Small Business Saturday Entices More Holiday Shopping

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Just as Black Friday has become ubiquitous with the start of holiday shopping, Small Business Saturday may be giving consumers another reason to make purchases during the Thanksgiving Day weekend.  Started in 2010 by American Express, this annual event encourages consumers to support small businesses that stimulate the economy and keep local communities thriving.

Everybody wins too.  American Express gave its card members a $25 credit to shop at local stores this past Saturday, while providing small businesses with free ads and a host of online and in-store marketing resources.

It’s extremely difficult however to create new brand experiences in today’s media saturated landscape.  Consumers are constantly being bombarded with myriad messaging across all platforms, more so during the holidays.

While it may take years before Small Business Saturday becomes a mainstay around holiday shopping, the folks at American Express perhaps have tapped into a national mood that deeply resonates with consumers, especially since small business was a key issue during the 2102 presidential election, not to mention accounting for 60 percent of total U.S. employment.

Rounding out the holiday weekend is Cyber Monday, which first debuted in 2005 and encourages folks to shop online.   Millions of consumers will be looking for online deals tomorrow as they return to work from the holiday break.

Aside from the holidays, the FedEx Cup is another marketing success story, at least among the global golf community.  Created by its namesake in 2007, the FedEx Cup runs like Nascasr, giving points to winning golfers throughout the year, with the top players competing in a playoff setting over the last four tournaments of the season.  Confusing at first, the FedEx Cup is now a sought after event among golfers and fans, injecting new life into an otherwise ho-hum close to the golfing season.

Getting a campaign to “stick” is the holy grail of all marketers.  Small Business Saturday, Cyber Monday and The FedEx Cup are examples of good marketing programs that have organic appeal to help them grow in size, scope and awareness.  Even though these programs are relatively new, right now it seems like they’re all on the right track.

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