Think Surprise is a marketing tool only for the mavericks, the wild or those with nothing to lose?
Tell that to ol' faithful Deloitte, the worldwide tax, financial and consulting giant, who busted out some major Pow! at its annual Technology Fast 50 Awards last week (full disclosure: I hosted this event for the second year running, but--unfortunately--had no hand in putting together its Pow! Moments).
To the overall winner, Nightingale Informatix Corporation, Deloitte's John Ruffolo didn't just present the perfunctory glass trophy, but the keys to a red-hot crimson Ferrari F430 Spider for a weekend (courtesy of sponsor The Private Collection)...much to the delight of President and CEO Sam Chebib.
A few minutes later, a Surprise draw of the winners of the Technology Green 15 sent the head of GEEP, Inc. home on a brand new Vespa Scooter.
These type of "Awards" events can be pretty dreary and uneventful (well, rarely when I'm at the helm...but I digress), but you can be sure that next year, Deloitte won't have to do much arm-twisting to fill tables for Fast 50 '09.
Lesson learned--if in tough times, a conservative stalwart like Deloitte can resort to Surprise marketing, what's your excuse?