Free Marketing Advice

Few independent PCOs can devote large amounts of time or money to the important function of marketing their services to the public. For most small-to-medium-size companies, word-of-mouth and occasional print or Yellow Pages advertising must suffice. If they’re lucky, such an advertising strategy will work, but it can be a hit or miss proposition Fortunately, there is another alternative - utilizing the expertise of an experienced advertising instructor and bright, young college students. This could pay off in increased business, as well as the satisfaction of being a good corporate citizen.

Let Wisconsin PCO Jerry Batzner explain.

"I grew up in this business, " said the president of Batzner Pest Management in Milwaukee. "In the course of my career with our family-owned company, I’ve done most everything there is to do, including marketing and advertising."

Batzner, who now owns the firm founded by his great uncle some 44 years ago, soon discovered that he had a flair for marketing. "As my other administrative duties grew, I found it necessary to supervise a Marquette University advertising intern I had hired to help me out on a part-time basis," he said. This, too, worked out well with the student redesigning the company’s promotional literature to provide a uniform, professional appearance.

"But in late 1989, I purchased the company from my retiring mother and father and had even less time for marketing."

Batzner again turned to Marquette, this time volunteering as a resource person in an advertising principles class taught by assistant professor Jim Pokrywczynski and advertising instructor Carl Schrank.

"By working with these students, I felt that Batzner Pest Management and I were giving something back to a community that had been good to us for many years, and I knew that I could benefit from the combined expertise of the two teachers and the enthusiasm of their students," he added.

Dr. Pokrywczynski and Schrank brought a total of more than 30 years of marketing, advertising and PR experience to the classroom and stressed the importance of careful research, planning and creativity in developing advertising campaigns.

Their students, mostly advertising majors in their junior or senior years, were told they could expect to work harder than most enrolled in similar courses, but would learn more, too.

"They eagerly accepted the challenge," Batzner reported, "because that’s the kind of student at Marquette - intelligent, creative and highly motivated."

LAYING THE GROUNDWORK. The two sections of the class, composed of approximately 45 students each, were divided into a total of 12 simulated advertising agencies and were introduced to Batzner and the world of pest management. He passed out samples of his advertising, discussed the intricacies and economics of the industry, and described his company, clients and local competition.

Then, under the direction of the two instructors, the college students began a 10-week exercise that involved creating advertising campaigns for the Batzner company. "They learned all they could about consumers, set goals and objectives, and decided on categories of clients to target. They then developed advertising strategies, determined the appropriate media and came up with a variety of interesting and creative approaches," Pokrywczynski said.

"That’s a lot to do in a relatively short period of time," he said, "but the students feel it’s a worthwhile and enjoyable learning experience."

"That exercise was designed to provide them with insights into the advertising process and a client’s business," he added, "as well as the complexities and sophistication of advertising strategy and execution."

"They also see how difficult it is to create an effective advertising strategy."

The fact that the two classes were divided into "advertising agencies" fostered competition among the various units.

"Each strived to be more original, more creative and more effective than their competition," Schank said. "Which is true of the real agency world."

TRACKING CUSTOMER NEEDS. "The market research necessary to formulate effective advertising plans actually involved the students interviewing consumers about their needs, product knowledge, familiarity with local pest control companies and awareness of pests common to our area," Batzner said.

Motivations and habits were also studied, as were age, income and other demographic factors.

As the research progressed outside the classroom, class time was spent discussing research and planning techniques as well as media and creativity.

Finally, according to Pokrywczynski, the students were ready to culminate the semester’s work with presentations that would be a large part of their final grade.

Each "advertising agency" reported their findings and recommendations to Batzner and the instructors as though they were "pitching" a new business proposal to a prospective adverting client.

The young, would-be advertising mavens explained their research methods and findings, discussed their strategic planning rationale and demonstrated their creative approaches.

One "agency", for example, had learned that residential clients were largely procrastinators when it came to pest control, waiting for a pest problem to crop up rather than anticipating one. The group then created an advertising campaign with the theme: "Let Us Get To Them Before They Get To You."

Another "agency" targeted image-conscious "yuppies" and created advertising "For Those Who Want the Pest Out of Life."

Said Batzner, "I was really impressed with many of the ideas that came out of this project. I plan to hire another college intern to…begin to implement the best of their recommendations."

He stressed the importance of marketing and its influence on the bottom line. "This is a process that should always be on-going. It’s so important to communicate with your present clients and prospective clients. If you can’t afford to retain an advertising agency, chances are you can find a nearby university to work with and if it’s as good as Marquette, you’re that much ahead of the game."

Jordan Fox is a free-lance writer based in Fox Point, Wis.