I need to get this out: while I know what is meant by the term Guerrilla in the title, all I can picture is an actual gorilla. (Next I will search on how to put a picture in my blogs!)
The first chapter in this book discusses the differences between traditional marketing and guerrilla marketing, with the emphasis that guerrilla marketing is geared towards small businesses. Guerrilla marketing focuses on being imaginative, and focusing on the individual. And cheap. Who doesn't love cheap? Fine, there are people who will always want to pay the most money for something, but I will always admire the good-will shopper who can put together an outfit that fits their personality to the "Real Housewife of X" who only shops at high-end boutiques in an attempt to be an individual.
While focusing on the small business guerilla marketing is able to focus on one factor for success, profits. Levinson mentions seeing companies break sales records while losing money. To wrap my head around this concept I think of some marketing campaigns I have seen by big and small companies, and ended up settling on campaigns by politicians who target a small (town/county) vs big (state/federal) areas. My state representative kick started her campaign by going door to door and speaking at veterans associations (she is a veteran herself). She came to my house, knocked on the door and as she was not immediately scared off by my dogs we spoke a while regarding her views on items I felt important to me. In the process she earned my vote and the votes of many of the veterans in my area. In opposition to this, no Governor, federal representative or presidential hopeful has ever spoken to me directly, you mostly just see campaigns that tell us how bad the other side is, making me have to do a lot of work on the back-end to see what they have voted for in the past as you can not trust what a politician says.
I also enjoy the me vs you aspect of guerrilla marketing, which focuses on the 'you.' I see this approach creating a strong impact as everyone wants to feel special and important. I am more apt to purchase a product if it has a direct impact on me or my family (for the better, obviously). For example, I love to travel, so between a company that tells me how many awards they have won and a small business that tells me how I can have fun, learn, and relax, I am more interested in the smaller business as those are the items that will affect my choice of travel location.
No comments:
Post a Comment