Waaaaaay out of the box marketing

Sorry to have been silent for so long; I returned home from a consulting trip sick as a dog (killed one week in its entirety) then took off for several days in Kentucky. Now that I’m home, a little “blog catch up” is in order, starting with the single most out of the box marketing campaign on earth.

A retail operation specializing in home medical equipment, scooters, lift chairs, and the like is probably not someone that comes to mind when thinking about creative advertising. They cater to primarily to seniors with limited mobility or other health concerns, after all. Should equate to your typical ho-hum, kinda-sad-kinda-drab television spots tucked into late night programming, between ads for Golden Oldies CD sets and some type of miracle towels.

Well, folks, someone at Freedom Medical forgot to read that memo.

I just watched a mid-Saturday morning, 30-second spot featuring very fit, very spry 80-somethings horsing around with oxygen masks, pretending to tee off with canes, and holding races in lift chairs, scooters, and wheel chairs (the latter two dodging floor display units along the way). Honest to goodness, these stores look like great places to hang out, with seniors who’d liven up any backyard barbecue. I actually rewound the TiVo to watch it again, the thing was so funny. Not goofball funny, but sincerely entertaining.

The whole point is that sometimes, you need to look twice at who your customers are, then figure out who they want to be...how they see themselves in their mind’s eye. Freedom’s tag line, “You’re Only as Old as You Feel” couldn’t be more perfect, exemplified by the clever visuals and upbeat music. By marketing the stores as happy places where customers can hang out with their vibrant peers, laughing and having a good time, they’ve taken the sting out of aging. At least out of this part of the process.

I’ll contact Freedom Medical about getting permission to post the spot here.

For a little 3-store business based in St. Cloud, Minnesota, they’ve sure blown the curve. This is the kind of stuff that ought to be in a Harvard case study. Brilliant.