Guerilla Giveaway: Headbands

I'm all about 80's revivalism, so what better way to jazz up your next guerilla campaign than with a staple of 80's fitness--the elastic headband.

Before you scoff and X out of the browser, realize that headbands can be pretty useful in snagging the attention of unsuspecting passers-by.

You could have a mini-80's flashback and dress up a street team in complete 80's fitness regalia while they hand out stuff. Or you could imprint the headbands with your message and information and then have a headband flinging war in the middle of a crowded urban area. Just make sure you leave the ammo in plain view of pedestrians.

They're great if you want to promote a gym or fitness institution of some sort, and face it, they look pretty cool.

No Monkey Business

Animal Planet went above and beyond in attempt to attract viewers to its "Escape to Chimp Eden" premiere using some very eye-catching guerrilla promo ads. I was walking down a New York City street when out of the corner of my eye I noticed a chimp hanging from a telephone pole. This ad immediately caught my attention and I just had to get a closer look. As soon as I walked up to this chimp I noticed his sign saying "Escape to Chimp Eden, Fridays 9PM, Animal Planet."

This was a very creative guerrilla promo ad that probably caught the attention of sthe scores of people who walked down that very same street. These chimp ads were placed in high traffic areas around the city where they were sure to get noticed. Promotional stickers can be used the same way by being placed in clever locations that relate to your product or company. Just put up them in areas that will attract attention and you'll be sure to get the same reaction as the chimp!

On The Small Side

Your guerrilla promos don't have to be large to get noticed. When I saw this great promotion for citysearch.com I thought how quickly it reached its target audience. The purpose of the promotion was to show how you can find even the smallest events on the citysearch website.

This promotion emphasized small, the promotional stickers are small and the best part were the miniature figures placed underneath the signs.

(Via: directdaily)

Posters and Privacy

3M Privacy Filters wanted to find a way to showcase just how serious they are about protecting their users' privacy. With some strategically placed promotional posters placed above urinals, they showcased how effective the privacy filters worked.

On top of the laptop posters, they inserted privacy filters. This way, the person looking at the display straight from the front was able to read the message, but from sideways it was just a black poster. The way they positioned this promotion showed the benefits of a product in situations where the target audience is sensitive to the privacy issue.

Guerilla Giveaway: Water Bottles

With the right mix of creativity and ingenuity, you can take any promotional product and use it effectively in your guerilla campaign.

Water bottles, a run-of-the-mill promotional product, might not be what first comes to mind when planning an off-beat promotional outreach campaign. Sure, a water bottle alone might not draw lots of attention to you, but when used as a strategic prop, its functionality and usefulness will actually help you drive your message to your audience.

Consider inserting some sort of eye-catching item or ad into waterbottles and hand them out to passerbys on the street. You can build a structure made up of nothing but water bottles or decorate them in some sort of funky way. The possibilities are endless.

If you also imprint your logo and message onto the bottles, then the people who take the items will have a much easier time remembering your promotion.

Night Tours

Promotional stickers are used once again to illustrate an idea, this time to promote a zoo offering night tours. Being on a tight budget these glow in the dark promotional items are the perfect way to advertise the creatures of the night.

Using the classic "cartoon eyes", these stickers were placed in movie theaters. When the lights went out, the eyes came on, and the creepy feeling of these eyes staring at you promoted the zoo's new night tour very well.

(Via: directdaily)

Guerrilla Tip: Raffles

As a kid growing up, I was always attracted to school lotteries and raffle drawings. The chance to snag something for minimal cost, no matter how pointless it might have been, was just way too exciting to pass up.

Since I'm sure many people still feel similarly, incorporating raffles into your next guerrilla campaign would be a really great tactic. The promise of a free item, whether it be a gift card or handy keychain, will surely attract people to you.

You could imprint your name and logo onto your gift prizes to really drive your brand recognition home. Guerrilla ads should not only creatively grab your audience's attention, but should also work to efficiently promote your product or service.

Baby On Board (Stickers Used to Raise Awareness)

Sadly to say, in Italy there are problems with mothers facing undesired pregnancy who throw their babies into garbage bins. Amici dei Bambini is a charity in Italy which cares for abandoned children. Members of this charity have been putting the classic "Baby on Board" stickers onto garbage bins and dumpsters in hopes to raise awareness of this issue and encourage donations.

These promotional stickers really stand out and bring attention to themselves. They are a great way to raise awareness about serious issues and charitys that are in need of some help. Just like Amici dei Bambini, slap those stickers on anywhere and people will get the message!

(Via:directdaily)

Guerilla Giveaway: Stress Balls

When people think of promotional products, one of the first items that comes to mind is probably a promotional stress ball. They're by far probably one of the most common types of promotional giveaways, but regardless of their ubiquity, they really do make for an effective and affordable asset to any guerilla ad campaign.

However, because they are so common, you need to formulate new and innovative ways to integrate them into your guerilla promotion. Stress balls come in a wide variety of shapes and designs, so whatever company you're from or industry you're in, you're bound to find something that appeals to you.

Try incorporating the balls into some kind of interactive game. The more you can get people to participate in what you're doing, the more your message will resonate with them. Their fun size, squeezability, and affordability make stress balls really popular items. So consider incorporating them into your next campaign.

Mug Spreads Word About Global Warming

Sometimes, the best way to reach out to your audience is with a subtle message. Having a message be less showy can sometimes actually have more of an impact. This promotional mug demonstrates the impact of global warming. When the user fills their mug with hot water, the imprinted glacier slowly erodes, giving way to a lot more ocean.

Simple, straight-forward, and effective. The best guerilla promos are those that make people think and stir them to action.

Sickly Bus Stop Promotes Science World

To promote Science World, this clever ad demonstrated how germs spread. When waiting bus passengers pressed the blue button, the billboard let loose a nice wet sneeze that sprayed their faces.

Although it may have sent some scrambling to pick up someanti-bacterial wipes, the promotion was quite fun and successful.

Guerilla Tip: Making The Right Impression

Conducting a guerilla campaign is a great chance to nab attention and leave a lasting impression on the people you target. However, it's important to remember to analyze your audience and not get too carried away in the zany details of the execution, since you just might end up missing your mark entirely.

For example, if your aim is to reach out to a more conservative or professional group of people, make sure the tactics you use are tasteful. If you go too far, you just may rub someone the wrong way. A breast stress ball might seem amusing enough to hand out for Breast Cancer Awareness Month, but you might be better off using a safer item, like an impritned awareness ribbon pen .

If your audience is younger, you'll want to come off as hip and engaging. Instead of handing out promotional compasses, aim for something a bit more intriguing and interactive, like puzzles and games.

Guerilla campaigns don't have to be outrageous, but they do need to be creative and eye-catching. And with some careful planning, you can make sure your campaign gets you the attention you need.

Burnt Promos

A really hot promo used burnt golf tees to demonstrate the effectiveness of the Callaway Golf Hyper X Driver. The promotional golf tees were scattered around golf course driving ranges and other areas where golfers frequent.

The idea being that the new driver increased the speed of the ball so much that it burns the tee. It was a great way to demonstrate the new driver without having someone standing around explaning how it works.(Via: directdaily)

Guerilla Giveaway: Whistle and Red LED Keychain

When you conduct a guerilla campaign, it's important that you have an engaging enough item to hand out to people once you've nabbed their attention. Since guerilla campaigns are all about out of the box thinking and off the wall ideas, you want to make sure your item is interactive, fun, and memorable.Using a Whistle and Red LED Light Keychain would be great way to add some extra promotional noise to a loud guerilla campaign.

It whistles, lights up, and is easily portable. What more could you want in a promotional giveaway?

Hubba Bubba Bubble Gum Art

The Hubba Bubba Gum company has come up with a great way to recycle and fix the problem of chewed gum all over the streets. Hubba Bubba put up a lot of fun and interactive "paint by numbers" posters that require people to use different flavors and colors of gum to create art.

This is a great guerrilla marketing campaign because not only does it prevent people from littering, but it also encourages people to go out and get some Hubba Bubba so that they can get involved and become a bubble gum artist themselves.

People love to test out, play with and share interactive promotions such as this. Try printing your company's name on some puzzles and gadgets that will keep your recipients busy and talking!

(Via:directdaily)

A Mother's Legacy

The goal of this promotion was to promote a book and to find a unique way of launching it. A Mother's Legacy is a book that was written to capture the stories of mothers in South Africa dying of HIV/AIDS. The stories from the book were downloaded onto promotional iPods. To make the book have the largest impact the promotion was packaged in such a way that people have to take the mother away from her baby to hear her message.

The result of this promotion had a huge impact. All the iPods were sold and more are being produced. This was an effective use of a promotional MP3 player. It was a powerful message and really raises awareness to the plight of mothers struggling with HIV/AIDS in South Africa.

(Via: directdaily)

Guerrilla Tip: Lead Generation

The main goal of many guerrilla marketing campaigns is to generate leads for your business. It can be as simple as handing out promotional ringtone download gifts cards, to everyone who gives you a name and phone number. Many health clubs do this in order to increase membership sales.

If you want to get really creative in your lead generation campaign, put on your promotional apparel and start asking people unrelated questions to grab their attention. This is an effective ice breaker to start a conversation. Once the rapport is built with your prospect it is much easier to obtain information from them. It allows you to determine if they are a qualified lead.

Many times you can set an appointment to meet further with that person after the initial meeting. Once the appointment is set, give them a promotional keychain, or other small giveaway to help them keep your business in mind. It gives substance to your giveaways and strengthens the relationship with your freshly generated lead.

When Sharks Attack

Discovery Channel is gearing up for its yearly shark week. This is the tenth year running for the Discovery Channel program. To really take the bite out of this promotion they placed some promotional surfboards on the beach. The surfboards look as if they have been attacked by sharks.

To take this promotion even further they could have handed out promotional surfboard keychains. This would have allowed for people seeing the surfboards on the beach to take the message with them.

(Via: directdaily)

Guerrilla Giveaway: Beachballs

We know it isn't summer yet, and that is exactly why using promotional beachballs as part of your guerrilla marketing campaigns is so effective. People will not be expecting you to be standing outside in your shorts tossing around beachballs into the crowd.

It will be easy for your street team to catch the attention of your target audience. Toss these beachballs around and see what happens. With your company name and logo imprinted on the balls, your target audience can grab them and easily have your brand right in their hands.