The Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism has launched a guerrilla marketing campaign that celebrates the song “Okie From Muskogee.” The song “Okie from Muskogee,” performed by its co-writer, Merle Haggard, was released in 1969, and became became one of the most famous of his career. Written by Haggard and Roy Edward Burris (drummer for Haggard's backing band, The Strangers) during the height of the Vietnam War, “Okie from Muskogee” grew from the two trading one-liners about small-town life, where conservative values were the norm and outsiders with ideals contrary to those ways were unwelcome. Here, the singer reflects on how proud he is to hail from Middle America, where residents were patriotic, didn't smoke marijuana, take LSD, wear beads and sandals, burn draft cards or challenge authority.

“The song is about being proud of who you are and where you’re from” Haggard said in a recent interview with CMT.

In 2010, “Okie From Muskogee” has become Muskogee’s icon. Roger Brooks, chief executive officer of Destination Development and genius behind the Muskogee Chamber’s award winning Web site, explained that our song sets us apart from other communities. It is usually the thing that people remember when you say you are from Muskogee, no matter where in the world you are. They usually don’t remember the sometimes controversial words, but 40 years later, they do remember the name “Okie From Muskogee.” It is amazing that a 40-year-old song can have that kind impact today.

The song’s 40th anniversary gave us a perfect opportunity to use the guerrilla marketing techniques that we learned at Educational Seminars for Tourism Organizations. We are exposing Muskogee to the world through the internet with a fun music video celebrating Muskogee by using social media like Facebook and Myspace. On YouTube, the edgier videos get more play. Many communities have to create a campaign or makeup an icon, but when Muskogee is your name and you have CMT’s No. 1 city song, you celebrate it.

Wikipedia says the concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns involve unusual approaches such as street giveaways of products, public relations stunts, and any unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. More innovative approaches to guerrilla marketing now utilize cutting-edge mobile digital technologies to really engage the consumer and create a memorable brand experience.

The purpose of our guerrilla marketing campaign is to generate the “Okie from Muskogee” buzz and tell our story using the famous song. The buzz is the most important thing, it’s very word of mouth, but it will cause to people to watch, visit Web sites to find out more and help to make Muskogee memorable. Our goal is to create top of mind awareness for a potential visitor, a business prospect or a shopper, using this new music video as our tool.

We are also fortunate to have some remarkable talent in Muskogee. The Chamber produced the “Okie From Muskogee” video that highlights Muskogee’s cool places to visit and used talented Muskogee musicians, featuring Jim Blair, Harley Hamm and Bronko Carr, to name just a few of the cast of over a hundred Muskogeeans. The “Okie From Muskogee” video was filmed and edited right here in Muskogee on location by Mashburn Multi Media. The video was produced by Alisha Tanksley, the Chamber’s marketing assistant and computer power user. As the executive producer, I used knowledge that I gained working for Carl Bartholomew, also known as Uncle Zeb and the Wizard of KTUL during the 1970s. The KTUL promotion team produced award winning 8’s The Place videos that were touted as one of the main reasons Channel 8 became the No. 1 ABC affiliate in the United States. Now many years later the Chamber team has produced a fun, edgy, video that is sure to create an internet buzz and promote a 40-year-old song that will celebrate Muskogee, again! You can see the video on YouTube or visit the Chamber web site for an easy click. Share the video with everyone in your address book and contacts list. Our Web site is www.muskogeechamber.org.

Reach Sue Harris at 682-2401.