Month: October 2010

Last week, we  have talked about the ways that how the gun industry market their products to the shooting community. This week, I want to talk more about the defense industry.

For any product within the industry, the best way to advertise their products is field-tested by any combat force within any combat zone or armed conflict. The best example is the US military, because they are the most experienced combat force after World War 2 and basically every fight is their fight, so if the US military uses certain equipment on the battlefield, it is best advertising campaign for the companies within the arms industry.

Although normal people cannot buy a tank or a bomber, civilians can still legally buy small arms and personal equipment like tactical vests and body armor , so those companies usually market their products by slogans like “field-tested by the US Army” or something similar. These companies sometime even give out their products to some well-known combat forces like the 75th Ranger Regiment, SEAL, the 101st Airborne Division and USAF PARARESCUEMAN(PJs), and the soldiers will give those companies some photos that soldiers are using those products as a return for those “free gifts”; those companies will use those photos on their ads to promote their products.

Another way to attract buys’ attention is to get a NSN number for the product. A NSN number is a NATO Stock Number, or National Stock Number (NSN) as it is known in the US, is a 13-digit numeric code, identifying all the ‘standardized material items of supply’ as they have been recognized by all NATO countries including US DoD. Having a NSN on the product almost means that the product is accepted by the US combat forces, so having a NSN is a way to promote the product. Almost every hot selling items have NSN numbers, such as almost every product from a weapon lights company called” Sure-Fire”,   protective eye wears from “ESS” and “Oakley”, weapon sights from “EOTech”.

http://www.eotech-inc.com/product.php?id=2&cat=1

https://secure.usstandardissue.com/Product_Category.cfm?id=7

http://www.esseyepro.com/Crossbow_detail.html?color=27

http://www.narescue.com/C-A-T_-_Combat_Application_Tourniquet-CN33B7051138B3.html?BC=8A50801E34A7

http://www.surefire.com/nsn_ordering

As a competitive shooter, I always buy my gears either with NSN codes or tested by the others, because any mistake within the game will not only lose the game but also have a much higher chance to do serious damage or even kill the others or myself, compared with other sports.

After all the mid terms, I finally have some time during the weekend, so I decided to review so of my shooting training videos.

Although I watched those videos more than 10 times already, I realized that during the whole video, it is all MARKETING of different brands of guns and accessories.

During the video, Art of the Tactical Carbine 2 by Magpul Dynamics, you can find all the big brands within the shooting community, such as gun builders like Knight Armament Company(KAC)’s SR-15s and Wilson Combat’s 1911s, and accessories providers like SureFire’s weapon light systems and Magpul’s products.

Magpul Dynamics is  part of Magpul Industries, a successful gun accessories designer and manufacturer, and the company is a successful example of how marketing works in the gun industry. Magpul is comparatively young company within the industry, but having created the strategic identity and web marketing pieces fir itself and having its products used by the US military on the battlefield, Magpul turned into a famous gun accessories provider within a few years.

During the show, the instructors, Travis Haley and Chris Costa, are also famous people within the community, so if other companies’ products appear in the training video, it will be a great chance to market its product, because most people who actually use guns and the gun accessories (targeted market) will buy the videos anyways, so the guns and accessories providers for the video can contact their potential buyers through the video.

In conclusion, the general marketing skills for the shooting community are having pictures or videos of the product used by some famous people within the shooting community or famous organizations(i.e. the military, especially US Special Forces), because it is the way to proof that the product can be used in extreme environments efficiently, which is what gun users are looking for.

P.S.: I just found a comment about Magpul’s market strategy on a gun community’s forum.

http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=275961

“First, EVERY successful company markets. Though all do it, they do not always do it the same way – but none-the-less they market. If you have a website – you are marketing. The top banners of this website contains marketing from a variety of companies.

Some market by names associated with their weapon (EB, Special Forces, Wilson’s Spec Ops, etc.), others by having their weapons associated with particular departments (SA, FBI, etc.), others market by having a laundry list of accomplishments by some of their smiths (Wilson, etc.), and yet others market by allowing others to test their firearms in certain training environments, etc. Some use a combination of several methods. So yes, this is a marketing strategy by NHC.

There is nothing wrong with marketing – as matter a fact it is a tool for business survival. In marketing, the manufacturer/builder must choose, or be chosen, by the right advertising or marketing source – if not then it is all a waste of time and $$. You don’t see Mercedes Benz advertising their cars by giving them to gang members; RATHER you see them with royalty and successful people. Proper marketing targets potential buyers thru proper channels; moreover they utilize reliable sources and capable people, etc. NHC works with MPD because most consider Chris and Travis to be individuals with extreme taste, reputable backgrounds, knowledge, and experience. Moreover, Chris and Travis like NHC because IT WORKS! It is reliable, dependable, and accurate, etc. Call them for yourself and they will confirm it! (using their own words of course…).” by 1911OP

In my opinion, humor and exaggeration are the keys for the advertisement to capture people’s attention, thats why most successful marketing campaigns can make  people laugh.

Today, I want to share some ads that I think is successful and funny.

Nikon D700 Billboard

I think this is a successful one because the advertising billboard in South Korea which flashes every time someone passes it, so people will turn around and try to understand the ad, so people will have remarkable impression of that product

Canon: Cyber Shot

As a Nikon user, I have to say that I dislike Canon, but the ads did capture me attention and made me want to borrow my friend’s Canon camera to try

Last night, when I was watching random videos on youtube, I just realized that most commercials have some kind of sexual appeal, so I did some research on wikipedia, and this is what I got:

“Sex in advertising is the use of sexual or erotic imagery (also called “sex appeal”) in advertising to draw interest to a particular product, for purpose ofsale. A feature of sex in advertising is that the imagery used, such as that of a pretty woman, typically has no connection to the product being advertised. The purpose of the imagery is to attract the attention of the potential customer or user. The type of imagery that may be used is very broad, and would include nudity, cheesecake, and beefcake, even if it is often only suggestively sexual.”

Apparently, a lot of advertisements used sexual appeal, and the most famous company should be AXE(personal opinion)