When Nest, the makers of a smart thermostat, introduced their friendlier fire alarm, they got a fire truck and let Uber give people rides on it.
Photo from Fast Company.
Why? For one thing, a fire truck is a whole lot bigger than a fire alarm. People watch when fire trucks drive by, kids point, cars move out of the way. Besides, who doesn’t want to ride on a fire truck?
Renting out one of these things for their fans to enjoy made Nest’s announcement bigger, louder, and more exciting — and yet, it still has a strong tie to the actual product.
They turned announcing a new smoke detector into an event worth talking about.
