The ‘Employee’s Friend’ Button

I collect items from the 1939 New York World’s Fair. (Actually, I should say I used to collect such items, before they became astronomically expensive.) Of the few dozen or so pieces in my collection, my favorite item is a small, fairly nondescript “pin-back” button, not quite three-quarters of an inch across. It contains the same words and artwork of the other five or six ’39 World’s Fair buttons I have, but this one says something unique: “Employee’s Friend.”

Why would the World’s Fair organizers of 1939 issue such a button? I suspect the simple answer is because it made the owner of such a button feel more important. Although I can’t say for sure, I think the intent of the button was purely marketing: To get people interested in coming to the fair by making them feel unusually special.

The marketing tactics used in 1939 can also apply today. People always like to feel they’re the recipient of special treatment. The best customer relationships come about when the customer has the impression (hopefully true) that greater attention is being paid to him or her than might normally be expected. Perhaps your organization doesn’t need to act as blatantly as the somewhat self-centered “Employee’s Friend” concept of 1939, but here’s a Bidlack suggestion: Every now and then, do something special for a couple of members of your audience, creating the impression and suggestion that they’re much more important than just a name on a list.