From the book: New word of mouth case study on Potbelly

One of the biggest additions to the new edition of the best-selling book, Word of Mouth Marketing: How Smart Companies Get People Talking, is the five new case studies of brilliant word of mouth marketing from Dell, Potbelly, FreshBooks, Microsoft, and Levenger. We’re highlighting a different case study each day this week, continuing with Potbelly today:

Word of Mouth Case Study: Potbelly — Multiply the Talk

Potbelly, a fantastic sandwich chain based in Chicago, is just starting to go national. The way they got people talking in each of their new markets is a fantastic demonstration of pure offline word of mouth.

After opening their first stores in Austin, they rented a postal mailing list of people who had moved there from Chicago and sent each of them a single-page, hand-signed, hand-addressed letter, saying:

Congrats on your recent move! I hope you are settling in and enjoying Austin. But I must ask, are you at all homesick? … We are thrilled to bring you a taste of home by opening a Potbelly Sandwich Works in Austin. Now you can finally introduce your friends and coworkers to that quirky sandwich joint you’ve been talking about so much. Enclosed you’ll find 10 free sandwich tickets, our gift to you, to help you share the Potbelly love with your friends.

The genius part: The 10 free sandwiches. A single coupon would have been quietly used by the recipient, but ten coupons meant they were talking around their offices or dorms inviting people to lunch with them, telling them how great Potbelly is.

Those ten tickets represent a multiplier, something that turns a single recommendation into many recommendations.

We’re giving away 10 copies of Andy’s book. You can win one by letting a friend know about it! Click here for more details.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Pages tagged "potbelly sandwich works" - March 22, 2009

    […] bookmarks tagged potbelly sandwich works From the book: New word of mouth case study on Pot… saved by 3 others     jedigirl2009 bookmarked on 03/22/09 | […]

Featured Downloads

9 Things to Share That Start Conversations

Use the examples in this guide to help inspire ways to make your message more portable and shareable.

Read More

3 Must-Use Word of Mouth Marketing Tools

These tools will help you kick off any word of mouth campaign no matter what topic, industry, or budget.

Read More

The Top Four Tips for Multiplying Your Word of Mouth

These tips can help you get your marketing to do more work without a lot of extra effort.

Read More

10 Ways to Turn Around Negative Word of Mouth

The most effective ways to stop negative WOM with examples from Zappos, FedEx, Dell, and more.

Read More

The New Topics Worksheet

All word of mouth starts with a topic of conversation — a simple, portable, repeatable idea that gets people talking.

Read More

The Word of Mouth Action Plan

Create a complete word of mouth marketing plan using this worksheet’s eight simple steps.

Read More