What Ice Cream Taught Me About Local Advertising (No, Seriously)
It started with a strawberry scoop. Not metaphorically. An actual strawberry scoop from a caravan parked next to a farmer’s market in Kerikeri. The signage was terrible. The branding? Non-existent. But the queue wrapped around a gum tree, and people were buzzing about it like it was limited-edition gold dust.
So I did what any marketing tragic does. I asked questions. The woman running the stand told me she hadn’t spent a dollar on advertising. No influencer strategy. No paid reach. Just word of mouth and a spot she landed after someone else didn’t show. The kicker? She’s consistently selling out every week. Ten litres of strawberry and lemon verbena gone by noon.
It made me wonder: have we overcomplicated local advertising? We've obsessed over attribution models and bid strategies, forgetting that half of commerce still runs on real conversations and basic human delight. That ice cream? It had a texture you’d fight your cousin over. The woman’s smile when she handed it over felt more engaging than a $15k retargeted video ad. What I saw was trust, routine, and an emotional trigger that marketing degree textbooks never linger on.
No, this isn’t a pitch for throwing out your digital mix. But perhaps the new frontier of local ads isn’t more cleverness. It’s more actual connection. Less geo-targeting, more geo-caring. Because the most effective campaign I saw this year came in a paper cup, dripping at 11:18am on a sunny field in Northland.
So I did what any marketing tragic does. I asked questions. The woman running the stand told me she hadn’t spent a dollar on advertising. No influencer strategy. No paid reach. Just word of mouth and a spot she landed after someone else didn’t show. The kicker? She’s consistently selling out every week. Ten litres of strawberry and lemon verbena gone by noon.
It made me wonder: have we overcomplicated local advertising? We've obsessed over attribution models and bid strategies, forgetting that half of commerce still runs on real conversations and basic human delight. That ice cream? It had a texture you’d fight your cousin over. The woman’s smile when she handed it over felt more engaging than a $15k retargeted video ad. What I saw was trust, routine, and an emotional trigger that marketing degree textbooks never linger on.
No, this isn’t a pitch for throwing out your digital mix. But perhaps the new frontier of local ads isn’t more cleverness. It’s more actual connection. Less geo-targeting, more geo-caring. Because the most effective campaign I saw this year came in a paper cup, dripping at 11:18am on a sunny field in Northland.