Guy Kawasaki, in his best-seller "How To Drive your Competition Crazy" tells countless fascinating stories of how small businesses like yours are fighting the giants.
He calls his book "the first can-do, how-to, kick-butt gonzo guide to driving your competitors off the deep end."
Below are two funny but enlightening examples from his book. The third is a story whose source I can’t recall.
Who Wants To Play Piggyback?:
In 1986, British Airways gave away 5,200 free flights. The promotion, set for June 10th of that year, generated massive publicity for British Airways.
In response, Virgin Atlantic Airways, British Airways’ competitor, ran an ad with this headline:
It Has Always Been Virgin’s Policy To Encourage You
To Fly To London For As Little As Possible. So On June 10
We Encourage You To Fly British Airways.
Then in finer print, the ad continued:
As for the rest of the year, we look forward to seeing you
aboard Virgin Atlantic. For the best service possible.
At the lowest possible fare.
Whenever the press carried the story of British Airways’ promotion, they mentioned Virgin Atlantic’s response. Virgin Atlantic piggybacked on its competitor’s efforts and by doing so, it stole British Airways’ thunder and generated publicity for itself.
Getting Their Pizza The Pie:
A pizza chain, new to Colorado, ran a promotion that offered two pizzas for the price of one. Not so unusual until you discover that the free pizza was given when a customer brought in a competitor’s Yellow Pages ad.
This, of course, made it difficult for customers to call the competitor when, after a few months, its ad had been torn from virtually every Yellow Pages directory in the city.
Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow:
A discount hair-cutting chain moved in next door to an upscale hair salon and promptly displayed a huge sign saying, "$6 Haircuts."
Not to be outdone, the salon owner erected an even bigger sign that read, "We Fix $6 Haircuts."
For even more ideas on "How To Drive Your Competition Crazy," get Guy Kawasaki’s book of the same name by going here:
http://www.amazon.com
