Clients go ape over their products, services
Chris Arranaga
While his freshman classmates at UCLA were figuring out their majors and future career direction, Chris Arranaga was a budding entrepreneur. From his dorm room, he began selling imprinted T-shirts and other items to campus organizations, sororities and fraternities.
By the time he completed his undergraduate and MBA degrees from UCLA, his business expanded to other universities and companies. Today, his company, Gorilla Marketing, offers a full array of promotional products, corporate apparel, team uniforms, executive gifts and other branded items.
Operating out of a 12,000-square-foot facility in Riverside, the company has 29 employees, a full-service art department, onsite warehousing and fulfillment and domestic and overseas sourcing for thousands of promotional products. The firm counts Kaiser Permanente, Miller Coors, IBM, UCLA, Fiji Water, Pom Wonderful and Southern California Edison among its clients.
“Our growth has been pretty phenomenal,” says Arranaga, who attributes his success to “treating our customers like they’re family members. We are in a commodity industry by and large, but we don’t see ourselves as a commodity provider. We offer creative promotional solutions and view ourselves as an agency.”
For example, if a prospective customer requests a price on an item, such as T-shirts, “we’re going to ask, ‘Why T-shirts?’ What are the demographics of the target audience?’ What’s your goal?’ We want to add our expertise to advise clients there might be something else that would be a better fit. We’re more strategic in what we do,” he adds.
Overcoming challenges, offering innovative solutions
During the Great Recession, many corporations cut their budgets for promotional items, which impacted Gorilla Marketing’s sales. But rather than lay off employees, Arranaga reduced their hours until business improved. He also kept the firm’s services intact while some of his competitors eliminated services.
The Hispanic-owned company also made use of its large physical space and began offering storage, warehousing and fulfillment services. “We were able to stay relevant when the economy got bad because we offered more of the services that our competitors backed off on,” he says.
The promotional products field has always been competitive due to its low barrier to entry, but in more recent years, the proliferation of online providers has made it even more challenging for companies like Gorilla Marketing.
Sure, there are companies online that can offer promotional items for less money, but they may not offer creative solutions, personalized service, on-time delivery or stand behind their products, according to Arranaga. “We offer an experience so comfortable and rewarding that our clients not only come back, but they also start referring business to us. That’s a big reason for our growth.”
One client, Miller Coors, wanted a unique promotional item for a tailgate and hospitality tent before a Carolina Panthers football game. Gorilla Marketing came up with the idea of an Incredible Hulk-type beverage holder and created a custom-molded insulated beer can holder in the shape of a large panther paw branded with “Miller Lite.”
The oversized paws attracted a lot of attention and gave the client unique brand recognition into the stadium. “The response was tremendous — they couldn’t have garnered that with a hat or T-shirt,” says Arranaga, adding that “our best projects are the ones we get involved in at the beginning and can offer suggestions on products for a campaign.”
SCMSDC support and involvement
Gorilla Marketing became SCMSDC-certified in 2009 at the suggestion of a client. “It’s not the card that I lead with; we’re confident in our ability to deliver and it’s one more arrow in our quiver,” he says.
In recent years, Arranaga started becoming more involved with the council, attending events and workshops. In June, his firm hosted an MBE 2 MBE Open House, which is designed to bring together minority business enterprises (MBEs) and select corporate members in a relaxing, after-hours environment.
In addition to offering a networking opportunity for MBEs, the event allowed Gorilla Marketing to showcase its operations and capabilities. “We’re a promotional company at heart, so it was a great opportunity to promote ourselves.”
Arranaga’s advice to other MBEs is to “remember what’s important in life, treat everyone with respect and keep your word. At the end of day, no matter what you sell or what you do, your most important title is not business owner or VP – it’s mother, father, sister, brother, friend.”
The post MBE spotlight: Gorilla Marketing appeared first on SCMSDC.