Attention Getters
Fresh ways to get a rise out of your marketing efforts.
Opinions expressed by Â鶹Éç contributors are their own.
Out of ideas? Looking for some inspiration? This month, we lookat some tactics guerrilla marketers have used to rejuvenate theirmarketing.
- A bakery prints a newsletter on the flip side of its breadlabels, which are inserted into the plastic bag with thebread.
- A brewery tucks a mini-catalog touting T-shirts and mugs intoevery six-pack. Today, orders are approaching 2,000 per month andclimbing.
- An appliance company offers a five-year warranty onultra-reliable products, costing the company hardly anything-andboosting sales noticeably.
- A coffee shop chain reduces the cost of direct mail andincreases profits with its coffee-of-the-month program.
- A mail order flower company gets as much as 40 percent of itsrevenues from a flower-of-the-month-club program, which helpssmooth out the seasonality of this business.
- A scarf company connects with an agent who knows his way aroundthe QVC home shopping network and ends up selling 250,000 scarveson the marketing channel.
- A gourmet grocery store increases profitability by offeringcooking classes at $20 per class. The classes only break even butbring in $600 per customer in post-class sales. Guerrillas knowthat customer education generates sales.
- A bicycle supply firm conducts 10 live, online focus groupsyearly to see what customers think. Cost of online focus groups:$0. Results: priceless.
- A furniture company puts lottery tickets into mailings, with a”Lottery ticket enclosed” message on the envelope. Themessage inside promises a follow-up call and the winning number.Seventy percent of callers listen to the pitch.
- A distributor of consumer products cuts costs and raisesprofits simply by changing its sales compensation system to takeprofitability into account.
- A security system manufacturer increases new customer revenue10 percent by paying an extra 1 percent commission forfirst-time customers.
- Another brewery sends digital color photos to 370 newspapers,along with a public relations story. The cost to the business owneris $725. The photo and story are picked up by 36 newspapers,including three in major cities.
- A home furnishings store sends a Polaroid picture of big-ticketitems prospects are considering. Closing rates have risen 25percent as a result of this marketing strategy.
- A software publisher reaps benefits from his online suggestionbox, which has resulted in several “great ideas,” saysthe boss.
- Another bakery includes plugs for the businesses run by itscustomers right in its own newsletter, showing it knows how tothank its customers.
- The president of a medical supply company gives a one-minutesales pitch. He then departs, leaving a sales contract. When hecalls back, reminding prospects of his minute presentation, 90percent sign the contract.
- A large accounting software company makes sure its receptiondesk is kept well-stocked with yo-yos, candy and toys tocommunicate to employees and visitors that everyone is relaxed andhaving fun.
Jay Conrad Levinson is author of the internationallyacclaimed Guerrilla Marketing series of books and co-founderof Guerrilla Marketing International. For information on theGuerrilla Marketing Newsletter and other products and services,write to P.O. Box 1336, Mill Valley, CA 94942; call (800) 748-6444;or visit the Web site at
Out of ideas? Looking for some inspiration? This month, we lookat some tactics guerrilla marketers have used to rejuvenate theirmarketing.
- A bakery prints a newsletter on the flip side of its breadlabels, which are inserted into the plastic bag with thebread.
- A brewery tucks a mini-catalog touting T-shirts and mugs intoevery six-pack. Today, orders are approaching 2,000 per month andclimbing.
- An appliance company offers a five-year warranty onultra-reliable products, costing the company hardly anything-andboosting sales noticeably.
- A coffee shop chain reduces the cost of direct mail andincreases profits with its coffee-of-the-month program.
- A mail order flower company gets as much as 40 percent of itsrevenues from a flower-of-the-month-club program, which helpssmooth out the seasonality of this business.
- A scarf company connects with an agent who knows his way aroundthe QVC home shopping network and ends up selling 250,000 scarveson the marketing channel.
- A gourmet grocery store increases profitability by offeringcooking classes at $20 per class. The classes only break even butbring in $600 per customer in post-class sales. Guerrillas knowthat customer education generates sales.
- A bicycle supply firm conducts 10 live, online focus groupsyearly to see what customers think. Cost of online focus groups:$0. Results: priceless.
- A furniture company puts lottery tickets into mailings, with a”Lottery ticket enclosed” message on the envelope. Themessage inside promises a follow-up call and the winning number.Seventy percent of callers listen to the pitch.
- A distributor of consumer products cuts costs and raisesprofits simply by changing its sales compensation system to takeprofitability into account.
- A security system manufacturer increases new customer revenue10 percent by paying an extra 1 percent commission forfirst-time customers.
- Another brewery sends digital color photos to 370 newspapers,along with a public relations story. The cost to the business owneris $725. The photo and story are picked up by 36 newspapers,including three in major cities.
- A home furnishings store sends a Polaroid picture of big-ticketitems prospects are considering. Closing rates have risen 25percent as a result of this marketing strategy.
- A software publisher reaps benefits from his online suggestionbox, which has resulted in several “great ideas,” saysthe boss.
- Another bakery includes plugs for the businesses run by itscustomers right in its own newsletter, showing it knows how tothank its customers.
- The president of a medical supply company gives a one-minutesales pitch. He then departs, leaving a sales contract. When hecalls back, reminding prospects of his minute presentation, 90percent sign the contract.
- A large accounting software company makes sure its receptiondesk is kept well-stocked with yo-yos, candy and toys tocommunicate to employees and visitors that everyone is relaxed andhaving fun.
Jay Conrad Levinson is author of the internationallyacclaimed Guerrilla Marketing series of books and co-founderof Guerrilla Marketing International. For information on theGuerrilla Marketing Newsletter and other products and services,write to P.O. Box 1336, Mill Valley, CA 94942; call (800) 748-6444;or visit the Web site at
The late Jay Conrad Levinson is the Father of Guerrilla Marketing. His books have sold... Read more
