Mr. Marketing: Guerilla marketing and bananas

Sure. Marketing’s holy grail is generating visibility without spending much money. At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, for example, Dutch beermaker Bavaria NV sneaked 35 young women into the Netherlands/Denmark match.

Twenty-five minutes into the game, the women stripped off their red and white national colors to reveal bright orange mini dresses bearing the brewer’s name. Orange is the brewer’s marketing campaign theme color.

Hundreds of spectators sought photographs with the women, who were escorted from the stadium, briefly detained, and released. The stunt generated worldwide publicity for minimal cost.

Meanwhile, Budweiser paid millions to officially sponsor the games. They received minimal press.

Closer to home, there’s a company making its fortune putting stickers at the base of industrial garage doors. Operations people, seeing this sticker, automatically assume they should call this company for repairs. Regardless of who installed the door, odds are this company gets the maintenance business.

I’ve seen businesses grow putting fliers on windshields. Others generate activity with signs on light posts. And let’s not forget those ubiquitous, hand-written, roadside “Will buy houses for cash” signs sponsored by some major banks.

Each technique is low-tech and low-cost. At least some seem to be effective.

Of course, guerrilla tactics can backfire. My friend Stephen won’t buy from anyone stapling fliers to trees since they’re hurting the environment.

Understand these guidelines to develop your own guerrilla marketing efforts:

• Customers rarely change suppliers in tough times.

• Don’t ignore the competition.

• Use technology to spread the word and lower your costs.

• Stay current — today’s headlines impact your results.

• Don’t operate in a vacuum — find ways to break through the noise in the marketplace.

• People have lots on their minds. Answer the question, “Why do I care about your company?”

• Motivate customers. Clever is good; effective is better.

• Have a solid plan, a realistic marketing budget, and be committed to long-term success.

Follow these steps and you’ll have a good chance to improve the bottom line without needing to make major financial investments.

With that said, I wish you a week of profitable marketing.

Mr. Marketing won’t buy anything involving stickers on fruit, preferring to eat his bananas in peace. Talk to him at www.askmrmarketing.com.