# should i start my gurilla campaign now?



## doskalata (May 16, 2010)

*should i start my guerilla campaign now?*

Im months away from actually releasing any line of shirts. i have always been think of ways to market the brand and one of which is to plaster tons of stickers of my logo all over town (San Francisco, Berkeley, Oakland, etc); i.e. local bars, venues, restrooms, etc.

i think this would be good because even though im not selling any shirts yet, it will get the easily recognizable insignia out there. And true, no one will know what the heck it is, but for now thats ok because i dont have a website or anything to back the logo up. i just want people looking at it. 

I know off the cuff that its ridiculous to market a product that doesnt exist yet, but for about $150 bucks i can start campaigning for my brand in the future. and i think thats better than sitting on my hands and doing nothing

then when the shirts are ready i can produce the same stickers with the website on it and some indication that its a clothing company. as well as do other forms of marketing...


----------



## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

I think that's a good idea. In fact, there's a story about a Millionaire that did something similar. He was Jackie Onassis' (spelling) 2nd husband. He made cigarette labels and threw them around town and in front of stores. When people went around town they saw them everywhere. They then started asking the store owners. 

The guy than went around to the stores and sold orders for his cigarettes. In between taking orders and dropping the labels, he found someone to manufacture the cigarettes and package them with his label.


----------



## Playboy4LL23 (Mar 2, 2008)

Yes do that now. It would be smart to get your brand known so when the time comes people will already relate to your brand!


----------



## 760rdl (Jan 14, 2010)

Im Actually doing this rite now bro set my launch date for Nov. 1st ....got some stickers printed and am going around the IE/LA area in socal posting them up. My mission is for my brand to be seen as a rar street/skate brand ... so anything you do can only get you exposure. the one thing i made sure is that my logo is the same in both the stickers and clothing....and website is still not up so i didnt even bother putting it on them either but the name is the important part. do it good luck bro.


----------



## doskalata (May 16, 2010)

well then, i think its time to buy some stickers...

should i go with a sticker that just has the logo, or one that is the logo with the brand name actually stuffed into it somewhere?


----------



## SeikyouClothing (Jun 2, 2010)

Most definitely include your brand name too. I would do it small and your logo big.  That way they have two references in their brain when they see you again when you launch.


----------



## Egotistic (Aug 28, 2010)

i dont wanna thread jack, but i have 3 designs out, and i was thinkng of getting stickers made and doing the same thing, shuld i do that and get like 500 stickers made, or add possibly 2 more designs to my line?


----------



## selanac (Jan 8, 2007)

Why not see if they sell first.


----------



## deanmonix (May 5, 2010)

That's really a good idea right there. I think that'll work. A good advertisement for less.
And goodluck.


----------



## Fur Face Boy (Mar 31, 2009)

i think thats an AWESOME idea. What would add an extra 'umph' is if maybe you blogged about it. Dont underestimate the power of the blog!


----------



## jayarrsteiner (Aug 8, 2009)

Monkey suit and rubber bananas.


----------



## starchild (Jul 22, 2009)

I like the idea..

Is your brand going to be local initially? Like in a brick and motar store? Then it sounds good for developing brand retension. Paste them by the hundreds about 5 square blocks around the store they will be sold.

Is your brand straight to internet? 

You did say skaters right? 

Then a couple thousand stickers (not even enough for a micro segment on the net) in a few towns but only in grimy places where, and near walk to and from schools, parks and hangouts that kids will interpret cool (avoid clean walls). 
They are now your messengers/street soldiers. 

You dont need them to remember your brand you need them to react. So your stickers/message should encourage them to do so. 

Logo yes, brand name yes, but.. 
"Tweet dis M$%^r F#?%r's" and 
"Facebook this "BIT$%S" maybe a middlle finger. (SHOCK VALUE!!!) to make them act know. Otherwise your demographic just go about their para-social relationships life.

Let them use their camera/smart phones to get your message out onto the net to their hundreds of like minded friends.

A simple comming soon Splash Image on a facebook fan page so they can like. 

just sayin.. YA KNOW???!!!


----------



## nosymbolrequired (Jun 29, 2009)

Hi all,

Think its a great idea to start promoting as soon as you can, but I think you need a product to support all your advertising claims. If you are saying "facebook us" and people then go to your website page, and see "under construction" signs all over the place, they will NEVER go back. Same goes for facebook and Myspace. Getting the name out there is a great thing, but there must be somethnig for them to look at, a poster, an image or something that will make them return in the future..

On that note, I saw a really cool website, that just had a "doomsday" counter until when the product would be available, and had videos running in the background of famous skaters wearing their future release products. But then again, that involved a LOT of money to do, the product had to be finished, the skaters paid and put on video, the website created, and the look and the feel of the branding already completed. hard work, lots of money, but something a little simpler might work.

good luck, and yes, getting the name out is sometimes the most important thing.


----------



## PrintsCharming (Jan 21, 2009)

I wouldnt put your name. Keep it subliminal. Just get the logo into peoples heads, keep em guessing. I agree with mark. I hate when people advertise and don't actually have a product. It's a joke. Also I'm sure it's different on the west coast but sometimes companies get sued for plastering stickers all over the place on the east coast.


----------



## doskalata (May 16, 2010)

Thanks to everyone for all the responses.

SeikyouClothing, I tried putting the Company name, "Awesome Happens" into the logo, but i feel it just mucked up a streamline image. and its a bit much to process on a 4x3 inch sticker.

iv posted a version of the logo onto this thread (just a rough draft), normally its all b&w, but this one has a flag behind it which i think is a nice touch even though people wont know this yet but everything will be made in USA. I think i will do several interesting versions of the logo so then i will have a variety of stickers.

My plan isnt to market a product, yet. Because there isnt one, yet. The goal is to market a brand, or an idea of one. Plus it would be proactive to just, "start doing something" because if i don't, i have a feeling that in several months when i do start to produce product, ill be going around town with a bag full of stickers, thinking to myself, "i could have started this months ago."

Also, I know that in the beginning the stickers alone will in no way link the clothes with the brand, other forms of advertising will need to be implemented, not sure which ones yet but ill figure that out later.

I wasn't ever planing on making a sticker with any sort of "myfacebookspace" urls, i think they're tacky and unprofessional, (i'm also a photographer, and you can literally see the moment a person looses respect for your work when you say, "heres my myspace.") They're great to have because any exposure is good exposure, but the only url ill print will be awesomehappens.com, (which i have already bought)

So pretty much the conclusion that ill take from this, is that this is a good first step for burning the logo into the back of peoples minds, but it is really just the first step, and a very small one at that. 

But i'd say a tiny marble rolling is more productive than a bowling ball sitting still...

Thanks all


----------



## SeikyouClothing (Jun 2, 2010)

After finding out a little more info about your brand, and what stage your business is in (Very beginning just like mine), and seeing your logo, I agree, doesn't need additional word branding

Matter of fact, this thread inspired me to do a HUGE sticker campaign myself. I think the branding you do on advertisements of any kind really depend on where the company is in it's developing stages. If you don't plan on launching the line until the future, burning the logo into people's brains is better than having the logo/name/url and NOT have a functional website/web store OR a blog of some sort displaying future products. 

I wish you luck on you're future endeavors.


----------



## PrintsCharming (Jan 21, 2009)

just remember once you create the hype, you don't want it to die out before your launch


----------

