If you’ve ever watched AFL, chances are you’re familiar with our ‘big hands’. Positioned behind the goals at Subiaco Oval, they’ve been prominent on every Eagles telecast since 1993. Of course, I’ll take any opportunity I can to get the Messages On Hold brand out there – and the recent Targa Tasmania was no exception.

I was competing in this 6 day event for the first time. My Evo 9 was one of 300 cars competing over nearly 2,000 kilometres of tarmac around this picturesque island state of Tasmania. Entrants comprise a myriad of well-known sports people, national & international celebrities and most importantly, lots of business people!

On the first day I was amazed at the number of locals that lined the transport stages (the bits we drive under normal road rules). Hundreds of kids would wave as we passed their schools or homes, so on Day 2 I packed several hundred hands in the car. Along the way I’d stop and hand out these hands to every child we saw. They, in turn, waved them at every subsequent car – and loved it! As you can imagine, every driver behind us, many of the prime candidates for Messages On Hold, spotted these branded hands bearing our logo for the rest of the day.

I chose to target the drivers instead of the general public because firstly, reaching the general public would be an expensive exercise and secondly, the drivers were easier to reach. This “sniper’s approach” to marketing meant that in the end, these fellow drivers were seeing upwards of 300 MOH hands a day and thinking “bloody hell, these guys are everywhere!”

I know what you’re thinking, “great idea!” right? Well it was, until I spun out, landed on some rocks and put the MOH Evo 9 race car out of action. But even then, we turned that into a promotional opportunity – have a look at the video here.