Good Old St. Paul – Big Time Minneapolis Retailer Dumps Radio For Viral Online Marketing

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December 29, 2008 | BY Mike Rynchek
  


Glenn Seaberg
Spyder Trap Online Marketing

What would you do if Hubbard Broadcasting abruptly fired the radio personality you’ve depended on to voice your ads for over 15 years? On top of that, what if they dropped the ax in the middle the busiest part of your media calendar, when your stores count on those ads to drive traffic most?

For R. F. Moeller Jewelers, the answer was easy. R. F. Moeller immediately pulled all their ads from KSTP (AM1500), even knowing that their stores do 20% of the year’s business in the two weeks surrounding the holidays. That’s a blow to the station. Over the years, R. F. Moeller estimated their total spend in the millions, with show host T. D. Mischke voicing every spot.

What does this have to do with online marketing? Everything.

R. F. Moeller turned to viral online marketing to continue their relationship with Mischke and his loyal listeners. They started with this hilarious and heart-touching viral video.

Moeller first released the video on YouTube where it’s been viewed over 7,100 times. I first saw it on another blog. “The Atlantic” has featured it, and now it’s here. I’m sure it’s many other places, too. And countless others reference the story on news sites and blogs.

Does this validate viral vehicles such as YouTube as strategic alternatives to broadcast media? Well, it worked on me. I was a fan of Tommy Mischke’s show, and after seeing the video, I’ll be a loyal R. F. Moeller customer for life. R. F. Moeller didn’t pay me a thing to pass it along to you. And I hope you pass it along to someone else. That’s viral online marketing at its best.

Check them out at: www.rfmoeller.com

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  • http://blog.coincidencetheories.com William Wallace

    Thanks for the tip. Moeller is a class act, but his products are not in my budget. Glad he’s helping Mischke.

  • Glenn Seaberg

    Thank you William. It will be interesting to see how R. F. Moeller and Mischke continue their relationship. Mischke will land on his feet at another station quickly, I have no doubt.

  • http://localmn.wordpress.com/2009/01/03/favorite-posts-of-the-week-all-social-media-all-minnesota/ Favorite Posts of the Week – All Social Media, All Minnesota « LocalMN Blog

    [...] Seaberg from Spyder Trap Online Marketing writes an article about R.F. Moeller Jewelers leaving their KSTP radio advertisements for online viral marketing. Bad [...]