At an Independence Day parade this year, a Mustang convertible rolled down the route decked out in red, white, and blue—and
lots of signage for frozen yogurt chain TCBY. As the car came into view, someone with trays of yogurt samples approached folks watching the parade and offered a taste.
“This was really pure genius,†says Greg Allison, director of marketing for Salt Lake City–based TCBY. “We have a program called Street Treat Sampling where we encourage franchisees to go out and sample people within a three-mile radius of their stores. This operator saw an opportunity that encompassed everything local-store marketing is supposed to be: hands on, community-oriented, and fun.†More.