One Montana company is…
Thinking Outside the Box – Literally
By Deborah Nash, Montana Manufacturing Extension Center

If you’ve driven U.S. Highway 93 along Flathead Lake, you’ve no doubt seen the billboards advertising Three Dog Down, its comforters, its national magazine recognition. But did you ever see the one north of Polson that hung upside down?

“That billboard brought in more customers in the next few weeks than the ten others combined,” says Bob “Three Dog” Ricketts, owner of Three Dog Down (www.threedogdown.com) and its manufacturing counterpart Doctor Down (www.doctordown.com) in Polson. The company manufacturers and sells down comforters, pillows, duvet covers and the highly specialized Rescue Wrap®, medical transport bedding.

Invoked as a roadside experiment during wind damage repairs by the owner, the inverted billboard paradoxically portrays Bob’s business and life philosophy: moving forward requires “changing paradigms, doing things differently, making what you do memorable.”

Inside Three Dog Down, a shopper is immersed into an eclectic mix of items all related to promoting Montana and staying warm and safe. In addition to pillows and comforters, one will find Montana-made huckleberry products, slippers, blankets, coats, the famous three-dog thermometer and more. Inside is also the World’s Smallest Theatre (three seats) where visitors can view bits of Butte, Montana memorabilia and, if the timing is right, enjoy a song by Bob as he plays his accordion. He’s as passionate about marketing Montana as he is about marketing his company. His songs are part of that passion.

Bob has a number of ideas on marketing Montana and its products, and he shares them freely. His ideas are bold, some more do-able than others. Most require changes in vision, attitude and imagination. And all are offered as catalysts for productive dialogue on how to draw people and their dollars to Montana.

In promoting his own business, he admittedly has had both great successes and some failures along the way. But one thing is for sure. He definitely “thinks outside the box” taking that to a literal interpretation in one of his favorite campaigns, a “design a box contest.” It is one that also rewards his community and the state of Montana.

Tapping Creativity

“Tap the kids in your elementary schools for kid art on your boxes,” he says. “I provide mine with pizza and art supplies (and boxes). The kids provide the creativity in the form of artwork and stories, including their school, name and grade.

Enclosed in the boxes that go out is the message, “If you like the design, let Three Dog Down know.” This creates a buffer between viewer and actual student artists, just in case, Ricketts adds. And it keeps teacher time with the students where it should be.

“The first time I did it, I received a 50 percent response rate and some of the nicest letters. I passed them along to the school. One of my favorites was of three dogs chasing and biting at each other.” It was an obvious favorite of a UPS delivery man who wrote saying he enjoyed the box so much he hated parting with it and added, “Your box put me in the Christmas spirit!”

Ricketts passes the responses on to the students and said it can be very educational, as some responders include their area brochures and even an occasional gift. A Mardi Gras cake with the traditional king baked inside was one. Another was a photo of “The Shaq,” basketball star Shaquille O’Neal.

“An old guy in San Diego even sent an autographed ball from the San Diego padres, probably worth $400.” The ball was delivered to the young artist, Ricketts wistfully confirms.

“It’s a great concept. It works well in rural areas, though some schools might see it as promoting a business. It has minimal cost, and dollars go to the school. Kids love the praise they receive for their designs. It’s a real self-esteem issue.”

More Opportunity

Shipping boxes are an opportunity for other unique promotions. Two end panels on his printed cartons show a map of Montana “conveniently located between Moscow and London.” It lists the ten top reasons to visit Montana in reverse order. Number one, in capital letters, of course: THREE DOG DOWN.” The main panels highlight the company, always with a vein of humor coursing through.

He encourages other businesses to “get on the box bandwagon” to promote themselves and their area. Groups of businesses could get together to buy in larger lots. Except for some template art, the cost is the same for printing all four panels on a flat carton, and Ricketts has found the cost of printing to be cheaper than large stickers.

His less successful promotions usually involved tying a sales promotion to current news events. “I got more advertising than I wanted on one of those promotions,” he reminisces.

An ad offering customers a complimentary tour of the Uni-bomber cabin, that included a fine print disclaimer “subject to FBI approval,” didn’t even pass muster with an area media outlet. Anyone who knows him, knows these campaigns were done in humor, but raising people’s ire is not what a merchant wants to do.

“I learned you have to be careful with your message,” he says.

Montana Musings

Ricketts is not impressed with the multi-faceted license plate sales for Montana. “When traveling out of state, we’ve lost our identity,” he claims. “ Montana has lost a branding opportunity that a unified image of Montana brings.”

He is drawn to clever marketing like that used by the Peabody Hotel in Memphis. It has duck crossing signs on its grounds and duck shaped bars of soap in its rooms.

“You have to be clever, memorable. The big thing is this. If you are not born rich, you have to think harder – that’s Montana.” With the state’s low advertising budget, there are some things that have worked well that could be expanded on, but do things differently, he recommends. Not the same things over and over.

“I’d like to get people talking about how to do that for Montana. For example, change the speed limit on a select group of signs to 74.5 miles per hour.”

Add to that a follow-on message like “That half mile difference is to get you to think. We want you safe. Come back again,” he suggests.

Another approach for Montana is based on the model of a WalMart greeter, putting visitor stations at key entry points into the state. Ricketts suggests handing out free brochures there and asking people if they want the full book for $20. That “Insiders Guide” could contain $500 worth of coupons from Montana stores and establishments. He estimates it would generate 1.5 million in advertising sales for the state and prompt visitors to drop into communities and spend more dollars.

“Montana needs an end run for the state, and creativity is the answer.”

fall ’05

While covering project activities around the state, MMEC occasionally runs across stories such as this that provide a glimpse into the Montana mystique.