Week 1 - MBA6101 - Guerrilla Marketing

I had never heard of the Guerrilla Marketing (GM) book and am absolutely fascinated by the Intro and first chapter! Working at a large advertising agency--Leo Burnett Groupe--I can say, unequivocally, that there are many truths in the list comparing the traditional marketing to GM. The biggest one? "Big corporations aren't usually quite as fast and flexible on their feet [as are small businesses]" (Levinson, 2007). 

There was a huge shift in what clients seek from their ad agency in the early 2000s, where they pivoted from a big agency to smaller or niche agencies. Initially it was "media agency" and "digital agency" and "traditional ad agency". Now its about Publicis Groupe (or WPP, IPG Omnicom) and the power of all the unique agencies coming under one scope of work in a way that allows holding companies to leverage the know-how of each specialty/channel for the client's benefit. Big clients are big corporations that are very hierarchical, have lots of red tape, and take too long to get a decision such as "approval of a marketing campaign". Publicis is gaining new clients or organically expanding current remit when they present one solution that must be a well orchestrated effort, working in concert to create ads that move the needle: more customers + more transactions = more profit. All advertising and marketing needs to be in service to that. Big business wants to be as nimble as small business, but it is a Herculean effort. And a lot of what happens in Big Biz could be leveraged by Small Biz to maximum effect. A few terrific insights out of the list in GM book to drive small business growth that jumped out at me:

• Repetition is paramount
• Soul and spirit of GM is small biz because they have big dreams and tiny budgets
• Stay focused and be intentional
• Keep in touch with customers--relationships build business so keep the dialog going
• Fusion marketing happens at the small biz level
• Use shortcuts like memes to represent your company
• Practice "you" marketing where the customer is at the center/is the you to keep front & center
• Aim the message at the individual(s)
• Help the customer meet their goals
• Integrated marketing that motivates the customer

The small biz owner should keep these fundamentals in mind and make adjustments as more data becomes available. Like a plant, one must keep watering it and give it food for it to grow.

Reference:

Levinson, J.C. (2007). Guerrilla Marketing: Easy and Inexpensive Strategies for Making Big Profits from Your Small Business. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.