The Celebrity Apprentice Kicks Off Huge Branding Campaign
July 21, 2010
Clockwork
Home Services® shared the small screen with Donald Trump, Sharon Osborne, and a
host of other celebrities during the May 2 episode of “The Celebrity
Apprentice” on NBC.
While some might assume the two-hour show that featured Clockwork Home Services
Inc. was the end of a major advertising campaign for the company, it was in
fact only the beginning. Clockwork Home Services will leverage the
unprecedented publicity they received on the show throughout the rest of the
year in the hopes of attracting both new customers and
franchisees.
Being featured on “The Celebrity Apprentice” was a major step forward in
Clockwork Home Services’ push to establish their brands nationally. In essence,
the company’s three franchise brands, One Hour Heating & Air Conditioning®,
Benjamin Franklin Plumbing®, and electrical service company Mister Sparky®,
were exposed to millions of people around the country for two hours on primetime
network television. The exposure has paid immediate dividends for the three
brands. Call volume was up 30 percent in the weeks after the show had aired.
Web traffic for the three franchises was up a staggering 291 percent with
Mister Sparky seeing the biggest jump at 711 percent. By all accounts,
Clockwork has received excellent return on their advertising dollar, especially
when you consider that every One Hour, Mister Sparky, and Benjamin Franklin
across North America gets a piece of the pie and shares in the
excitement.
The brands hold fast to strong values like timeliness and drug-free employees,
and Clockwork executives believed that once those values were introduced to
millions to viewers, franchisees would be in for a rush of new customers who
shared those values. That belief is proving accurate. “Comments are coming in
from customers saying they saw us on the show and that’s why they chose to do
business with us,” said Denise Swafford, vice president of innovation for
Clockwork Home Services. Among the new customers is rock star, and star of the
Clockwork task on the show, Bret Michaels.
When presented with the opportunity, Clockwork Home Services soon realized what
a perfect match working with Donald Trump truly was. Trump is well known for
valuing his time. In fact, there are stories of Trump leaving associates behind
when they aren’t on time for a ride or flight. Considering that the Clockwork
franchises hang their hats on always being on time, it was a natural move to
join forces with the mogul in their national branding
launch.
“This was a way for the company to take the next step. We are at the level with
our brands that it is time to make a national footprint,” Swafford said. “It
was a great experience and we are really happy with the results.”
MAKING IT AN EVENT
Mister Sparky saw a 711 percent increase in website traffic after “The Celebrity Apprentice” aired on national television.
“At the viewing parties there was a lot of pride in those rooms and a lot of clapping,” Swafford said.
The Las Vegas party was attended by many of their franchise owners who were already in town attending the company’s annual Brand Dominance event. At that event, the franchise owners got a very timely education in marketing, advertising, and the power of the brand. The highlight was keynote speaker Jack Trout, noted author of several bestselling books on marketing, who shared his incredible knowledge on the power of branding, as well as some do’s and don’ts from his vast experience in the topic.
“You are talking about Brand Dominance, but behind those two words is really the question of how well you understanding marketing, because in essence, that is what differentiates your brand from your competition,” Trout said.
After learning all about the power of branding and the new and exciting programs Clockwork Home Services is introducing to franchisees, the group of contractors watched “The Celebrity Apprentice,” seeing their brands rise to a whole new level right before their eyes.
In the weeks that followed, it would have been easy for the top brass at Clockwork Home Services to savor the moment and enjoy the fact that 7 million people had been exposed to One Hour, Benjamin Franklin, and Mister Sparky. But that is not how the company operates. Instead of resting on their laurels, Clockwork Home Services got busy leveraging the event, so as to accomplish everything they could during the adventure.
The biggest piece of that puzzle is the “Trump Time is Money Sweepstakes.” The sweepstakes asks individuals to go to the www.win100grand.com website and register to activate coupons they received in the hundreds of thousands of mailings sent by franchisees. Not only will they then receive discounted service, but they are entered into a sweepstakes that will have six monthly drawings and 26 weekly drawings in addition to the grand prize, a trip to a Trump resort in either the Canouan Islands, Las Vegas, or New York.
The group is promoting this event in about every consumer media you can think of, including newspaper post notes, television, radio, etc.
“Obviously the goal with this was to both expand the brands and capture e-mail addresses,” Swafford said.
Clockwork Home Services even bought an advertisement at the end of “The Celebrity Apprentice” to introduce the sweepstakes. The initial response was huge. While Clockwork Home Services did not have any specific numbers (at press time) on how the show translated to more interest in joining the brands, it’s undeniable that a buzz was generated as contractors began to understand that the franchises are establishing themselves as the leaders in their respective fields.
“The people at the show said they never had a company work at this quite like ours. We just thought it made sense. The best time to advertise is when your competition is pulling back,” Swafford said.
AS FOR THE SHOW
A group of contractors in a Florida town worked together to let local motorists know what channel to be watching. Three franchises gained national television exposure on “The Celebrity Apprentice.”
Michaels stole the show as winning product manager by taking full control of the project and impressing both Abrams and Young with his enthusiasm, creativity, and brand messaging. In Trump’s famous boardroom, Michaels even floated the idea of being the franchises’ spokesman. The $40,000 prize went to the Bret Michaels Fund for the American Diabetes Association.
“I think they did a fabulous job on the task,” Swafford said. “The way they pulled that off in the short time they were given was impressive. It was fun to watch.”
At the conclusion of the episode, Olympic swimmer Summer Sanders was the one who heard Trump’s feared catch phrase, “You’re Fired.”
For more information or to enter the “Trump Time is Money Sweepstakes,” go to www.win 100grand.com.
