Gracie Communications

Girl Scouts of the USA know a thing or two about cookies.  They also know how to create a successful communications campaign.  Here are the 8 things I’ve learned about marketing and PR from helping my daughters sell Girl Scout cookies:

1. Create demand by limiting availability.
By limiting sales to a two-week window each year, Girl Scouts can capitalize on fond cookie memories and limit the guilt of buying a calorie-laden box or two.  Since the cookies are gone before the next campaign, it is more likely customers will buy more.  

2. Don’t mess with the formula.
Yes, the Girl Scouts add new cookies each year or two. This year it is a cranberry-white-fudge gem of a cookie that is surprisingly popular.  But the top seller year after year is the Thin Mint.  Girl Scouts know that, which is why it will always be on the order form. 

(Have you ever noticed that Thin Mints are the last cookie on the list, which means you have to read the entire form to make sure It. Is. Still. There.)

3. Harness the power of networks.
You cannot buy a Girl Scout cookie online or in a store. You can only buy them directly from a Girl Scout.  Add in Facebook, Twitter and blogs, and it is easier than ever for scouts and their parents to alert their friends, family and colleagues when it’s cookie time. 

4. Take away the buyer’s objections.
Girl Scout cookies are an easy purchase. It’s a fundraiser. The seller comes to you. The price is reasonable. Once you order, the cookies are delivered to your door. There is no shipping, handling or sales tax. 

5. Know your message.
As a former Cookie Mom, I can tell you it is nearly impossible NOT to know the cookie message. Between training meetings, practice sessions, fact sheets, fill-in-the-blank scripts on the order form and safety information for parents, Girl Scouts know their goal, their message, and even knew how to pronounce Dulce de Leche.

6. Pick the right messenger.
We all know how hard it is to say no to a girl in a green or brown vest.  Or her mother.

7. Motivate your sales team.
Yes, the proceeds from cookie sales support local Girl Scouting but that is only one reason girls sell cookies. More sales = more prizes. If a scout sells 1,000 boxes, she gets one of everything in the treasure chest PLUS an IPod.  Kids love to get stuff for free.

8. Give to others.
Even with an earnest young saleswoman standing in the doorway, armed with an enticing sales pitch and a low-priced, easy-to-order product, some people just don’t want to buy a box of cookies. That’s why girls are instructed to ask if you would like to order a box of cookies to send to the US Troops overseas instead.  Who doesn’t want to donate a little piece of home to our men and women in the armed services?

It is no wonder the Girl Scouts of the USA sell more than 200 million boxes a year.  Every product team can and should learn from the strategies Girl Scouts have fine-tuned in the past century.