I love reading about creative ideas. The other day I saw one called CLOO' that shows that not every zany idea is a good one. See what you think...
CLOO' is a new smartphone app that will connect those in urgent need of a restroom (toilet) with urban dwellers willing to share one.
The name is a combination of community and loo.
The blurb for it says, "After downloading the CLOO’ app, those in need of a restroom will be able to use it to see the registered hosts nearby. Along with basic details, the app will also indicate whether those hosts share any social networking friends in common with the user, as well as the host’s community rating and the price of their loo. Users can then send a request to see if the host is home; if they are, the user is then invited to use the host’s loo and a payment equivalent to roughly “the cost of a latte” is deposited into the host’s account. Afterwards, ratings for each party can be submitted through CLOO’."
OK, let's say George has had a lot to drink and can't find a toilet. What does he do? (choose one):
a. he holds it in until he gets home
b. he gets out his phone, uses Cloo' to find private toilets available nearby, checks out the photos to make sure it's a toilet he will find pleasing in appearance, compares prices, sees whether his potential toilet host has any friends in common with him on Facebook, texts the host to make sure the toilet is available, goes there.
c. finds an alley and pees
Yes, I chose "c" as well.
And the hosts? I can't think of anything more fun than being texted by a drunk who can't hold it in any longer…And should I charge more if he wants to go Number One? Am I responsible for providing good reading material? A choice of toilet papers?
This one's too far out of the box--but it made fun reading.
(For creative marketing ideas that work and don't cost much, see my book, Do Something Different, published by Virgin Books with a foreword by Richard Branson.)
