My Craziest Idea Yet p. 2 (All about the Caddy)

By On · 33 Comments · In Awesome Sauce

So a few weeks ago I did a blog post which has so far been most popular and commented on ever, it was called My Craziest Idea Yet also known as the Crazy Cadillac Plan. So far it has a grand total of 49 comments and a lot of great discussion was started there. I’ll sum up the plan for those of you who are crunched on time…

I want to prove to people that you can get anything you want with a little creativity and a lot of drive (ah ha, car joke!). Anyways, point is I got so many responses, emails and questions from people willing to participate in my little shindig I decided to pursue it further. My plan includes:

  • Essentially getting a Cadillac Escalade for free.
  • Covering said Escalade in bumper stickers and/or silk screen prints that can range from your company’s logo to a life size picture of someone’s face.
  • Getting between 70-100 “silver” participants whose ad is no bigger than a bumper sticker (about 200 bumper stickers would fit all over the Caddy from my measurements), getting a few “gold” sponsors who take out space on the windows, and then having one or two “platinum” sponsors to take up the whole back window and the roof.

The Price Point

Now for the one I want, which is used by the by (because NEVER buy any car new), it will be around $40,000 k after my trade in. It will be about a 08 and either in black or white (haven’t decided yet). The price point per month, over 5 or 6 years will be around $700-$750 depending on how much I put down a month. Now that is a WOW for most people and trust me I’d never pay that myself. But it is the PRINCIPLE people, the principle, that I am going to get something for ‘technically’ nothing because of strategic planning and a little hamming it up.

What You Would Get

A universal question for all salesman is “what is in it for me”, I am confident I’ll get asked that a bunch from the people who sign up to ‘sponsor’ my experiment. This is what they get for a year’s worth of advertising on my sticker-mobile:

  • A 3-5 minute Youtube video on my channel describing a little bit about you and/or your brand/business… culminating on the viewers watching me find a space and slap it on.
  • Depending on the level of sponsor a choice of desired location on the areas we have left.
  • A guarantee that I will drive a total of X miles in one years time, visit X number of States in the Union and drive X number of miles per month.
  • The ability to check where your mini-ad has been at any time via the GPS tracking system I’ll install on the car (delayed a day for safety’s sake) as well as the option to track the sticker-mobile via the various social networks I am active on.

I Need Your Help

This is where you come in, I need your help on two things…

  1. firstly what is the best price for a bumper sticker sized ad? I am debating between 7.00 a month price & 10 bucks a month
  2. I need between 70-100 bumper sticker (silver) sponsors to have the confidence to buy the car, once I get that number I will be sure to get some press and then the larger sponsors will come flooding in. What do you think the best way of ‘marketing’ this is?

Thanks loves!

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  • Faizal_Nisar

    Wow, I really love your creativity here and I can see why you got so much attention for it. I think you should experiment with the $10 price first and if it's slow at generating business, then move it to $7. Trial and error is always a good way to see what works best.

  • http://twitter.com/adamstruve Adam Struve

    I like the idea, but why are you set on a Cadillac Escalade? I'm sure there are other vehicles with more available advertising space for less of the price.

    I've seen this same idea in the past and the car they used was a Scion xb. The price was $10 a month with the whole year charged in advance.

  • http://www.mikekey.com/ Mike Key

    I wrote about why I think people who look at only the price per month when buying a car are usually going to get ripped off, but in this case I don't think it applies.

    Oh and you can get a special vinyal decal that won't damage the paint. However if it's on there for 5 years, you'll see a fade difference on the area's where the car wasn't covered.

    You should go to a sign shop and talk about getting a vinyl vehicle wrap. That might be a better idea.

  • http://experimentsinpassiveincome.com/ Moon Hussain

    Crazy enough idea to earn a tweet from me. Not my thing, but let's see you do this!

  • http://lifedestiny.net/ Tanner @ Life Destiny

    I think this is an excellent idea! I was thinking about it over some tea and it got me thinking of how you could create a nationwide demand for a spot on the caddy and the video that comes with it. If it becomes national press worthy then companies would want to get in on this press increasing the demand, driving up your prices.

    I look forward to seeing it take off.

  • http://twitter.com/InventionAddict Stephen Bozzone

    Check out the 3-D vehicle wraps.
    http://www.innovativebrand.com/
    The pictures don't do it justice. The graphics actually stick out from the surface of the vehicle panels.

  • http://www.mikekey.com/ Mike Key

    Adam, that right there is a great idea. And I'm talking about the whole year in advance. If I was going to do this, I'd go about securing all my spaces first, and collecting the money.

  • http://40daystochange.wordpress.com/ ami@40daystochange

    I agree with the bigger vehicle suggestion – a lot more space can be had with a minivan or something similar. At the same time – I'd promote a variety of sizes – big, eye-catching displays for the “platinum” sponsors – of which there would only be, say 4, all 'top of the fold' (i.e., top 1/2 of the car) and smaller, bumper sticker size 'below the fold' for the regular sponsors. That way you can have different price points and packages for different types of sponsors. Perhaps you could also save a small amount of space (on a rotating basis?) for your preferred charity.

  • http://frombottomup.com/ Hulbert

    This is indeed a very crazy idea. In your post, you said $40,000 k? That's $40,000,000 or 40 million dollars? I think it's pretty bold it this actually happens, although some people above me have said that it's been done with a minivan, doing it on an Escalade takes it to a whole other level.

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Thanks that is some good advice :)

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Thanks Ami, Mike & Adam… I really would RATHER go with a smaller car, because I like to drive them better but the point here is SHAWAM and I think the Caddy has a lot of 'wow' factor one of the reasons being because it is so ridiculously over the top & huge. Secondly I am taking your advice Mike & I will be doing the year in advance I think… because that does seem like the smart thing to do. Thanks all & Ami I am figuring out different sizes as we speak :)

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    That is a great idea Mike, going to a sign shop, I'll have to find one here in Vegas that does vehicle wraps and chat with them about my options :)

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    I'll definitely let you know if I get it done :) I know its crazy but if I can pull it off I will be proud of the feat in and of itself… funny thing is the more I test drive the Cadillac and everything I'm like “damn I wish I could just do this with a prius” :)

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Tanner I totally agree… I have been thinking that myself, like how I could get nationwide coverage… any suggestions? I am going to include a youtube video clip of each and every “sponsor” i get to help encourage the viral-ability of this whole thing… but besides that I need to get more creative.

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Neat thanks Stephen :)

  • ralphcarlson

    So essentially you are taking the sponsorship of a track racing car to the street. I guess I have to go to your original post but some questions arise. Does it need to be a Cadillac? Could it be a cheaper Chevy? Why, white or black? Essentially those things don't matter if they economics work although if you are spending time in the car, your comfort it important. What I like most about the idea is that it is totally unexpected.

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    40,000 :) for sure! I hope doing it on a car like an escalade will make it very fun

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Yep, it has to be the caddy just because of the size & because of the kind of shabang! it needs to have with it. Covering a cheaper car is done all the time but covering a beautiful, expensive car will confuse people. Like the whole paradigm of “if you can afford an expensive car why cover it up” i don't know that is my own nutty logic :) Yes please go back and read the original post then let me know what you think of it!

  • http://www.mikekey.com/ Mike Key

    You know what's really over the top and obscene, a HUMMER!

    Are you looking at the ESV? One is based on the Tahoe's size and the other ESV is the Suburban's size.

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Definitely the smaller one… I could not drive a full size suburban plus I'd feel like a soccer mom. Since I don't play soccer or have kidlets that is a no-no.

  • http://lifedestiny.net/ Tanner @ Life Destiny

    Not exactly sure…I think once you get it going you could try a few personalized press releases, although I no absolutely nothing about getting any press, just from what I learned through New Rules of Marketing and PR book

  • http://twitter.com/InventionAddict Stephen Bozzone

    Here is another idea. You can buy inkjet printable magnets. The bumper stickers can be removable.

    Even better is couple the bumper stickers with business card sized refrigerator magnets. The small magnets can be a call to action for the consumer, a coupon or something else actionable.

    You can cover the vehicle with an array of bumper stickers and businees cards for people to peel off, stick to the fridge or stick to their cars.

    Smells like money to me!

  • http://www.Escapingthe9to5.com/ Maren Kate

    Wow that is an AWESOME idea too… so many people have been coming up with Killer ideas :) i gotta look into that, thanks Stephen!

  • http://thedailycubicle.com/ Adrienne

    I love the idea! I was actually thinking of something along the same lines a few weeks ago… I hope it works out for you!

  • http://www.sgexclusive.com/ Cody

    I would get it all layed out with a “vehicle wrap” company, have them print a vehicle wrap with all the ads on it, then when the experiment is over you can remove the vinyl wrap and your paint will be like new because no UV Rays will have gotten to it!

  • http://ascenttofreedom.wordpress.com/ DJ Wetzel

    It sounds a lot like the guys over at iwearyourshirt.com Fabulous idea. You get something that you want (car, t-shirt, whatever) and you get someone else to pay for it while they advertise for your company. A win-win for everyone.

  • http://andbreak.com/ Julius Kuhn-Regnier

    That's an awesome idea. I would set the price to 10 bucks a month. I think it's only fair :P
    Sure seems like it's gonna work. Btw. just to add to this idea of including a GPS tracking system into the car: You are gonna be stuck if you stay at the same place for more than 24 hours. So you definitely have to be busy!

  • http://onemillionby30.com/ Patrick Toerner

    This is awesome! This is one of the coolest things I have ever heard of anyone doing! Mucho Props. You sure are a creative thinker. So you just going to repeat this process until the car is paid off?

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  • http://onemillionby30.com/ Patrick Toerner

    This is awesome! This is one of the coolest things I have ever heard of anyone doing! Mucho Props. You sure are a creative thinker. So you just going to repeat this process until the car is paid off?

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