I decided that this blog post would relate to an outside blog. When searching for marketing blogs I came across Forbes: Best of the Web Marketing Blogs, a list of recommended marketing blogs. It was here that I found the link for Wonder Branding by Michele Miller – what started as a blog has now upgraded into a full on website focusing on the female customer. Today the feature post was about Girl Scout cookies; not being able to resist, this has become my topic.
As a former member of the similar organization, Girl Guides, I am all too familiar with selling cookies. Twice a year, winter and spring, Girl Guides go door to door as well as set up tables outside of shopping areas selling cookies.
It is very rare that someone needs to go searching for Girl Guide cookies – they find you. Their distribution is convenient and personal. By going door to door, the consumer doesn’t even have to leave their house to receive the cookies. By setting up tables outside of busy grocery stores and shopping centres, they are able to capture impulse buyers.
Another reason Girl Guides have been so successful is their adaptability. Michele Miller recalls a situation where the Girl Scouts suggest buying a box and sending it to the troops overseas, since the customer was on a diet. As Michele Miller puts it,
this is a terrific example of thinking beyond your organization in order to overcome objections and make the sale.
The Girl Guides are also adapting by having their cookies produced in nut free bakery as well as reducing the trans fats in the cookies.
Both Girl Guides and Girl Scouts have been successfully selling cookies for years because of their convenient distribution and adaptability.
