Using guerrilla marketing, which is low cost, innovative and somewhat unconventional marketing techniques that are a great way to obtain maximum exposure for a product or company, can work well for companies that do not have a lot of money for traditional advertising and marketing.
Okay, there is a trade off and that trade off is time. It’s not just placing an advertisement in a newspaper or magazine or running an ad on the radio and waiting for the people to come rushing through your doors. It is a different approach that will garner attention. The upside is that the tools at your fingertips these days (YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) make it easier for small business to create a presence in the minds of consumers.
Guerrilla Marketing has been going for a long time. For example in the early 1900s PT Barnum was hired to walk a herd of elephants across the Brooklyn Bridge when it opened to prove to people that the bridge was sturdy enough. It worked. People and cars are still crossing the Brooklyn Bridge today. Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream used guerilla marketing very successfully to fight off a threat to their ability to distribute their product from a major competitor. There are also more expensive examples of guerilla marketing, such as the Goodyear Blimp and the Oscar Meyer wiener-mobile. When you see either of those icons, you immediately know who the company is and what they products are.
Today videos can be particularly effective in promoting your product and company without breaking the bank. The wine industry uses videos well. Check out the short Paso Man videos from the Paso Robles Wine Country Alliance or the video take off of popular songs from Jordan Winery in Sonoma County. There are many more examples. Social media and postcards are other ways to take advantage of guerrilla marketing to make a name for yourself.
Take time for some creative thinking with your staff, friends and family. Don’t rule anything out to start with, take all ideas and see what can come from them
A tip of the glass from me to you
E Column
by Elizabeth “E” Slater, In Short Direct Marketing
A recognized expert in the fields of direct marketing and sales in the wine marketplace. Slater has taught more wineries and winery associations how to create and improve the effectiveness of their direct marketing programs and to make the most of each customer’s potential than anyone in the wine industry today.
