I was recently asked to provide my advice in response to the Globe & Mail’s challenge question from Square One Insurance: “Is a launch party still a smart way to build buzz?”  TELUS asked me to further expand on this topic.

The marketing experts polled in last week’s mini-case study concurred on one point: Holding a launch party was not the best way to use a firm’s limited marketing resources to launch a new product. If careful marketing research was done, using relatively sophisticated techniques to uncover a social network and identify real opinion leaders (individuals who held a large network of potential customers together as “nodes” in the network), then of course these would be the people to invite to the party. They would do most of the marketing for you. However, the research itself might prove to be more expensive than the party, and there might not be much left over to purchase caviar and champagne.

Many smart marketers, when faced with a marketing challenge and limited budget resort to “guerilla marketing”. Just as small, under-equipped revolutionary forces avoid head-to-head combat with superior, better-armed enemies, the guerilla marketer exploits stealth, ambush and the element of surprise.  Unable to match multi-million dollar advertising budgets and large sales forces, the guerilla marketer uses devices such as simple but clever outdoor ads, viral email campaigns and social media to get the message in front of as many people as possible (for some great examples and short cases of guerilla marketing campaigns, see www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com).

One of the guerilla devices that I thought Square One might have used instead of a party to get its message across would have been to organize a “flash mob” – a seemingly impromptu gathering of people all singing or dancing around a particular theme. Obviously you would want to stage the flash mob in a venue and at a time that would ensure maximum traffic – so perhaps – in Vancouver at least – in the Waterfront station during rush hour. The propose of the flash mob would be to have as many people exposed to a simple message, as quickly as possible, by having them observe a large number of people dancing, singing or saying something about the message. There might also be some kind of giveaway that accompanies the message and reinforces it.

For example Square One is about insurance – or “covering”/”protecting” its clients – so giveaways that might bolster this message could include an inexpensive umbrella, or a poncho, to “cover” the recipients on one of Vancouver’s notoriously many rainy days.

The city of Vancouver is no stranger to flash mobs. For example, the wonderful education charity Imagine1day held a very successful flash mob during the 2010 Winter Olympics to raise awareness of the cause of sponsoring education in Ethiopia.

Opera singer Philip Grant regularly arranges flash mobs in the city, most of which involve staging an impromptu opera performance at busy venues like the Granville Island markets.

I’d venture to say that readers will agree with me, after watching one of Philip’s numerous flash mob videos on YouTube, that one would be far more likely to be affected emotionally and positively by a seemingly spontaneous staging of La Traviata than by the usual old canapés and white wine cocktail party.

Given the choice of a party or a flash mob to launch a new marketing idea, I’d go for the mob every time.

Leyland Pitt is the Dennis F. Culver EMBA Alumni Chair of Business, and professor of marketing in the Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University. He has taught MBA and executive courses at the University of Chicago, London Business School, and Columbia University. His work has been published in journals such as Sloan Management Review, California Management Review, Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Information Systems Research and MIS Quarterly, which he also served as Associate Editor.

According to StatsCan, roughly 1 in 15 working Canadians owns an incorporated business, and CFIB’s Business Barometer Index shows that national small business confidence is at its highest since 2005.

To highlight the essential role that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play in securing Canada's ongoing economic recovery, the federal government designated 2011 as Year of the Entrepreneur. Yet despite Canada’s oft-touted financial sector strength and resilience throughout the recent economic downturn, SMEs have struggled to stay afloat just like everyone else. Sometimes more so.

Here are five cost-saving tips for SMEs to successfully navigate the seas of recovery:

1. Go to the bank.Meet regularly with your financial institute representative to review your plan and look for any hidden savings. Many banks offer great programs for small businesses, and even further incentives for SMEs that are members of chambers of commerce.

2. Shop around. Call your suppliers and ask them to do better; compare their quotes with new companies seeking your business. Make sure to ask about small business savings programs or incentives. Even retailers offer a suite of benefits to help small business work better.

3. Take advantage of technology.Cloud computing allows employees to work from home, and grants employers the assurance of being able to monitor corporate activity. Plus, using web conference tools provided by companies like ours enables SMEs to save costs that would traditionally be associated with travel to meetings.

4. Get insured. Speak with insurance providers about how to save on associated fees. Another benefit to joining your local chamber of commerce is having a partner. Whether you're a solo entrepreneur, a home-based business, or part of a larger firm, many can help lay a solid foundation, based on a benefit program designed specifically for you and your company.

5. Plan ahead.Having a contingency plan is a necessity. Although we are gradually climbing out of an economic decline, we should not sit back complacently and assume this recovery will last. SMEs especially need to take proactive measures to defend against future setbacks. Take stock of your current fixed costs every month, and aim to cut superfluous spending in half. Remember that even $100 per month can save you $1,200 per year. Use your experiences from the recent economic downturn as incentive to re-evaluate any areas of your fiscal plan that may force your business to sink or swim.

Jim Senko is the Vice-President of small business at TELUS and a judge in The Challenge, a new weekly feature in The Globe and Mail’s Your Business. The Challenge examines a challenge faced by a small or medium-sized company, followed by smart, pointed advice from the panel of experts. Send challenges here and you could $100,000 for your small business.