to Garth Brooks' upcoming Las Vegas show and private dinner with the country legend.
- Signed original art
So guess which prize attracts the most feverish bidding?
Wouldya believe...
an empty envelope?
Yup, in a stroke of Surprise genius, the auctioneer held up an empty envelope, showed there was nothing in it, and started bidding at a couple hundred bucks.
For about five seconds, nothing happened.
Then the crowd, figuring there has to be a catch, started a bidding frenzy. Hands popped up and waved all over the room, which now looked like some sort of fantasy-land forest. The auctioneer, a seasoned pro, could hardly catch his breath keeping up with the rising total.
When it all died down, he had raised--if me memory serves me correctly--close to $2,000.
For nothing.
Well, actually, not for nothing. The winner took home a bunch of signed memorabilia; essentially leftovers from the silent auction mentioned below.
But it goes to prove the Pow!er of the unknown. In Surprise marketing, we defy conventional wisdom and live by the adage
Two in the Bush
is Worth More
Than a Bird in the Hand