COVER STORY -ting. In most instances of it being used, Shotgun Marketing has been perceived as a negative form of marketing. Experts say that it is an ineffective mode of communication. Before we delve into the analysis, let us first dissect the Shotgun marketing phenomenon. The nomenclature comes from the weapon of the same name and the way it works. To understand how a shotgun works, there is no need to look for a weapons’ expert. Just ask fans of games like Gears of War, Doom, Call of Duty or Bulletstorm and they would gladly give you details with lucidity unlike anyone else! A Shotgun is used for close quarter combats. Instead of standard aim-and-shoot, one simply has to point it in the general direction of the target and squeeze the trigger. The impact area is huge. A typical Shotgun campaign is aimed either at a select geographical area or a targeted segment of the market, as the following example will elucidate. A coffee shop newly established in your neighborhood would most likely deal in the Shotgun form of marketing. It would use its limited budget to create awareness amongst individuals who live close by. This quite possible would be done easily in the form of pamphlets or offers being dropped in all homes in the immediate vicinity. A well made pamphlet with appropriate visual appeal is sure to attract the attention of some (if not all). If a parallel is to be drawn, imagine throwing a bunch of magnetized stickers at the refrigerator in one go, and expecting some of them to stick. Shotgun marketing is a considered as a wild strategy by many because it does not have a way to quantify the impact till the ‘shot’ has been taken. Let us revisit the example of the new coffee shop in your neighborhood. The owner can count the number of houses but how many members residing in those houses would actually fall into their customer category is unknown. Therefore, there is a distinct possibility that the right audience is not reached despite huge quanta of resources being utilized. Just because all stickers are magnetized does not mean all of them would stick to the refrigerator. There is always a certain level of targeting needed for successful application of shot gun strategy. This is what the critics forget while giving their judgment. The gamers that we asked you to talk to earlier would vouch for the fact that this weapon is used best against a number of opponents in close spaces (“With immense pleasure”- they add!). Hence after one identifies a target market, it is important to get close (understand the market a bit better!) and then utilize the shotgun marketing techniques. (For maximum impact, gamers love sneaking up on enemies and surprising them with shotgun shots!) For a more complex use of the technique, let us consider the example of the following franchisee marketing cases.
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OCTOBER 2012