My friend found himself in East Village on a business trip in Manhattan around dinnertime. Yelp told him that the best place for a hot dog was Crif Dogs that was conveniently located down the street from his hotel. After venturing two blocks over, there it was, a sign “Crif Dogs,” in the shape of a giant hot dog bearing its catch phrase, “Eat me.”
Inside he found a very underwhelming brick and mortar hot dog stand that was dimly lit, had a low ceiling and plain aluminum tables. He, along with the other hungry patrons, piled in and grabbed a seat. My friend chose the bar with the galley kitchen in plain view. As he sat enjoying his deep-fried dog and PBR, the cell phone of the guest to his right rang. The guy answered and immediately got up and went through a narrow accordion door that mimicked a vintage phone booth in the front right corner of the establishment. My friend noticed that he curiously didn’t come out. A short time passed, and the cell phone of the person to his left rang, he also answered, and vanished through the same narrow accordion door in the front right corner of Cif Dogs, and never came back out.
After finishing his meal, my friend’s curiosity got the best of him. He had to see what was on the other side of the wooden accordion phone booth door. He slid open the door to find a small room that contained only a rotary dial phone mounted on the wall. There was a handwritten note stapled to the wall beside the phone that said, “For reservations, dial 1.” So he picked up the phone and did just that, only to hear someone on the other end state, “Do you have a reservation?” He responded, “A reservation? To what?.” The voice stated, “I should have a reservation in about 30 minutes, what’s your phone number?” He said, “A reservation to what?” The voice said, “I’ll call you when we have an opening,” and hung up. My friend left the booth and just before he finished his second PBR, his cell phone rang, with “Please Don’t Tell” on his caller ID. He answered and the hostess’ voice simply stated that “his seat is open”, to “come to the booth, dial 1 and the steel door will open”.
The steel door opened to reveal a faux speakeasy cocktail bar. In complete contrast to his sister establishment Crif Dogs, PDT (Please Don’t Tell) is a swanky lounge with a long intricately carved bar, plush bar stools, killer cocktails and highly skilled mixologists.
Come to find out, my friend was lucky to have been granted this experience. Reservations typically sell out by mid-afternoon (they are taken same-day only) and the bar is first-come, first-served. So how does a bar who attaches business cards to their receipts that say “Shhh…Please Don’t Tell” with no signage, Facebook page, website, or much less, a front door, remain packed? They create an experience. Marketing gurus call it, “inbound marketing.”
My friend and marketing strategist, Kyle Sexton, related this experience to me, and a host of other attendees, at my state association conference several weeks back to illustrate an important concept for successful promotion. Inbound marketing is a strategy that is used to attract new people to your place of business by creating value. Historically, of course, speakeasies were establishments that sold alcohol illegally. The modern speakeasy, although legitimate, is concealed—as if it had something to hide. People tell secrets…and secrets like “PDT”, they cannot wait to tell! Kyle’s true story is a perfect example of inbound marketing.
A great experience at a speakeasy can cause others to create that content for you by way of reviews, articles, word-of-mouth marketing, and ultimately, raving fans. Your company or organization, just like PDT, can create an awesome “tell-worthy” experience. Being “loud” with marketing messages that you “push” doesn’t always work. How can you create an experience to get your fans and customers to market for you?
I challenge you to try it, but “Shhhh…Please Don’t Tell.”
www.LindsayKeisler.com 