HOLY. CRAP. This is the craziest, yet most brilliant, branding strategy yet! Literally! Haha… get a tattoo of your favorite designer and receive 20% off for life. Not too shabby for some outside the box thinkin’ ;) (Although 20% does seem pretty low, ya gotta at least start around 50% for it to be fair)
Imagine if other brands started following suit? People walking around with big McDonald’s arches on their backs, or Starbucks logos on their foreheads? haha… we’d turn into a sea of walking billboards :) A sea with a lot more money in our pockets too! Except it would take a handful of purchases to even break even with the costs of the tattoo, to begin with. And if the company ever shuts down? Shooooooooot…
Check out these terms & conditions:
*Tattoo must be permanent and provided by a professional third-party tattoo artist operating in accordance with applicable laws. Multiple tattoos does not entitle the consumer to more than one 20% discount.
Hahhaa.. if you have the balls to get ONE, might as well try and game the system, right?! Get 4 itty bitty ones and grab 80% for life! Too bad they caught on to you ;) I’m wondering if it matters *where* the tattoo is on your body too? Cuz I mean if you’re hiding it, it really doesn’t help market the brand anyways. And I’d imagine 9 times out of 10 that’s gonna be the case, right?
But again, I gotta give Ecko some credit for really connecting to their hardcore loyal fans. The only people who are crazy enough to get these tattoos would probably do so for free anyways. So now he’s rewarding these loyal customers of his, as well as planting the seeds for future fans to come. It’s not all that crazy if you stop and think about it. Do you know how many people have bands tattooed on them? Or celebrities/cartoon characters? Shoot, people even get car symbols inked all over their body! At 20% off all future Cadillacs, I’d be tempted myself ;)
In fact, let me think about that for a hot second… there’s no way I’d ever get Ecko tatted up since I don’t relate to them at all (and I sure as hell don’t want a rhinoceros on my body) but I have to admit I’d stop and consider some others. But only those organizations I truly 100% believe in. Maybe like these guys?
- USAA – Probably the LAST company to ever even consider this, but I’m pretty sure I’d slap that eagle logo on me for the right price. Maybe for like $100/month? :) Not gonna do it for some paltry discounts, but for an additional revenue stream I’d be extremely tempted to bite. I’d even put it somewhere visible too! (You hear that USAA?)
- Love Drop – Cheating, I know, since it’s my own organization, but it’s something I’ve actually already considered. Our heart logo to me represents much more than our current project, so even if it ever stopped down the road it would be a nice reminder to keep paying it forward. Something I def. need reminding at times!
- Cadillac? – Upon further review, I don’t think I’d actually do that one, haha… I wanna be a Benz guy down the road anyways ;)
So obviously not many options for me to get some lifetime savings going anytime soon, but it is making me want to get another tattoo again. It’s been 10 years since my last one (and only one, really), and I’ve been getting antsier and antsier as the months go by. So if anyone has any sparrows in their branding, let me know! Haha…
What do you guys think about all this? Would you ever jump on board for some major deals like that? What if we upped it to 50-75% off? I bet some of you would do it for the right brand. Share ’em in the comments below and maybe you’ll get seen and become their first test case!
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PS: Legal tells me to tell you to not listen to me :) So think before you brand!
UPDATE: Here’s another place doing the same thing, except for 25%: Melt Bar & Grille (Thx for the info Jenn & Jen (coincidence?))
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I can’t think of the name of the restaurant cause I’ve never been there, but there is one that will offer you a discount if you have their grilled cheese sandwich tattooed on you. One of my teammates is considering it.
I think a 20% discount isn’t worth it either.
I think I could rock a USAA eagle tattoo, for the right price.
If it was like 50% then I would start considering it but I don’t know anything I buy often enough that a lifetime discount would help, not even toilet paper and that is something I can think of that you would use for a lifetime. Also I wouldn’t do it for pay cause then I would just feel like an object.
I’m … not that brand-driven or enthusiastic. At one time, perhaps the Playboy Bunny logo… but at the end of the day, I prefer piercings!
Didn’t some Harvard students try to get paid by saying they would wear a brand’s clothing 365 days a year? I think that would have much more benefit to the brand than a tattoo would. Like you said, 9 out of 10 times the tattoo will be hidden by your clothing. It is an interesting marketing strategy though, especially with their demographic.
I think its an interesting concept, but what happens if Ecko goes out of business?…are they going to offer all these crazy, loyal brand junkies something else considering they did assure a 20% discount for life?!?!
20% is weak. If it was 80%, then we might have a deal.
BTW… Have you seen the USAA commercials on TV? I’m wondering why USAA is now advertising. They’ve never done TV spots, that I can remember and all of the sudden they are everywhere. I don’t have an issue with the ads themselves, but “generally” if a company spends money on advertising, that cost is passed onto the consumer…
J$–if legal allows you to get the eagle tattooed on you, I might even pay for it!!!! hahahaha You’d be “member of a lifetime!”
Spitfire Skateboards and Independand Truck Co. I don’t skate myself, but I love some of the skate logos. And no, 20% wouldn’t do it, it would be more about the art.
Or you could be like the genius in Iowa who heard that a radio station was giving away big money to someone with their logo tattooed on their forehead — so he did, but they didn’t! See the write up by Randy Cassingham on his ThisIsTrue.Com website. Meanwhile the radio station change their format and logo, but idiot still has a tattoo on his forehead. Here is the link to the story:
http://www.thisistrue.com/blog-stupid_is_written_all_over_his_face.html
Off topic, but I can’t stand USAA. I was in a car accident a while back with someone who had USAA insurance. Since I was at fault, they naturally tried to get as much money out of me/my insurance company as possible, and I don’t fault them for that – that’s the way the system works.
What did suck is that rather than trying to work it out with me or my insurance company (my ins. co. offered about $10k of the $15k USAA wanted), they immediately sent it off to a sleazy attorney/law firm in Chicago. This law firm, which is really more like a shady debt collector, tacked on an additional $6000 (!!) in fees and sent me a letter saying essentially “hey, you owe us $21,000, pay up or we will take additional steps to make your life hell”. They didn’t say it was in reference to USAA or any other identifying information that would connect it to the accident, and I only found out after freaking out and making phone calls for a week or two. The reviews of this law firm online really scared me and I wasn’t ready to deal with shady debt collectors who charge crazy fees – so I did the whole “I dispute this amount, please provide proof of the debt you claim I owe” letter.
I never heard anything back from the law firm, and about a year later I heard from my insurance agent that USAA accepted the amount my insurance company was offering – but I still have yet to see any proof that the claim was settled. I suppose USAA might be great if you’re a customer, but they’re pretty horrible to anyone else who has to deal with them.
That’s NUTS! 20% off is not nearly enough. They should offer at least 50% off!
I don’t have any tat and don’t see myself getting branded anytime soon. :x
I went White Water Rafting once in Mass. and my tour guide had a couple tattooes on his forearm. Besides from it being a horrible experience, one of his tattoes was of a PBR can and another was a naked woman .. He told the boat that it’s easier than always having a magazine on hand. I was so grossed out, I wanted to jump out of the boat and swim down the swirling dangerous rapids. It makes me wonder … does he get a discount off of PBR and women now?
No. I prefer my personal brand to be a mystery ;)
I wouldn’t do it for Ecko but I’d do it for something I really believe in. I don’t have anything in mind that I wouldn’t mind wearing for life, as I’m sure at 60 years old, Ecko is a little less appealing.
I wouldn’t get a tattoo for an ongoing discount, but I would totally get all tatted up for the right price! Depending on the brand/item, I’d start as low as $5000 for a very small one that is visible at all times on my arm. If a company wants a large one, they’d be looking at $10,000 or more. A whole sleeve tat would run $100,000 or more. And I’d never put one on my face…
Anybody know a company with $100,000 to burn?
I know a local brewery here gives $200 to people who get their logo tattooed on them. Seems like a pretty sweet deal to me if you really like their beer!
This just in.. I will give you $1,000 to tattoo “J$” on your body ;)
@Jenn – Yum!!!! Love grilled cheese. That wouldn’t be so bad.
@Niki – I’m halfway tempted to go out and get one anways ;)
@Rafiki – Haha… I’m picturing a toilet paper tattoo on you right now. Not that I know what you look like.
@Ginger – Oh man, they’d go out of business if they hooked up chicks with playboy tats.
@Echo – I know the guy over at I Wear Your Shirt.com gets paid a handsome sum now! In fact, just clicked over for the first time and looks like he’s got a whole posse going now!
@Shay – Nope. You’re S-C-R-E-W-E-D. With a rhino tattoo.
@tom – I know, 20% blows. And yeah I have! Although I hear them wayyyy more on the radio now than I do on TV. I swear, every other commercial is pushing USAA. I’m wondering if it’s cuz they just opened up a new “real” branch here in the DC area? That would kinda make sense, actually.
@Trinnie – Trinnie – if you paid for it, I’d probably get it ;) Another reason to come see you in a few months?? Hmmm…
@Steph – Oh yeah, I can dig that. Some of that stuff is killer.
@Andy R – Ahahahaha… the headline says it all, ” “Stupid” is Written All Over His Face ”
@Jen – Oh wow, that is horrible. I’d freak the F out too! So weird you *still* don’t know what’s up to this day?? Never heard of that before w/ USAA, I’m prety shocked. I’ll pass this along to my contact over there and see if they can straighten it out :) Although they may hit this up before even getting my email, they’re usually pretty good at seeing this stuff.
@retirebyforty – I think you’d do it for my $1,000 “J$” offer :)
@NancyO – Ahahahahhaaa… omg that is too funny. And actually I’d tat up for PBR too!
@Yana – A nice pure canvas, huh? I respect that :)
@20 and Engaged – Maybe you can get it for Ensure so you’ll have a nice stockpile by the time you “old” ;)
@Crystal – You’ve got some guts, my friend! I like it! If/When I hit the lottery, I’m totally buying a Budgets Are Sexy tattoo on your arm. You can count on it ;)
@Jenna – Man, just $200 though? I’d want double to cover the cost of the tattoo at least. What brew is it?
I think I wouldn’t mind getting a tattoo to get 50% off gas my whole life.
Oooooooooooh now that’s an idea. Done deal if it’s premium, too! (which my Caddy sucks the life out of)
This is insane! To each their own I guess… Great marketing for the long term!
indeed ;) as long as you get it somewhere visible!
hahah i did entertain the idea of having the old navy logo put on my back last year. it’s a joke between my boyfriend and i. but i got over wanting it to be a permanent reminder. no amount of discounts would turn me in to a walking billboard :)
Old Navy?? Haha… I want the inside scoop! :)
I would never do it… but the place Jenn is talking about is in my hometown- http://www.meltbarandgrilled.com/tattoos/
I think a tat should get you AT LEAST 50% for life for whatever brand! Then, I might be swayed for some Sbux!
Ooooh now you’re talkin’! One month of Starbucks alone would make up for the cost of the tattoo ;) haha… #Fail
Honestly i am up for it not manny would do so out of personal preference but i bet girls would do it if the brand was their favorite ,, right? for instence chenelle, prada, etc.. it really dont matter as long as the person is happy with it. i am a tattoo artist myself and i pride my self in making my customers happy and putting art on their body that is flashy. and so far i am seriously really great at it. and yes i am gonna do it. y? because i want to out of my personal preference and gain. and because every time i step in their store i wil ignore sales price and have preferred customer discount indefinitely.
Nice! Shoot us a picture of it if you do end up getting it :) I haven’t met anyone yet who’s done it!
Jmoney how much to do ur logo I’m down
hah! forgot about this post! the nice thing with my logo is that if you ever change your mind you could just scrap the first two words and the tattoo still works ;)