The Madness of King George and the Ice Cream Man
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Copyright 2007, All Rights Reserved, Livewirebusiness Ltd
Henry Winter, Publisher, Author, Marketer, Adviser.
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How far would you go for an ice cream?

200 yards, 2 miles - how about 90 miles.......

Weymouth is a seaside resort we occasionally go to for day trips. The area on the south side of the Marina, round the "Cove" area and "The Old Brewery" is full of lovely painted cottages. The north side has the beach and esplanande. The day we visited it was thriving.

But why were we there? Simply, because of the power of PR. If you don't believe it works read on.........

A week ago, I was watching our "local" TV news, tagged on the end of the national coverage. And there was a snippet of a story about an Ice Cream parlour in Weymouth, that had had to get an "Alcohol License" to sell some of its ice cream. Why? Because some of their concoctions have strong alcohol content.

As it happened we were considering where to go the following weekend. We are lucky, we are only @ an hour or so from the coast generally but, what the hey, lets spend 2hrs 25 mins travelling instead, just to try an ice cream! For the coming weekend that TV "snippet" made up our minds - Weymouth here we come.

Was it worth battling the traffc - you bet, but I'll come to that in a minute.

The point of the blog is simply this.

If you are not using your thinking time to create ways to get some PR, do so now.

The power of PR is immense.

And the beauty of a lot of it, it's free. Yes FREE to generate.

It will cost you nothing other than a bit of your time to write a press release. It will cost nothing to call your local Radio or TV station. There are a couple of things that are useful for you to know but they are simple.

So, back to my question, was it worth the trip. You bet.

The sun shone all day, Weymouth was busy but you could still breathe. The Marina area has all been improved (I have not been for quite a few years!) and it was a pleasant bustle.

But then came the surprise.

We expected to find the ice cream parlour somewhere alone the esplanade. Nowhere to be seen. In the main shopping streets - not quite. Asked passers by, "Where could we find the famous ice cream parlour with an alcohol license" no one knew (we did not find a local person, those we stopped, like us, were all visitors). But we were still hooked, driven even, to find it. We loved their story, we had to taste the ice cream.

We stopped at "King Edwards" restaurant and cafe for a take away tea. And asked there. Very helpful staff, know how to run a tight ship. We did not eat there but the chips looked fresh and tasty as did their fish. After a couple of moments scratching his head the manager twigged where we were looking for.

What was even more of a surprise was that for some unknown reason I expected the ice cream parlour to be an established business - no, it was only about a month or two old. What fantatsic PR for a young, new business.

He gave us directions.

We found it. It's called "Mad George". It's on George Street. And its a trendy ice cream eatery.

Just find the "Cook Shop" store, just off the main esplanade and then turn left into "George Street" if you are walking away from the sea. Its @ 400 yards on the right hand side.

My wife and I had honeycomb and toffee and a Pinocholada. Then, 30 mins later we found our kids and took them there. My wife and I could not resist another small "Rum and Raisin" - all the ice creams were absolutely delicious. The orangey one is to die for. I can still taste all the various ones I tried - 2 days later.

By accident the Ice Cream parlour had managed to get some regional TV coverage when the local environmental health refused to let them sell the ice creams without an alcohol license. And the word had spread far and wide. Whats more others had travelled even further than we had too. We had become "Mad George" evangelists even before we even got there.

By creating a story the PR worked. By asking others we were spreading the word. And we even saw some of the other visitors we had asked later, those that diod not know where it was. Our question to them had peaked their curiosity and that of others.

Local viral marketing at its timely best.

With the product living up to its promise I am spreading the word to you.

Could this ice cream parlour done more? May be a little. They need to:
- get some more local PR out to tie in with their regional coverage
- as they are in a secondary position provide some leaflets/coupons/flyers that non conflicting
businesses can carry in prime locations for mutual benefit
- they should capture peoples emails so they can sell by mail order and or get repeat visitors. There is lots they could do that way.

Now, you may be asking why is an ice cream parlour called "Mad George".

I know why but that would be giving the game away.

All the staff are perfectly sound, sane and lovely people and I wish them all the best.

You will have to go and ask them, but the address and something you will see nearby will give you clues. If you go in, tell them Henry sent you and I hope you enjoy the ice cream as much as I and my family did.

Above all, get your own PR out there.

Or, if you want some help just drop me an email.

Happy Ice Cream eating. Henry.