Squirrel Marketing
I’m a huge science fiction fan—have been for years—and I probably have my dad to blame for this particular leaning. Some of my childhood memories involve strangely costumed humans and various odd “aliens”—Star Trek: The Original Series style. But, I can’t complain. Science fiction as a genre is a strange and wonderful place, but that’s not what this post is about. No, this post is about marketing, but the whole science fiction thing does tie in.
Let me explain.
Right now, I’m a huge fan of Stargate: Atlantis and one of its actors, David Hewlett, decided to try his hand at writing, directing, and starring in an independent film—a dark comedy called “A Dog’s Breakfast”—during the last hiatus in January 2006.
But now that the film’s complete, he’s been trying to market it, deciding on a little “squirrel marketing” (as Hewlett calls it) or more commonly known as Guerilla Marketing—a word-of-mouth, grass roots effort to promote the film using his fans and the Internet to get the word out.
And it’s working.
Through his own website and blog (www.adogsbreakfastmovie.com), Hewlett has asked fans to get involved: from posting posters where appropriate, to talking up the film with local TV networks, radio stations, and theaters, to designing original posters and other merchandise. With an LA screening already behind him and a signed distribution deal with MGM, it seems like a little word-of-mouth marketing went a long way.
And this brings me back to my initial thought about marketing, and its importance within the wide-format industry. In reality, many of you (shop owners, print providers, graphic communications companies, etc.) play a huge role in the marketing process for various manufacturers around the world. But, how much marketing do you do for your own business?
While I know some companies have crack marketing staffs, others don’t—for various reasons. But, through the years, I’ve also noticed that word-of-mouth marketing is a staple for many, many businesses in this particular market. What better testimonial could you have than one of your happy customers telling a potential customer what great work you do?
This brings me to my questions: What role does marketing play in your business, and why? What was your greatest marketing success? And how do you measure success? I’d be interesting in hearing from you, and even getting samples/examples of some of your best campaigns.
While we don’t have a film to promote or a base of science fiction fans (and geeks) willing to help, I’m sure there are plenty of stories and examples that you can share. I mean, if you don’t toot your own horn, who will—apart from your very satisfied and happy customers, that is?
Denise, I love Stargate as well. Unfortunately, in Germany we lag a little bit behind. The originals Stargate series (TOS - hehehe) lost a bit of momentum during the last seasons, but now with “the new guy” and the story evolving around the Ori it gets interesting again. As for Atlantis, I loved it right from the beginning, since it brought fresh aspects. Annoying know-it-all Dr. McKay (Hewlett) is one of my favourite actors too. Have you noticed the striking resemblance between Teyla Emmagan (Rachel Luttrell) and Subcommander T’Pol (Jolene Blalock) of ST:ENT? I think these characters mostly address a male audience. In Germany, Stargate is shown immediatly prior to Andromeda, so the aformentioned male audience sees Lexa Doig twice - as Rommie in Andromeda and as Dr. Lam in Stargate.
Now, as for your notes on marketing: as a manufacturer being present worldwide we unfortunataly can not use many of the emerging marketing techniques. Reprographic products lack a certain “coolness” necessary for guerilla marketing, and the reprographic community is still pretty small. Sometimes I would love to do marketing for a lifestyle product, where you can achieve great success with simple and inexpensive moves. Our customers - your readers - still get reached with classical marketing: PR, press, the occasional advertising, tradeshows and - web pages!
We at SCP have created our first website almost 10 years ago, when almost noone else in our industry had one. The web is one of the most important sources of new leads and contacts. Every reprographer is well advised to invest time and money into his website. Believe me, it WILL pay off! When I do seminars or have speaking engagements, I never stop telling the audience about the importance of their website.
Nowadays, a potential customer is used to search the web for any kind of service. And if he encounters a website that sucks, and a website that is cool, he is more likely to seek the services of the “cool” repro shop. Having a good website is not vanity, it is an essential business tool.
Best regards, Michael Keukert
Marketing Manager SCP Software Co., Germany