The Oldest Window Cleaner in the World

If you have limited funds when you start

a new business how do you get the

phone to ring? I didn’t have the money

to invest into traditional marketing and

advertising when I started my window

cleaning business so I came up with my

own version of Guerilla Marketing. My

idea was to launch a new “Feature

Creature” every month. By generating

free publicity I could attract new

customers and build a brand at minimal

cost. It seemed like a very good plan.

The Idea:

The Goal: Introduce the International Window Cleaning Company to the

Orlando business community by executing a creative publicity

event that would feature the IWC immediately following Super Bowl

XXIII using my first Feature Creature Rhett Van Nickel.

I typed up a press release

announcing the details of the

appearance of Rhett Van

Nickel along with the storyline

of how he got lost in time. I

circulated the press releases

to the Orlando TV stations.

I cleaned the windows at all of their locations in exchange for used tuxedos that

they were removing from inventory. I cut and hemmed the length of most of the

pants making tuxedo shorts which I wore along with a tuxedo shirt,

cummerbund, suspenders, bow tie and tennis shoes. Wearing tuxedos certainly

set me apart from my competitors.

I had in place a trade agreement

with Mitchell’s Formal Wear in

Orlando, FL. I already had accounts

in all of the malls and since

Mitchell’s had tux rental stores in

the malls. It was a win win.

Wardrobe:

Funding: I didn’t have money to pay for the

makeover. One of my customers

owned a theatrical supply store. I

pitched her on partnering with me

to bring my series of Feature

Creatures to life. She jumped in.

We both felt that if the Rhett Van Nickel promotion was successful then we

would partner together in bringing the ensuing eleven Feature Creatures to life

and we would both profit. I arrived at the her store at 4:00 am on the morning

of Super Bowl XXIII. Her theatrical team had been up all night building the wig.

The beard was constructed on my face. What an eye opening experience.

Construction:

It literally took nine hours for

the make-up artist to finish the

construction of Rhett Van

Nickel. I sat in chair getting into

character, visualizing what I

would do and wondering if the

editors would respond to the

press releases I sent out

during the week and send TV

reporters out to film it.

Execution:

I arrived at the mall with a girlfriend who acted as my assistant and a

photographer friend of mine. We were all pretty stoked about being

there. To our relief a camera crew met us at the designated spot.

For whatever reason the interview

didn’t go well. Who knew that I would

have a sudden case of camera fright

and as a result the interview footage

wasn’t really useable. That was

disappointing for the entire team.

the San Francisco 49ers edged out the Cincinnati Bengals 20-16. The

news anchors aired Rhett washing windows in the mall but gave no

reference to my company or to my partnering theatrical company. From

a marketing stand point the first Feature Creature promotion seemed a

dismal failure and marked the end of my theatrical partnership.

Final

Assessment:

Rhett Van Nickel made it

on the news right after Joe

Montana, Jerry Rice and