Did you ever see this guerrilla marketing campaign?

[LawncareMarketingMagic]

Unfortunately, the biggest companies that can afford to 'brand' their companies name and plaster it all over the place have billions...yes BILLIONS (or at the very least hundreds of millions) of dollars to spend on marketing.

Can you afford to spend billions to develop your companies brand?

Now obviously it wouldn't require billions to get your name out there, but as a small business, it's extremely flawed thinking to think you can simply put your name out there and people will choose you. Yes, you'll get a few but not nearly as many as you could if you followed the marketing equation.

Take the yellow pages for example. Turn to the section for 'Lawn Care' and take a look at each ad that's in there. I'd be willing to bet dollars for dimes that they all look and say pretty much the same. There's really no way to distinguish company A from company B.

IF your prospects can't tell you apart from your competition, how do you ensure you capture the majority of the prospects?

Sure, there's a chance they'll remember your company from a sign they saw several weeks ago, but you're taking a pretty big risk by counting on that. I'd much rather tip the equation so far to my advantage that there's absolutely NO WAY they'd even consider calling someone else.

Using the marketing equation, you'd capture a majority of the eyeballs in the yellow pages, then have an opportunity to educate them on why your product/service is better than all the other choices, and make them a low risk offer to either learn more or try out your product/service.

And the best part about all of this is that when your entire marketing efforts follow the marketing equation and are coordinated together, you not only generate new clients right now, but you also build brand recognition as a nice 'after the fact' benefit.

[andyjoneslawncare]

I'm not making myself clear. I'm not argueing over which advertising technique is better, just explaining T-Mobiles motivation behind its "ad" and why it works when its not telling you anything about the company, or that its phones are better, cheaper plans, etc. This isn't about classifieds or yellow pages. Its about an original idea that has people emailing and viewing the ad on youtube for FREE getting its name out there and getting millions in free advertising. It has entertainment value so people share it. Nobody would be forwarding emails about unlimited long distance or family plans. I still think its a great idea and thinking outside the box, which has nothing to do with your marketing ideas, which I've heard are the best out there for our industry. Apples and oranges. Say I came up with some goofy idea and jumped my Cub Cadet ZRT over a schoolbus and pruned a palm tree in mid air before I landed while pulling a banner that said AndyJonesLawnCare.com! See picture. It would cost nothing (assuming I had health insurance!) and it'd be seen by millions. Whether or not there's a market for daredevil lawn service is another issue, but I'd probably have to get a new phone line and a hot secretary to handle the calls. I think Steve put it up to get people to think outside the box, and not an opinion on which kind of advertising is always the best. Oh, and you better click on the thumbnail picture. I wasted 20 minutes on it. I guess time management is another issue.

[LawncareMarketingMagic]

Andy, point well taken. You're absolutely correct in that the viral aspect of the campaign generated tons of exposure for T-Mobile and I don't know of any business that would turn that kind of exposure down.

My point was more the fact that this kind of marketing is very hard to create and harness. Creating a viral campaign is extremely challenging and turning the resulting responses into legitimate business can be just as tough.

This isn't to say you shouldn't attempt to create the same for your business, and if you ever do your daredevil stunt, I'll be the first to buy tickets. I don't know how much lawn care business it would generate for you, but I also don't think you'd need to worry about that because you'd soon have a contract to jump some crazy thing in Las Vegas or the Grand Canyon!

I just hope your school bus jumping, palm tree trimming skills are better than your drawing skills. Otherwise you'd better make sure your health insurance has a low deductible.

[Steve]

I think Steve put it up to get people to think outside the box, and not an opinion on which kind of advertising is always the best.

Great picture Andy. Have you thought more about some viral marketing ideas you would like to experiment with?