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Sweet marketing music

Tanner Montague came to town from Seattle having never owned his own music venue before. He’s a musician himself, so he has a pretty good sense of good music, but he also wandered into a crowded music scene filled with concert venues large and small.But the owner of Green Room thinks he found a void in the market. It’s lacking, he says, in places serving between 200 and 500 people, a sweet spot he thinks could be a draw for both some national acts not quite big enough yet for arena gigs and local acts looking for a launching pad.“I felt that size would do well in the city to offer more options,” he says. “My goal was to A, bring another option for national acts but then, B, have a great spot for local bands to start.”Right or wrong, something seems to be working, he says. He’s got a full calendar of concerts booked out several months. How did he, as a newcomer to the market in an industry filled with competition, get the attention of the local concertgoer?

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by Andrew Tellijohn
April 2007

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Marketing


Valentine’s Day, summer’s
start are two offbeat times that
Little & Co. sends missives

Little & Co. has decided to skip the winter holiday season, the traditional time for businesses to send greetings to customers and friends. Instead, the Minneapolis design firm sends a Valentine’s Day greeting.

“I think that people are trying to stay away from clutter and be unique,” says Jeffrey Gorder, vice president. “You can speak with a different voice.”

This year’s message invited recipients to “spread the love,” with instructions and a postcard to write one’s own love note.

The firm has been sending Valentine cards “for years,” Gorder says. He had the company’s missives dating back to 2002 in front of him, including the year when people could punch out the perforated Valentines to send, or last year, a flipbook.

They used to send winter holiday cards as well, but no longer do so. They make a contribution to a local and international charity with their February outreach.

At least one other firm, Ingenuity Marketing in St. Paul, also sent a Valentine’s card this year. “Be bad,” said one of the envelopes, with a lipstick mark. The inside quoted Mae West: “When I’m good, I’m very good. But when I’m bad, I’m better.”

Little & Co.’s other outreach effort comes at the beginning of summer, when they announce their shorter hours. In past years a set of cardboard coasters was sent, for example. “The summer mailing is about the celebration of summer,” Gorder says, an all-too-short season in Minnesota. “It’s to keep in front of folks.”

Jeffrey Gorder, Little & Co.: 612.375.0077; jeffrey.gorder@littleco.com; www.littleco.com