In a Credit Union Movement Full of Skechers, Be a Grillo’s

This past spring, my wife and I attended the Beach Life Music Fest in Redondo Beach, California. Alongside killer performances from Lenny Kravitz, Sublime, Jackson Browne, Alanis Morissette, and so many others, the perks of the VIP tickets were pretty sweet.

But—as always—my marketing brain didn’t take a vacation.

 

It was clear there was a winner and a loser among the companies who dropped big money to sponsor the event.

Each VIP ticket holder received a voucher for a free pair of Skechers’ new beach-friendly slides. Sounds great, right? We took our tickets to the Skechers tent, handed over our voucher and shoe size, and… they handed us a box. That was it.

No pitch. No story. No reason to love them.

What made these slides different? Why should I buy another pair? Where was the connection to the brand? I couldn’t help but think about how much Skechers must have paid for that sponsorship—and how much they wasted by not engaging with potential customers.

I could already picture their post-event debrief:

But before blaming the Beach Life Fest organizers, they should have looked in the mirror. Writing a check for marketing doesn’t guarantee a return. You have to put in the work to turn those dollars into relationships—and relationships into sales.

Tucked in the back corner of the festival grounds was a booth that embraced its location—and became one of the most popular spots at the fest.

Grillo’s wasn’t just handing out free pickle samples. They created an experience people were hunting down. Picture this: a mechanical pickle ride (yes, like those coin-operated grocery store rides from childhood—only this one was a giant pickle). They had a photographer snapping pictures of pickle rides and handed out free hats that read:

It was weird, it was fun, and it was memorable.

And here’s the kicker: a week later at the grocery store, I spotted that little plastic bucket of Grillo’s Pickles I’d walked past a hundred times before… and bought it. All because of that silly, personal, and fun brand interaction.

How often have you written a check for marketing and expected results to magically appear? A table at a local event, a Chamber of Commerce membership—the list goes on. And when nothing happens, you decide the event “wasn’t worth it.”

But was it really the event? Or was it the effort you put in?

Marketing is less about the size of your budget and more about the energy, creativity, and connection you bring to it. People remember how you made them feel.

In a credit union movement full of Skechers… be a Grillo’s.