Jordans show how to sell more stuff for free

We believe that this is the year when growing the core finally gets the profile it deserves. Today's tough times will force us to spend more time growing the profitable core business, rather than chasing after sexy new markets where the chances of success are small.

And the best way of all to grow the core is called "SMS": SELL MORE STUFF. No new packaging. No new versions. Just clever marketing to sell more product.

This post is about a good example of this from one of my fave brands, Jordans. They are making smart use of their blog, Inside Jordans, to promote "extended usage" of their Country Crisp product. The team are writing articles about their own personal experience of recipes using Jordans Country Crisp. One if for using it with ice cream here. Yum, must try. Another is for making muffins. Over time, it will be interesting to see if readers take up the invite to suggest their own ideas.

I like the fact that the recipes are told from a personal point of view, in a friendly tone of voice, rather than as official company recipes. Also, this is a great way to use the blog as a tool to encourage brand usage, not just as an information channel.

A tip is to add a question about "extended usage" of your product, beyond the one it is intended for, the next time you do a focus group. You can then collect these consumer stories, identify priority ideas for extra usage, and then amplify these via your website and also on-pack. An earlier post here talked about how KitKat used their back-of-pack to do just this.

More on what makes the Jordans brand so interesting here, in a post on how the brand is built on some powerful brand truths.