We were all excited to go cruising around Boston with Izze sales guy extraordinaire Lance Gentry this week, but unfortunately the Hub decided to return to the days of Noah, leaving us unwilling to take part in his annual “Boston Sales Blitz.”
But we’re proud of them for sticking it out – apparently, the dude ended up with wet pants and about nineteen traffic tickets.
That noted, we don’t know about how effective man-on-the-street blitzes really are. Who among us hasn’t been passed a can of Fresca or Diet Pepsi by an over-eager marketing intern as a promotion? The rush of getting something for free is immediately devalued by the piles of cans that immediately appear in street-corner refuse bins.
Nevertheless, Izze seems to take its blitzes pretty seriously, and Lance couldn’t have been happier with the number of new retailers he’d signed up. Given where the brand tries to slot itself, it would’ve been terrific if he’d been able to crash the graduation going on at Harvard, but in order to do that he’d basically have had to swim across Harvard Yard.
We think they’re playing it right by “flooding the zone” in their target markets – too bad that nature decided to flood the zone, as well.
For the next Boston blitz, though, here’s something to note: in New England, there are really only two seasons – Winter, and the Fourth of July. If you’re handing out cold product, choose the latter.