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Ansh Kadam
Stealth • 2h
The story of a Town that became a Website In 1999, a tiny US town called Halfway with just 360 residents was struggling. Its economy relied solely on tourism, and there wasn’t much else going on. But the town's faith changed as here comes Half. com, a budding e-commerce company competing with Amazon. Half. com needed marketing, and they came up with a genius marketing idea. They offered the town $70,000 and 22 computers for their schools in exchange for one simple favor: renaming the town to Half. com for one year. Legally, the town’s name remained Halfway, but road signs and local branding embraced the new identity. The move was so quirky and unprecedented that it became a media sensation. Almost every news outlet started talking about the “.com town.” The result? Half. com received massive publicity, going viral in a pre-social media era. And their gamble paid off—just months later, Half. com was acquired by eBay. Key takeaway: This story is a masterclass in out-of-the-box marketing. Sometimes, thinking beyond traditional channels can propel a brand to the big leagues. And if you want more fascinating insights like this for your business or startup journey, then Subscribe to my newsletter through the link mentioned below in the comments!
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