A great salesperson can “sell ice cubes to Eskimos,” right? So can strong branding sell better ice to pretty much anyone? That’s what Scotsman, “The Ideal Ice,” is banking on.
Personally, I’ve always felt that “ice is ice.” Sure, sometimes it can taste funny, depending on things like filtration options and/or stinky things in the freezer, but basically it’s a cold commodity. So I was intrigued when I saw the above ad for Scotsman. “Offer the ideal ice for every occasion,” it says. Hm… there are different types of ice? That warranted a click-through… and I’m definitely not a big clicker through and landed at http://www.scotsmanhomeice.com/. There, I actually learned some interesting info, like:
- These appear to be the folks who bring some of the “cooler” ice to commercial venues… and now they are making it available to residential kitchens so we can have cool ice at home.
- Cool ice basically is either chewable (called “the nug”) or crystal clear perfection (called ”the cube” for purists).
- Given the choice, seem to really prefer one type of ice over the other.
The company is leveraging these two ice forms as a way to increase brand awareness, by asking America to “weigh in” on their favorite ice. The survey, which is housed on Scotsman’s website, looks like this:
And if current results are any indication, it looks like Scotsman should be putting the majority of their marketing dollars behind the Nug:
I don’t even use ice – ever – in my drinks. Yet I was interested enough in the ad to find out more… and then in what the website had to say to explore. Will I tell others who like ice (ie, everyone I know) about Scotsman and the Nug? Yep. So you tell me: if you create a simple banner ad that clicks through to a site with genuinely interesting information presented as an “instant get,” does online advertising work?
~ Denise Blasevick, @AdvertGirl & CEO, The S3 Agency
