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CHAPTER 6

THE TOP TEN ATTRIBUTES OF A GUERRILLA MARKETER

We hope you’re not misled by our top ten choices here. If we had more time, we could make a case for 200 choices. Our fear is that you’ll become so focused on these ten that you won’t aim your gray matter at other attributes. So say after us, “I (state your name) promise to open my mind to more than merely the top ten attributes, and will consider them a path more than a final destination. That crucial point I acknowledge and swear.”

Attribute 1: Name

While beginning your march forward into your first guerrilla marketing venture, be extra careful not to stumble with your first step—the selection of a name. Many companies do, which is why so many have misguided and misleading names. To prevent yours from faltering at the outset, there are be-sures to help you do a bang-up job:

Truly good names are like teeny-tiny poems, like “Lean Cusine.”

• Be sure it breaks the rules. Names that easily fit in with the crowd are names that are easily forgotten. Your name should command attention right at the start, then maintain that attention throughout the life of your business. If it reminds you of any of your competitors’ names, drop it before you help them.

• Be sure it forces your competitors to wince. Your registered brand name is something they can’t take away from you, so be sure it makes them feel uncomfortable. It if makes them squirm and they can’t copy it, you’ve done a good job in the naming department.

• Be sure it is simple to pronounce and spell. Hah! We should talk with a name like “guerrilla.” Eighty percent of people who visit our web site spell it wrong, forcing us to buy up all the misspellings and to name our web site www.gmarketing.com. Hey, do as we say, but don’t always do as we do, especially in the easy-to-spell department.

• Be sure it tells a story or makes a promise. Truly good names are like teeny-tiny poems, like “Lean Cusine.” Each letter, each word, each sound should work with the others to deliver a message. The right name will actually attract customers to your business. That’s only one of the reasons why it is such a potent marketing tool.

• Be sure it suggests a feature or a benefit. Think of the most powerful benefit that you offer, then create a name around it. When customers see your name, they will be clear about what you offer to them. How many names fail to do that? Most of them. Don’t let your name be one of them.

• Be sure you take a chance with your name. Putting it into the comfort zone is like putting it into the invisible zone. Make people sit up and take notice the moment they see or hear your name. If they read it, then forget it, you didn’t take a chance. Guts and courage are part of the name game.

• Be sure you don’t name yourself into a corner. Don’t call yourself Pied Piper Children’s Furniture if there’s a chance you might become a purveyor of general furniture as well. Don’t be Blake and Austin’s Repair Shop if Blake and Austin might not be partners for life. Don’t let your name prohibit you from expanding, diversifying, or growing. Name changes are like having teeth pulled, only more painful.

The keys to bad names are those that are tough to pronounce, limit your business, exaggerate, or might remind folks of another company.

The keys to bad names are those that are tough to pronounce, limit your business, exaggerate, or might remind folks of another company, and are spelled “guerrilla” because they’re a bear, not a gorilla, to spell. You know our feelings about those.

If you’re going to use the Yellow Pages, remember that names appearing first on a list get the majority of calls. So start your name with an A or better still, AA or even better, AAA. If you have a short name, you can use larger letters in your ad. A large name looks more impressive in marketing than a small name.

Your name can work for you or against you, or just sit there and not work at all. As you get only one chance to make a first impression, you also get only one chance to name your company at the outset. Want to venture a wild guess as to which part of your business gets the most use by the most people? You got it—your name.

Attribute 2: Branding

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly, guerrillas gotta brand or they’ll be lost in the fray. It’s your branding that’s going to help people trust you. That’s what’s going to break down the barrier between neverheard-of-you and can’t-wait-till-I-talk-with-you. Branding reassures people that they aren’t the first lemmings off the cliff.

Your product or service can be more than a product or service. It can be a brand-name product or a brand-name service. That means people will have faith in you more than others and will even pay more money to purchase what you’ve got for sale. Some brands are so embraced by people that they sport tattoos attesting to their loyalty. Harley-Davidson is a case in point. And we use the word point intentionally, feeling only a tinge of guilt.

We were driving to an ad agency presentation and spoke excitedly about the presentation we were about to make. The cab driver turned his head to say “you guys really believe that advertising stuff works?” He was definitely not an ideal customer. Or was he? “It doesn’t work for me.” He added “I never would buy a product because of advertising. Never have. Never will.” One of our people asked him, “ What kind of toothpaste do you use?” “Oh, I use Gleam,” he said, “But it has nothing to do with the advertising. It’s because I drive a cab and I can’t brush after every meal.” Such is the power of branding. To him. To you. To us.

Without consistency, there can be no brand. It’s the repetitive exposure that ingrains a brand in people’s unconscious minds.

It should be apparent that you probably can’t brand yourself overnight. Like most great marketing, it takes time. And commitment. And consistency. Without consistency, there can be no brand. It’s the repetitive exposure that ingrains a brand in people’s unconscious minds, ready to spring into action when they’re in a buying situation.

Branding seems to favor the visual depiction, such as Tony the Tiger or the golden arches, but it also seems to favor the verbal form, such as Coca-Cola or Mmmm . . . Mmmm . . . Good. The idea is to have any kind of a repeatable, simple, understandable, venerable brand.

If you want to go for the gold, realize that the gold follows the people who have earned brand name awareness. Get it in the print media, the electronic media, the internet, word-of-mouse, billboards, wherever you can. But get it as soon as you can. Waiting is the opposite of branding.

Why Branding Is Important

Marketers use branding to develop the perception, creating the impression that a brand has certain qualities or characteristics that make it special or unique. The following identifies some of those perceptions and their importance.

• In a complex world, people gravitate towards brand names. The more complicated the world, the greater the power of a brand.

• The more complicated the world gets, the more comforting the familiar will seem, and the better it will get for brands.