Martini Musing – Do Girl Scout Cookies Contain Crack?
There are some marketing points in this bit of Friday Frivolity – so bear with me for sec.
This past Monday I went to a weekly client staff meeting. When I walked in – lo and behold! – my cookie order was waiting for me! (I’d bought 6 boxes from my client’s daughter.) I barely made to the end of the meeting before I cracked a box.
As the week progressed, I kept hearing the siren call clear across the house from the kitchen (oh, just one more…we’re small…your hips will barely notice). Then last night I found myself having a box for dinner (one of the joys of being a grown-up – in addition to ‘toonis – is that you can eat pudding right out of the pan and have cookies for dinner. Somewhat in my defense [Hi, Mom!] I also had a spinach salad…)
I LOVE GS cookies, but why? From a totally objective view, they’re commercially mass-produced, sorta okay cookies. I can bake far better ones with four ingredients and a 1/2 hour of time.
Here’s Why:
1. Buying the cookies is a habit, as is eating them. Customer Loyalty. You do it every year and have done so as long as you remember.
2. You were either a Girl Scout or your daughter is/was a Scout (or sold band candy, etc.) Empathy/Sympathy. You know what it’s like to compete for those cookie sales! (Of course, you can take it a bit too far. One of my friends recalls the year she sold hundreds and hundreds of boxes. Her Mom was a wee bit suspicious how so many orders happened in one day. Turned out, my friend’s Dad was taking her to all his regular bar hang-outs. Somehow, I don’t think this is what the GS have in mind…;-)…but what a little entrepreneur!)
3. You feel good about buying them. You’re contributing to a worthy cause. Even when you’re eating them, you feel like you’re helping someone (well, at least that’s how I justify it…)
4. They’re small. Good “product design.” I don’t feel like I’m totally pigging out when I eat them, so before I know it, 1/2 a box is gone.
5. They’re available for a “limited” time. Exclusive! Special! Never mind you can buy them almost anywhere during that “limited time.” Get ‘em now or lose out. Sorta like the American version of the annual European Beaujolais Nouveau run.
Now, I’ve got to go finish my “breakfast”…;-) Happy Friday!
Want to read about marketing to/by women? Check out my Friday guest post at Lipsticking, The “Housewives With Hobbies” Problem.
Tags: marketing, Mary Schmidt, Girl Scout Cookies
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I am a 2 on your list…former Girl Scout. Got to go to GS camp every year because of my cookie sales. Learned my first lessons in leaveraged sales with GS cookies: I’d sit outside my Dad’s motor pool and ask the soldiers going in to buy a box. When they declined, I’d say my Dad is Sgt Weldon. They’d buy two boxes. This method is probably inappropriate now a days…
Door to door sales were strategized and executed like the invasion of Normandie. We’d get out maps and stake out territories in the housing areas. If we found someone in our area, we’d hit them with our cookie boxes and chase them away. Today, we’d be classified as a ‘gang’: we wore ‘colors’ (green outfits with yellow bow ties) and used physical force to protect our cookie territory. A cookie box can do some serious damage if you know how to swing it correctly. LOL.
We also learned how to overcome objections…no never meant no. It’s hard to refuse a cute little girl with a smile and a box of cookies pushed in your face, especially when they only cost $1.
Too bad I can’t pay my mortgage being a GS cookie thug. LOL
If you are talking about buying GS cookies, one must remember to purchase enough to FREEZE some of them. It’s a bit like freezing candy bars. Yumm. Plus it makes them last past their expiration dates. All year, if you can ration them!