Musings Of A Marketer

It’s always been a matter of interest and excitement for me to follow the offline businesses applying online techniques to promotion.

Here is one pretty example: the well-known Italian brand (dealing with pasta, of course) Barilla introduced a website - called DiscoverBarilla where a visitor can fill up his/her friend’s name and have a postcard with Italian landscapes sent to a postal address.

Different destinations of Italy are represented in the cards and each destination has a specific pasta recipe on it.

This idea brings you away from viewing the communication as delivering pure commercial message. This is interactive communication from a friend who, in the first place, cares to say hi to you, and the shares a story of Italy… And all that is done through a brand. Guess that might work better than an ordinary monologue you hear every day through TV, radio, print, billboards and even online.

Could it be pure online? It could – we know numerous free and paid services for e-cards delivery. I am certain, however, that a chance to feel the real card, touch and smell the piece of Italy your friend shares with you, has to add to the response that the brand aims at.

One could even think of using certain scents on the postcards that would add to warmth and romance of the Italian atmosphere.

Well done, Barilla! Still some way to go, though:

• The site is made in flash, and way too heavy. Even with broadband connection you need some time for download, there’s no way to change between flash and html
• The service is only active in the US, but I am guessing it wouldn’t be so bad to bring it over to other parts. At least, I would appreciate…