Friday, November 2, 2012

The Knot’s Smart Use of Sandy

Hurricane Sandy wrecked havoc and put life on hold for millions of residents on the East Coast this past week, destroying homes, flooding cities and causing millions to lose power. As I was sitting at work discussing the disaster and its repercussions with a fellow co-worker she mentioned something that really struck a chord; Sandy had completely destroyed her friend’s wedding venue. That made me think – there must have been thousands and thousands of fall weddings cancelled, venues ruined and churches flooded all due to Sandy’s destruction.
As I was on Twitter, I came across an article discussing how the most-trafficked wedding website called The Knot helped to salvage over 2,000 weddings disrupted by Sandy. The online company estimates nearly 2,300 brides-to-be had to put a halt to their wedding plans this week due to the inclement weather. 

The Knot created a Facebook page as an online forum to connect brides with venues and vendors to reschedule this week’s weddings and to keep the more than 4,000 November ceremonies intact.

Helping Brides in the Wake of Hurricane Sandy” is the name of the Facebook page where East Coast couples can share tips, find available venues and talk to local experts. Helping couples “tie the knot” as scheduled is the main goal for The Knot.

From Nov. 1 to Nov. 25, vendors are asked to list their businesses, addresses, availability and contact information. Many venues in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut lost power and sustained damage from flood waters, forcing brides to make major adjustments.
This is a great example of taking a current event and using it to your company’s advantage. The Knot saw its opportunity and clearly took it. I believe this is a great lesson in marketing as well as public relations.

Can you think of other companies like The Knot that could benefit from a natural disaster like Hurricane Sandy? Let us know!



No comments: