Jesse Zagorsky aspired to create that rare thing that all marketers lust after: “a unique marketing piece that would not feel like marketing.”

He had a second goal, too: to create something with enough “shelf-life that it would stay on my client’s desk for a long time.”

And so, in what may mark the most artistic marketing ploy to earn #madREskillz recognition yet, Zagorsky created a custom scratch-and-sniff book.

“This piece was very successful for me, and I had clients reaching out to me up to one year afterwards telling me they still had a copy on their desk,” Zagorsky said. “I even had a client send me a picture of his small child reading the booking in bed before going to sleep at night!”

Jesse Zagorsky

Zagorsky specializes in marketing real estate owned (REO) properties, so he decided to create a book that would playfully illustrate his trade and resonate with prospects in the default-servicing industry.

To honestly capture the nature of his job, he concluded that he couldn’t saturate his book with only pleasant odors. Scouting and preparing REO properties, after all, entails regularly encountering less-than-pleasant smells.

So in addition to “honey” and “roses” odors, which conveyed his fondness for his job, he also infused “mildew” and “garbage” into those pages of the book that address the grittier aspects of his day to day.

“It’s a marketing piece where you almost don’t want to scratch the stickers, but you find yourself compelled to scratch them anyway,” he said.

Jesse Zagorsky 2

Ever heard of a more artistic marketing tactic?  Tweet it next #madREskillz, or share it in the comments section below!

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