Ian created a tool to help local businesses promote daily specials. Can Dilly help consumers discover what’s cool in their community? And more importantly, is that cool?
“[It’s] special information that's posted only by local merchants. They can share something much like they would share on Instagram, but what they share is something special that's happening that day.”
Listen to Ian’s submission featured in Episode 91 of How Cool Is This? and read a transcript of the full 5 minute podcast episode below:
Ian: Thanks for having me on. I'm Ian Ross. My background is actually in economic development and community revitalization.
One of the things that I was seeing in 2020, especially around local communities and shopping and merchants, and all the struggle that came around with COVID and the shutdown of shops and restaurants… is the need for better communication. And real-time communication between local merchants and shops and restaurants, and just the people who are nearby.
So we built a really cool tool. It's called Dilly, and the URL is getthedilly.com. It's a little bit of a riff on 'What's the dilly?' and what the Dilly is, is special information that's posted only by local shopkeepers, local merchants. And they can share something much like they would share on Instagram, but what they share is something special that's happening that day.
So, for example, they might share that they have a special carrot soup on the menu or that they made a chocolate mousse with a brandy and the recipe, just for today. Or if it's a bookstore they might share, 'Hey, we got the new Barack Obama memoir in,' or even an event like... at six o'clock today we're having this local author come down and read an excerpt from their new book of poetry.
And ultimately we hope for it to be obviously a big product that people can just use, really on a daily basis. In fact, we refer to it as getting your Daily Dilly, because we actually wipe the database clean at night so that every day it's fresh and timely, and you can discover products and events around you from local shops.
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Nick: All right, Brian, what's the dilly with Dilly?
Brian: The Dilly’s cool.
Nick: Yeah, I like to support local businesses. I don't always know what exciting things local businesses are doing, but with this app, I will become way more informed and feel more empowered to patronize those businesses.
Brian: It's also cool to have options. I fancy myself as a consumer, but at times I don't know who, what, where, or why to consume. And this answers some of those questions.
Nick: You have money burning a hole in your pocket, and you're ready to give it to one of those local merchants. You just don't know who to give it to. But with the dilly you have a better idea.
Brian: Yeah. It's replacing the sign in front of a store that you have to walk by and makes it easier for me, as the consumer, to walk by that sign from anywhere.
Nick: But what's going to happen to all of those fun puns that people put on those signs? Those clever phrases like ‘Soup of the Day: Whiskey’
Brian: They can put that in The Daily Dilly
Nick: I guess if my favorite bar said, ‘Special - Soup of the Day: Whiskey,’ I might go get some whiskey from that bar.
Brian: If anything I would know from my phone to go do that instead of having to walk by. Although I would not drink whiskey, due to my condition.
Nick: You would like a different Dilly than the Whiskey Dilly
Brian: But that gives me the choice. I can look through all the Dillies (dillys?).
Nick: It's not like you’d scroll through Instagram and search to see if your favorite vegan burrito place is having a deal for the day. You can just go to Dilly. You don't have to scroll through all of the ads for products that you will never buy in the feed.
Brian: Yeah, like the Fleshlight advertisements that you keep seeing
Nick: Right, they just show up for no reason whatsoever.
Brian: I don't know why I'm getting advertised… Uh, I actually am no longer on Instagram, and it's not because of the Fleshlight ads. It's because of the company's entirely uncool business model, so I wouldn't mind having another app that allowed me to get that information.
Nick: I do feel like a lot of local businesses have come to rely on things like Instagram to spread the word about daily deals, so a way for them to do that where they don't have to participate in the Facebook ecosystem is really cool.
Brian: But, when you're building into the Facebook ecosystem, you only have one app and it's all there. So you have to balance that lack of coolness of downloading a ton of apps versus enriching Mark Zuckerberg’s pocket and destroying democracies across the globe.
Nick: I'd rather download an app, especially an app with a pretty cool name, than contribute to the destruction of democracy.
Brian: Yeah, this is a cooler name than geo-targeted signs
Nick: The idea itself is, I guess, cool. But what really makes it cool is the name.
Brian: I do think the ‘dilly dilly’ phrase got a little overused after that Bud Light commercial.
Nick: Honestly, I forgot about that commercial until you just brought it up, so maybe this is the right time to have an app named Dilly.
Brian: It haunts my dreams, but it's been enough time.
Nick: If a local business, if a local bar, can sell more Bud Lights on Dilly using the ‘dilly dilly’ catchphrase, I think that's cool. I don't have a problem with that.
Brian: Or, whiskey, soup of the day.
Nick: Yum.
If, like Brian, you consider yourself a “consumer,” then you might benefit from the Daily Dilly. Visit getthedilly.com to learn more.
And if you have an idea you want featured on the show, call the How Cool Is This? hotline at 848-863-9917.
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