How Crunchy Is YOUR Ice?

 

 

"Today you are You,

that is truer than true.

There is no one alive

who is Youer than You."

 

Dr. Suess

 

 

Been thinking a bit about ice lately – and I think it's something worthy of a little deeper thinking.

Recently I was driving with my family when my wife Kelly pointed something out. It was a billboard for Thornton's Gas Station that was making a claim that we'd never seen made before: "Crunchiest Ice In Town". My knee-jerk reaction was "Really? That's what your hanging your hat on?"

I ask new clients when we're doing Discovery and I'm seeking to learn as much about their business, industry and story as possible: "What is your unique point of differentiation from your competitors? What is the '(insert their business name here) Difference'?" The key, of course, is having a point of differentiation that is valuable, beneficial or desirable to your audience. That which makes you unique needs to be important to your audience, and then clearly communicated in a way that connects with them.

But surely ice composition isn't worthy of a billboard-level investment.
Right?

Well, not so fast, Slick!

I dig a little deeper and find that this Thornton's has ice made from a Scotsman Ice System. Who are they, you might ask? They are the inventors of Ice Nuggets, the "Original Chewable Ice". Chances are light bulbs are going off right now, right? You know this ice of which I speak, no?

I personally live about equidistant between two Chick-Fil-A restaurants. I'm now recalling that I have actually based a decision of which one to visit on the fact that one has chewy ice nuggets (at least at the drive-thru) and one does not. Hmmm....

Maybe there's something to this after all.

More stumbling around online led me to the Scotsman sub-site: Love the Nug (I am not making this up). They even have...wait for it...an app you can download to locate the place closest to you with nugget ice made from their machines. I'm sorry, but that is just eight kinds of fun (and maybe equal parts genius). They even have a Nug Truck (again, not making this up) that travels around exposing the citizenry to the crunchy, chewy bliss that is nugget ice.

So there's this nugget ice revolution quietly gaining steam and Thornton's looks out at their gas pumps, up and down their aisles and lands on a point of differentiation that is actually hidden from sight until used – their ice.

I might have to follow up with them, because I'm curious how the billboard works for them. Interestingly, they are not the only place in town to get this ice (according to the locator on the Love the Nug website). There's more to be had just a little ways down the street. But Thornton's is letting people know about it - and their competition is not.

Whether you give a fat rat's behind about ice is not the point. The point is that every organization has something potentially great to hang their hat on. They may not even be the only place their audience can get it. It may actually not even be right there in plain sight. But perhaps it's something that can create (or tap into) a group of fans already passionate about whatever it might be.

With that in mind, let me ask again:

How crunchy is your ice?

 

Comments

[Lynette Sheppard]

OK I LOVED this blog post - ya learn something new everyday. Thanks for the smile and the insight. (My ice is pretty crunchy today, BTW.)

[Todd Adkins]

Thanks Lynette for checking out the post and offering up such encouraging feedback (though feedback of all kinds is welcome). Trying to recover from serious blog neglect without anyone noticing...Thanks again & have a crunchy weekend!