How Pumpkin Spice Propane Created Community Buzz and Brand Loyalty
A fun fall sign at Eddinger Hardware led to community-wide curiosity, viral marketing, and even branded merchandise that keeps customers coming back.
When I meet anyone and they ask me what I do, I usually say that I sell propane and propane accessories. Sort of a King of the Hill reference. Then, I’ll share my website, which everyone remembers. That site: pumpkinspicepropane.com.
What started as a joke on the sign outside my family’s business, Eddinger Hardware & LP Gas in Bally, Pa., has grown into a marketing phenomenon beyond my wildest dreams. With little investment and lots of humor, pumpkin spice propane has grown to be a marketing miracle.
First, let’s cozy up around a propane fireplace and let me tell you the story of our 134-year-old family business, of which I’m the fifth generation. In the 1800s, the business started as a general store and roofing company. Propane was part of our business for a long time, and in the 1970s, we expanded to the five surrounding counties with home delivery along with our store in Bally that has a convenient assortment of hardware.
It has always been my greatest joy to work with my grandfather Francis, father John I, and uncle Thomas. Now, the sixth generation, my sons Dylan, Jacob and Zachary, work here, too.
What I love the most about the hardware and propane business is meeting new people and helping people. I’m a people person and enjoy solving problems and making an improvement on someone’s day. I want customers to leave our store having a good, pleasant experience. Making a small difference in someone’s life—that’s rewarding!
Eddinger Hardware & LP Gas is an independent retailer, and we do most of our business with Orgill. As a distributor they have helped out tremendously. We’ve always been happy with Orgill’s service and value. They’re good people. Orgill president and CEO Boyden Moore is a great guy, and the salesmen are always helpful.
During the pandemic things have been more competitive with nearby Walmart and Costco and that’s been very challenging. We’re geared toward convenience with about 1,200 square feet of hardware, selling sensible, everyday products homeowners and DIYers need for repairs.
Our building was an old car dealership on a state route. Outside is a big sign, and through the late ‘90s, we’d always struggle to put up new sayings to catch attention. Plus, someone would have to either get out on a ladder or try to use one of those suction cup poles to change the sign. Instead of changing the sign every other day, we’d put up a new sign every few weeks or month.
About eight years ago, I put up this sign: Pumpkin spice propane for a limited time. Turns out, that was one of the greatest marketing decisions I ever made.
People driving by had no idea if it was real or made up. We’d start to see cars lining up, driving by, taking photos. People would call and ask if it was real. We had so much fun with customers, whether they knew it was real or not. It was also fun to have customers who were in on the joke.
After that, every year we would put up the sign. For the community, pumpkin spice propane became a rite of passage for each autumn. Here’s the thing: We don’t do social media. We don’t post on Facebook or Instagram. A customer with friends in Montana said that our store’s sign was on a local Facebook page.
I knew we were on to something really big when I got a phone call from a guy who had an office pool going about whether pumpkin spice propane was real or not. The betting was about 50-50 whether it was real or not, by the way. People engaged with pumpkin spice propane; they were fascinated.
This is a funny, light-hearted, good marketing campaign and it went really well. A few years back, I saw another propane marketer using it. That really wasn’t a big deal, but this was kind of my baby, so I bought the domain pumpinkspicepropane.com. It does very well. It’s a very memorable URL. The site has a landing page for pumpkin spice propane and redirects to our store’s site. So, it’s sort of an internet double dip.
The pumpkin spice propane marketing campaign is also good timewise during the year. Because pumpkin spice comes out at coffee shops when there’s a chill in the air, it’s also a good time to remind people to top off their propane tanks, sort of like changing batteries in smoke detectors at the change of seasons. It’s close to the perfect marriage of temperature and opportunity, giving customers a reminder to get tanks filled before peak demand, which could lead to higher prices.
If you had told me eight years ago that people would be driving around with our pumpkin spice propane stickers on their cars, I’d say you were nuts. Now, we also make pumpkin spice propane hats and shirts as promotional items and we never seem to have enough.
I cannot tell you the satisfaction I get from this campaign. Last year, with the help of a local artist, we made pumpkin spice propane stickers. When I see someone get a kick out of a pumpkin spice propane hat or sticker, that makes me smile. After handing them out for a while, I got a call from my wife. She said she was driving and saw a pumpkin spice propane sticker on a car. That’s how you know you’ve made a brand.
4 Tips to Pumpkin Spice Up Your Marketing
Even without a Facebook page or Instagram account, Eddinger Hardware & LP Gas has shown up on social feeds throughout the world. Here, John Eddinger II, fifth generation to run the family company, shares his thoughts about independent hardware marketing.
“My father and uncle are more on the conservative side with marketing,” he says. “I knew that I was either going to hit a home run or fail miserably.” Eddinger took the risk about eight years ago, putting up a sign outside the family store in Bally, Pa., offering pumpkin spice propane. Since then, the marketing campaign has taken on a life of its own. Here are four tips Eddinger shares about his marketing and business philosophy:
1. Don’t be afraid to fail. “I knew I would have to accept failure if pumpkin spice propane didn’t work out,” Eddinger says. “I would have been ridiculed every fall if it didn’t take off.”
2. Look for an icebreaker. “Think of your marketing as an icebreaker, an introduction,” Eddinger says. “Something that’s as simple and stupid as pumpkin spice propane has opened doors, created conversations, and led to friendships. It’s a neat feeling.”
3. Make nice. “With marketing and, really, any time you’re interacting with customers or people in the industry, it’s all about being nice,” Eddinger says. “It costs nothing to be nice. I share the propane pumpkin spice stickers with people and they love it. I’ll go to events, and the pumpkin spice propane story will come back and people will ask for more stickers. It’s a really neat feeling.”
4. Add pumpkin spice to your marketing. “Pumpkin spice is everywhere,” Eddinger says. “You can’t get away from it. It comes earlier and earlier and sticks around longer than you want. Why not take advantage of it? Even if you sell lumber, you can do pumpkin spice lumber. Take advantage of this time window to market to customers or promote products.”
