Part II: Building "Damage Control" Into Your Guerrilla Warfare Campaign

 

Back around 1986, I ran an ad for Oracle saying something to the effect that "The Top-10 Companies All Use Oracle." And I put each of their logos in the headline. Sure, the footnote acknowledged their trademarks, but Larry was set to handle any blowback. Boy did we get blowback.

Not only did IBM and the four oil companies' legal departments contact us, but Atlantic Richfield challenged us to show them where the hell they were using Oracle.

As planned, Larry had our legal department assure them that "We thought that crazy ad man got your permission. We will cease and desist ever again running this ad." But we had another problem with Atlantic Richfield.

Gulp. Being the tech whiz that I was, I'd queried our customer database and came to Larry Ellison with the news that the top ten companies were customers. What I didn't account for was that Atlantic Richfield had tried a $199 copy of Oracle for the PC and then returned it for a refund.

Gary Kennedy was head of Oracle sales in Chicago, and he was livid, saying we were well and totally ruined at ARCO. I said "Relax guys and see what happens."

What happend was spectacular. Within six months, ARCO bought a multi-million dollar site license for Oracle. You see, all their execs were suddenly aware of Oracle and started asking, "Why aren't we using them?" Turns out, our ad got the attention of all their C-level execs.

Like I always council my clients, "Damage control can yield big results." Oh, and FYI. Neither me nor any of my clients have ever been sued.

Sincerely yours,
Rick Bennett
Ad Hit Man

Part I: Handling "blowback" on Guerrilla Warfare Exploits

 Years ago, I wrote an operating system in assembly language. The key to quick implementation was building the code around a debugger. Later in my guerrilla warfare advertising exploits, I anticipated a "blowback debugger" to handle offended clients. For example, take my Elvira campaign for LBMS.

Axiom: When you make people laugh, their logical mind takes second place and they're looking for an excuse to like you.

LBMS CEO John Bantleman (now in San Francisco) agreed to pay the whopping sum of $1000 to use Elvira's image in a series of ads for CASE (COMPUTER-ASSISTED SOFTWARE ENGINEERING). Elvira was then on television in Southern California, billing herself as "misteress of the night." I still can't believe we got her for a mere $1000.

She generated a lot of business for LBMS. As I remember, John closed a $200K order with one company, the CEO of which was a lady. After inking the deal, that lady CEO was chastizing John for "objectification of women" in his use of Elvira. John was ready for the conversation. He simply looked at her and said, "Would we be having this conversation at all if I hadn't run the Elvira ads?" She blinked and then laughed.

Remember, if you do guerrilla advertising, THERE WILL BE BLOWBACK.

Tomorrow, I'll share an adventure that could have gotten Oracle sued off the planet.

Sincerely yours,

Rick Bennett

Ad Hit Man

A Great Ad The Client Was Afraid to Run

 

You know, I can't believe how many cowards run companies! Morgan Stanley analyst Chuck Phillips downgraded Forté stock from "Outperform" to "Neutral." I suggested they run this ad in the WSJ. Not only did CEO Marty Sprinzen say "No!" but he said destroy all copies of this ad. Obviously the statute of limitations is up and my NDA is no longer in force. Besies, Forté was acquired by Sun which was subsequently acquired by Oracle. And here I am, wondering how I can link up with gutsy CEOs in today's woke world. Selah. Siincerly yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

Their VC asked me to rescue their investment, as they didn't gain 51% control.

Atron not only got their product developed, but they got it to market on just the VC seed money. And the VCs planned on a two-step financing to get control of the the company. They said, "Bennett, these guys are running the business like a contry club!" Time for a little guerrilla warfare form moi. First rule of creativity: "Genius only emerges in a state of play." And these guys were REALLY fun to play with. Turns out, anybody who was anybody in software develpment used the Atron in-circuit emulator (or ICE) to debug their products. The movie GHOSTBUSTERS was just out, and I got these guys to pose in front of skyscrapers composed of their customers' names. Yep, "Who ya gonna call? Bugbusters!" I got two of my client CEOs to endorse the producet. Phillippe Kahn of Borland and Larry Ellison of Oracle. They said, "We couldn't have done it without atron's hardware-assisted software bugbusters." Larry said Oracle wouldn't have its product on the PC without Atron, and Phillippe said there wouldn't be a Sidekick without them. I haven't had this much fun in a long, long time. The VC finally achieved their exit, as Atron was acquired. I fictionalized this technology in my first novel, DESTROYING ANGEL. I used ICE technology to crack computer viruses, (or is it viri?). Too bad "ICE" is now political kryptonite. If you're a VC or a PE firm whose thoroughbred horse has started to bark and chase cars, you might need someone to have fun with your problem. Who ya gonna call? Me, The Destroying Angel. Sincerely yours, Rick Bennett Ad Hit Man

The Ad That Got Tom Siebel to Call And Say, "Get your M&A team on a plane!"

 

Not all ads need to run in some media. Steve D'Angelo wanted to partner with Siebel Systems. So I suggeted he have this ad printed on a 3-foot-by-4-foot foam core and delivered to Siebel on a Monday morning before their weekly management meeting. D'Angelo got a call that very morning saying, "Get your M&A team on an airplane and get out here."

IMI didn't get acquired by Siebel, but the word got out there and they were acquired by another company.

I've had several great successes delivering a blow-up ad on foam core to a CEO. I can't tell of the other instances, because I'm still under NDA. But if you want a high-level meeting with the #1 decision maker, I can craft an ad and have the target's local FedEx/Kinkos print and deliver it. I've never yet had it fail.

Sincerely yours,

Rick Bennett

Ad Hit Man