Laura’s Winning Ideas

More ideas worth stealing or tweaking to suit your purpose of winning work:

From Media Magazine:

When the International Contemporary Furniture Fair set up shop in New York…, IKEA wanted to be nearby — not to invite comparisons with the show’s $8,500 ottomans, mind you, but instead to spread its “everyday fabulous” gospel among Big Apple denizens.

On a clear May morning, New York residents arose to find IKEA whereever they looked: oven mitts hanging in subway cars, throw pillows on playground slides. In all there were 650 different executions during the five day blitz.

Imagine a bus stop with a couch, area rug, table and lamp from IKEA. A hammock strung between a lampost and a crossing signal post. A park field with 90 bright picnic blankets laid out, each with a picnic basket and IKEA picnic foods, etc. 650 different displays around the city. Very unexpected. Very cool.

Would it help to make an impression if you “went guerilla” at the conference your clients are attending just before your proposal is delivered?

Could a client site visit be branded with your theme?

Here’s a tidbit I’ve collected to inspire your development of proposal themes (or propagating your branding, or grabbing attention).

No doubt you are familiar with the on-line satellite mapping being done by Google, Amazon and Windows Live Local. If your facility is large, you have a massive billboard on your rooftop.

I swiped this picture from the magazine Business 2.0 where they showed how Target has taken advantage of this vantage point and is topping some of their rooftops with their well known logo.

When your client is concerned with proximity, would it help if you had an aerial view that proved good things?

If a site visit is coming up, and the airline path is over your plant, would it help to have a message visible from the air?

A firm called RoofAds in Redwood City CA is mentioned by Business 2.0 as a supplier of these types of advertising products.

On the one hand, I love it when I find an echo of things I’ve been saying for years in someone else’s work. On the other hand, I wish I’d written this post.

On the blog, Creating Passionate Users, a post about Avoiding the Features is a great one.

When I’m working on a proposal, we don’t spend time talking about the competition. I hear some proposal teams do. That’s a mistake the winners don’t make. (Read on …)