I just read an inspiring blog post on localized marketing. It struck me because the Elmira community had a very similar "Dancing With Our Stars" event that raised money for the local Rotary organization. The event was extremely successful, but wouldn't have gotten off the ground without the "Dancing With the Stars" TV show concept. Rotary let the national broadcasters do the educating and they took advantage of its success by inserting local celebrities.

The blog post I referenced asks the following question: "Which national events, popular TV shows or movies can you use as inspiration for your next marketing event or promotion?"

Taking it one step further, I think it's a great opportunity for businesses with new concepts to describe what they do by referencing larger companies. For example, "BlocDeals is like 'Living Social' for our small town," or "Integrated Office Services is similar to 'Regus,' but we're more personal and customized because we are part of the Binghamton community."

Don't turn the big-box stores into your competition. Small businesses have inherent advantages over the national chains, but they'll never be able to compete financially. So take advantage of the synergy by describing how you're different from an already recognizable brand.

I'd go see a band if they told me their original music was inspired by Billy Joel. However, I wouldn't see a cover band and I'd probably ignore a group that described themselves as "contemporary folk rock." Just sayin'...