Your Breakthrough Media Against Giant Brands
If you’re not yet one of the largest brands in your category, we probably don’t need to tell you that it’s pretty much impossible in any given market to go toe-to-toe with the Giants’ media budgets. But it is.
And even if you focus your budget on a single medium to try to breakthrough, we can pretty much guarantee you that your pockets still aren’t deep enough. Sorry to say, but it’s probably true.
But you shouldn’t get discouraged. Even though your competitors may have multi-million dollar budgets that could make a Bond villain blush, the good news is that Guerrilla Marketing can make up the difference.
At The Johnson Group, we believe that there are three keys to developing good and effective Guerrilla Marketing:
Imagination
Inquiry
Persistence
As an example, we’ve worked with clients in several cities to secure parking meters as advertising media. You purchase the meters and then apply your message with a printed bag or signage.
Just think about the advantages (and wonder why someone hadn’t thought of it before):
It’s unique so there’s no competitive clutter.
It’s greatly appreciated—what other advertising can make that claim?
It generates PR, which further increases the value.
It’s highly targeted.
The “readership” is near 100% because it’s intriguing.
Another Guerrilla Marketing opportunity many is using elevator doors in parking lots or in the major shopping malls as engaging and occasionally disruptive “billboards.”
These are called elevator skins, and you can be incredibly creative with them because they move. They are also extremely targeted and located in direct line of sight with no competitive clutter.
One of our favorite Guerrilla Marketing ideas is decaled dollar bills. Before your ask…yes, it’s legal but there’s only one company with the proprietary process to execute this (Want to find out who? Just ask!).
Just think about the possibilities when you decal dollar bills and distribute them through your locations or your customers’ locations:
They are an immediate conversation starter as no one is accustom to seeing a clever decal on a dollar bill.
A dollar bill, on average, changes hands about 10 times per month, creating great pass along readership (about 77% of the decals stay adhered for 30 days).
They act as a great bounce-back coupon.
They generate added-value PR. The media loves clever ideas.
They are highly targeted.
Now, with any of these ideas, go back to the 3 keys—imagination, inquiry and persistence. Guerrilla marketing is effective, and has demonstrated this fact time and time again. Remember: if you can’t outspend them, outsmart them and outwork them. And you might even have a little more fun than them along the way.
– See more at: http://giantslaying.stgng.com/2015/04/24/3-keys-to-effective-guerrilla-marketing/#sthash.2hiErrHT.dpuf
