Marketing specialists for the gun industry

A fresh approach to expanding the shooting sports industry.

Gun Runners, Inc. is your secretweapon in the gun marketingworld. Formed by seasonedadvertising vets who helped littlecompanies like General Motorsmove moms from minivans intoSUVs, GunRunners is expert atdisrupting markets and growingsales. In particular, we know howto reach female buyers – careerprofessionals, mothers, wives,and daughters – in ways thatempower and include them inmodern roles, including that ofgun owner. Our focus on theemotional triggers ofprospects movesproduct fasterthan actualgun runners.

If you talk to gun owners,guns are cool, sexy,functional, and fun.

Yet gun marketing is devoidof such attributes.

Gun ads focus on the product, not the target.

Gun rights, crime, and self-protectiondominate the narrative of the industry.

Fear of liability depresses growth.Ammunition is scarce.

Ranges are basic and hard to find.Publications are technical guides.

Just like gun owners think of them. While theindustry, led by the NRA, has made the narrativeabout Second Amendment rights, consumershave been engaged in an abundance of gun-oriented entertainment activities. However, theindustry seems unable toconnect and convert thisinterest into sales. Part of problem is thepowerful “anti-gun” voice.The industry falls into thetrap of responding toevery perceived threat,comment, and deceptionspread by this group. Thisallows the anti-gun armyto control the battlefield. GunRunner’s approachis to help companiesreboot the conversationand focus on the cool,sexy, fun, traditional, andfunctional things peopleenjoy doing with guns ofall types. Consider these key trends: • First person shooter games lead the gaming industry. • Strong, aggressive female characters dominate games, TV shows, and movies. • Movies, books, games, and TV series feature invading armies, terrorists, zombies, vampires, aliens, and mobs in dystopian futures. • Crime and mysteries continue to be the longest running shows on television. • A new generation of combat veterans are returning to civilian life.

Having safe, competent gun skills are required tobe successful in these imaginary scenarios. And,settings, characters, and visual styling are cool,sexy, and badass. That’s a hint. How does this change the narrative? When

we focus on cool, sexy, andfun as reasons to ownguns and participate inshooting sports, wecircumvent having to“justify” the purchase foraustere reasons like self-defense or traditionalreasons like hunting. Self-defense, self-preservation(through hunting) areunderstood benefits andneed not be expressed.

Fear is also a narrow,and negative, reason toown a gun, yet it is themost commonly usedtrigger. “Don’t be caughtby a criminal without agun,” is the message. Fear

the criminal, protect yourself. Proficiency ismuch more empowering and trumps fear. We help clients understand the psychologicaltriggers of prospective clients and translatemarketing materials to customer benefits in lightof these tendencies. This involves presenting females in a strong,powerful, and sexy light – not fearful victim. Itmeans taking style and content cues from movies,games, and pop culture. It amps up tradition likehunting, sporting clays, and cowboy actionshooting. It takes a target and adds the zombie.

We make guns cool, sexy, and badass.

Consumers have changed everythingabout how they access information and

interact with advertisers.Tradition is a great part of shooting sports. Itrarely changes. Communications, on the otherhand, has undergone a complete transformationin recent years. Today’s consumers are decidedly“anti-news” and “anti-advertising.” Folks want toread objective information in a convenient,digital space and then choose what to do or buy.They want to experience products and services ina thorough way with reviews from real people. This creates a conundrum for industry. But,GunRunners is operated by advertising veteranswith over 25 years of dynamic experience. We’vedeveloped television, radio, newspaper, outdoor,and point-of-sale messaging from GeneralMotors, Zodiac Boats, Bombardier RecreationalProducts, John Deere, and countless otherconsumer and business-to-business clients.

Importantly, we passed into the modernmarketing environment of content development,social media, and interactive media with the keysto what makes any communication successful:creativity inspired by proper psychographicprofiles of targeted audiences. Many of the newtech startups and solo-shops lack this experience. We’ve created “experiential marketing”campaigns for clients, placed product in top TVshows and major motion pictures, and securedproduct segments on FutureWeapons andWeaponology. We’ve partnered with publicationsto place articles, provided trusted editorialsupport, and even put clients on the Today Show.We’ve bought media in every major U.S. market,plus online, where we’re also masters in SEO,website design, and social media marketing.

Great marketing grants permission. It tellsprospects their lifestyle choice is ok.

This is a real challenge in the polarizing world ofgun marketing – and why expanding the story isso critical. Shooting sports are dominated bymales passing tradition down to other males.Many women are either ambivalent about gunsor on the side of gun control. If the industryinvites women to see guns as cool, sexy, and funfor them, then expansion is inevitable. How do we know? We’re theones who moved moms out ofminivans and into SUVs in the1990s. We didn’t do it bycreating more delicate, gentle female versions of SUVs.

We connected the capability, readiness, status, andrefinement to the psychographics of the prospect.Moms weren’t interested in off-roading, but theyliked the safety of the ride height, the view of theroad, the number of kids they could carry, and thedriving confidence four wheel drive provides infoul weather. Incidentally, the senses of capability,readiness, status, and refinement are also fulfilled

with proficient use and possession offirearms. Tradition also has great

appeal to women, if it includesroom for them. Moving half of

the world from neutral toactive support is a good thing.

Marketing specialists for the gun industryTom Robertstom@gunrunr.com865 604-1414

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