The Untold Story That Directly Relates To Your Holiday Marketing In Four Cash-Sucking Ways…

The True Tale Of A Famous Red-Nosed Reindeer

As December comes in like a… well… I dunno. I guess we just have that saying for March.

Anyway… December is here and that means so are the holidays. And since we’re marketers… sales-minded folk… people with a buck on the line… the holiday we’re talking about isn’t Channukah or Kwanzaa, it’s…

The mother lode of spending holidays… Christmas.

The chill in the air that paints the red on your cheeks… The scent of nutmeg and cinnamon tickling your nose… And ahhhhh yeah… presents.

But this article isn’t about that jolly fat man. That unshaved intruder who — judging by his diet of whole milk and Christmas cookies — is sporting an LDL of 250 and a blood sugar of nearly twice that…

No… this article isn’t about Santa.

It’s all about the most famous reindeer of all…

(Maestro… an arpeggio please!)

You know Dasher and Dancer…
And Prancer and Vixen.
Comet and Cupid…
And Donner and Blitzen.
But do you recall…
The most famous reindeer of all?

Of course I’m speaking of “Rollo The Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

(Record Scratch Sound Effect)

What the who-nosed huh?

Yep… Rollo was the original name given to that tender piece of venison with the rosy schnoz.

We’ll get into that whole name thing in just a second but first let me assure you this has everything to do with your marketing this holiday season.

You see… unlike so many of the holiday fables we hold so dear, the story of “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer” is not some age-old tale with European roots, passed down for centuries and spread to every corner of the earth.

We trace this story’s humble beginnings not to Austria or Italy… Britain or France. Not even to the North Pole itself.

That red-nosed reindeer was born in Chicago… in 1939. His pappy… a 34 year old copywriter named Robert L. May.

Yes… a copywriter.

Now you see where I’m going, don’t ya?

May wrote this story for the now defunct Montgomery Ward Department Store chain.

A small chain compared to giants like Sears and JC Penney, but  sometimes little Montgomery Ward would beat their much larger competitors to the holiday dollars. And they usually did it with free giveaways.

For years the Montgomery Ward marketing department would buy coloring books and give them away to kids while their parents shopped. The freebie would make the kids happy which would make many moms return every year to the store for their Christmas shopping.

1939 was the year May’s boss came up with the idea to put out an original storybook instead of buying standard coloring books.

He figured if they could write the book in-house they would save money and also have something that would be uniquely Montgomery Ward’s. So he asked the young copywriter to take on the project.

From the start, May felt it was important to create a main character all kids could relate to.

For this he drew from his own childhood memories of being small, shy and quiet. All he wanted to do was to fit in… be part of the group. But kids can be so cruel  to someone who’s different.

It was this feeling of wanting to belong… that May knew kids would sympathize with.

Now May was just an ad man, not a children’s book writer. He really didn’t have the skills to create a multi-dimensional story from scratch, so he looked for inspiration. Something to model his story after.

After much trial and error he settled on the Hans Christian Andersen classic “The Ugly Duckling.” The ostracized misfit who ultimately emerges an heroic character.

May figured that was the perfect story for Rollo.

Okay, there’s that name again… Rollo.

You see… May wanted readers to remember the name of his lead character. So he employed a little writing trick called alliteration. That’s where you name the character with the same first letter as the descriptor. A bunny named Bugs. A mouse named Mickey. A Reindeer named Rollo…

At least that was May’s first shot at it. “Rollo The Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

But… he thought Rollo was too cheerful and light a name for a lead character who struggled so much in the story.

So Rollo begat Randy which begat Reggie and so on and so on. May and other Montgomery Ward employees would run the names by their children to get their take on it. After all… if kids are the target then that’s who the name should appeal to.

Finally after going through every “R” he could think of,  the perfect one was found… Rudolph. “Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer”.

He had the classic story to model… the perfect name. You’d think it was smooth sailing from there, but nope…

May’s bosses hated the hook!

They felt the red nose was too associated with being drunk and had no place in what was supposed to be an up-beat holiday story for children. May tried all he could to convince them otherwise but the bosses minds were made up.

That was until May grabbed an illustrator and spent a day at the Lincoln Park Zoo sketching the newborn deer.

The drawings did the trick and the story was finally approved.

The rest is as they say… history. With books, songs, cartoons, movies and merchandising, ultimately hundreds of millions were made off the back of this little ageless fawn we all love.

So… did you pick up on the marketing lessons contained in this article?

Here’s something fun to try… Go back. Read this again. And see if you can locate the four real-world marketing lessons.

Then come back and continue reading below.

Okay Vin…  hit me with the marketing lessons hidden in this true story.

1.   To begin with we learned that giving your customers something free is a great way to build loyalty because people like people who give them free stuff. More than that, giving gifts to your prospects instills the feeling of reciprocity. Gift them with something and they feel they owe you something in return (a future purchase perhaps?).

There is never a better time to use this tactic than in the holiday season. The season itself gives you a great reason for the gift.

2.   Next we learned that when you aren’t an expert at something, it’s great to model someone who is, just like May was not a children’s story writer, so he modeled his story on a story written by one of the top children’s authors of all time… Hans Christian Andersen.

All great copywriters keep a file of successful promotions. For some it’s a “swipe file” they write directly from. For others like me, it’s more an “inspiration file” that we use to spark our own ideas. Either way, having a starting point for your marketing communications is one of the best ways to bypass major mistakes.

3.   The loss of the original name “Rollo” teaches us two mini-lessons. First is to always test your campaigns to see what’s working and what’s not working. One little tweak can mean tons more money in your pocket.

Second we learned about the power of alliteration in your writing. Using these types of word tricks can, in some instances go a long way to build familiarity. Put simply, people remember alliterations. Ever heard of Roto-Rooter? Now… what’s the second most famous drain cleaning company? No idea? That’s my point.

4.   Finally… We learned that sometimes the written word isn’t enough to get the idea across. Sometimes your point can be made much more clearly… much more easily with a picture. May wasn’t able to sell his bosses on the story until that illustrator delivered that very cute drawing. After seeing that precious little guy with the big red nose how could anyone be thinking of drunks?

This relates to your marketing in a simple and direct way. Use visuals to make points. That may seem like something that doesn’t even need to be said but you’d be surprised. There’s an entire school of thought on copywriting that completely discounts the importance of visuals. I fall into the other category. I always use visual elements in my copy. And some of the most successful sales letters I’ve written have been extremely visual.

I hope you enjoyed this little tale. It’s one of my favorites and one that obviously goes down best this time of year.

Take a moment and comment on this article. It helps me to know people are actually reading it. Tell me you hated it or loved it, I don’t care. Just talk back.

Or even better… add any holiday marketing/copywriting stories you know about.

Normally… this would be where I’d wish you a happy holidays and tell you I’ll see you next year. After all… this is a busy month, not just for business… but for people. But…

I will be seeing you again… at least 1 more time before the holiday. Because I have another little Holiday ditty I put together. I think you’ll get a kick out of it (along with 12 great marketing tactics – hint hint).

I also want to take the opportunity to let you know now is the time to sign up for updates to the Clambake, in case you haven’t yet. The reason is I’ve got a brand new marketing/copywriting tool I’m releasing hopefully before the month is out… and everyone who subscribes is going to get it FREE!

You heard me… FREE!

So sign up now either through the sidebar… or that footer ad that pops up from time to time.

And remember to comment. This place is no fun without you.

That’s my story… till next time… ho ho ho.