[Marketing Spotlight] Towering Termite Tour

In an attempt to continue to grow the market for professional termite control services, BASF Corporation recently embarked on a 21-city Towering Termite Tour, sponsored by Termidor Termite Control.

The high profile marketing campaign features a 20-foot high, 60-foot long inflatable termite that will travel more than 8,000 miles and visit 15 states on a mission to showcase the good, the bad, and the just plain strange sides of these hungry, destructive pests. Within the belly of the bug, visitors will find colorful science exhibits and interactive games aimed at educating children — and their parents — about termite biology and the newest methods being used to protect homes from the damage caused by these destructive pests.

Kiosks inside the exhibit include "Appetite for Destruction," which displays everyday items such as piano keys and books that have been attacked by termites, and "All In The Colony," an intriguing lesson about termite biology — while visitors watch live termite colonies attack a paper "house," they can learn the ways a colony relates to a human family, with each individual contributing to the group in a meaningful way. Admission to the tour is free.

Karl Kisner, senior marketing manager for Termidor Termite Control, said the Towering Termite Tour has three primary goals: (1) to educate children about termites; (2) inform adults about the severe damage caused by this destructive pest; and (3) support the professional pest management industry by growing the market for termite control services. "While the Towering Termite Tour is designed to explore the vital role termites play in nature and to encourage kids to be excited about biology, we’re also helping adults understand the ways in which they can protect their homes and property from termite damage," Kisner said.

TOUR DETAILS. The Tour typically arrives in the host city on Thursday and is open for business the following day. Three "field ambassadors" — college students who travel with the exhibit — welcome guests and guide visitors through the various displays. "We also alert our Termidor Partners that the tour will be visiting their city," Kisner said. "Their staff is invited to preview the exhibits and they’re urged to promote the event locally."

Thus far, the tour has visited about 12 cities in 2004, with future stops scheduled for the Liberty Science Center in Jersey City, N.J., May 21-23; the Indianapolis Zoo in Indianapolis, Ind., June 4-6; Powell Gardens in Kansas City, Mo., June 11-13; the Los Angeles Zoo in Los Angeles, Calif., June 22-24; and the Sacramento Zoo in Sacramento, Calif., June 29-July 1.

Throughout the past couple of months, the tour has garnered significant national and local media attention. Most recently, the Washington Post featured a timely article on termites, and featured information on the Towering Termite Tour and Termidor, among other termite control treatment options. Scholastic News, America’s leading news source for kids, featured the tour in a March issue. Parent and child magazines in targeted cities also featured the tour as a calendar or sidebar item in their spring issues.

In March, Fox News National Cable aired a segment about the tour on Weekend Live with Tony Snow and a second segment on Fox Report Saturday called "Across America." Both broadcasts featured the tour as an interactive, educational exhibit in conjunction with Termite Awareness Week, proclaimed by Governor Blanco in the state of Louisiana.

National Public Radio also aired a segment about the Tour in March on Day to Day, a midday NPR program that keeps listeners up to date with major news stories and intriguing features. Titled, "Inside The World’s Largest Termite," the segment featured information on the giant, inflatable termite making the rounds, hoping to educate the public about the damage termites can cause and how they might be controlled.

"The uniqueness of this effort has opened doors to media outlets that would otherwise have been off-limits to the topic of termites," said Kisner. "We’re telling the story of termite destruction to a larger audience in an unusual way in an effort to grow the market for professional pest control services, and it sure is working."

The Towering Termite Tour is one component of BASF’s consumer marketing effort, which includes national television advertising, sports sponsorships, local radio and television advertising, and personal appearances by "Timmy The Termite," Termidor’s national "spokesbug."

Kisner acknowledged, that while fiercely competitive, the combined weight of both manufacturer, as well as pest control company advertising, is good for the industry as a whole. "Seeing a variety of messages about the importance of professional pest control ultimately helps to grow the overall market for these services used by homeowners," he said.