Guerrilla Marketing: 3M Security Glass

I wonder if that’s real money in there!

Well 3M (Security division) definitely showed that they specialize in safety solutions with this guerrilla marketing campaign especially if no one tried to foolishly break the glass to get to what I am sure is phony money.

I have no idea why but something about this ad reeks protection; I guess it’s the fact that the large some of money is encased in glass and it feels as though someone is watching you watch the money.

Band-Aid Guerrilla Promotion

Here's a guerrilla promotion that's so magnetic, it actually sticks to its audience and won't let go until it's been acknowledged! To remind people that the Modern Shoe Hospital has been bringing shoes back to life for 60 years, this shoe repair shop decided to go guerrilla with some stealthy promotional band-aids. The band-aids were places sticky-side up so that people walking by would step on them and get them stuck to their shoes. Later on, when the bandages were noticed and peeled off, people were surprised to find the contact information for the shoe hospital, where their "sick shoes" could be cured. Very cool. (Click the image for a larger version.)

Where Did My Bench Go?

Denver residents might have found themselves hard pressed for a seat last summer when Denver Water conducted a major campaign to encourage water conservation. Last July, we wrote about the company’s use of supermarket conveyor belts to remind consumers to “use only what [they] need.” As part of the same promotion, Denver Water placed several severed benches in prime locations throughout the city. The simple tag line and bright colors of the bench make it easy for the casual passerby to register and remember the ad’s message. It might have also been a good idea to supplement these guerrilla ads with items like promotional rubber ducks. The company could imprint their logo on the ducks and attach a message encouraging Denver water-users to “save some for the ducks.” Any excuse is a good excuse for free rubber ducks, right?

A Whopper of a Wallet

If you stumble across a wallet anytime soon, you may be in for a treat. Burger King recently “dropped” over 5,000 wallets in various urban hot spots. Those “would-be good Samaritans” who pick them up find a note inside telling them that “The King” wants them to keep the contents of the wallet for themselves. Each wallet contains a different set of offerings. Cash (ranging from $1 to $100 bills), Burger King gift cards, “The King’s” driver’s license and maps featuring nearby Burger King restaurants have all been found in these abandoned wallets. This promotion was conducted with absolutely no media attention or warning by Burger King but comes at an optimal time, given the current economic crisis. So far, news of this guerrilla marketing sensation has only been picked up by bloggers, but I expect this will change once the blogosphere hype reaches the mainstream media.

Straight Street Guerilla Marketing

This guerilla marketing campaign definitely required a lot of volunteers and foot work. With this guerilla promotion Net Virtua wanted to show that their brand was the better choice for sending and receiving large files compared to other companies.

By showing the exaggeratingly large computer file icon traveling by foot, the company wanted to show that their services guarantee faster and more efficient delivery compared to other companies.

This is yet another cool guerilla marketing campaign from Brazil!

Real Hip Guerilla Promotions

This is great international guerilla promotions! The outdoor billboard from Real HipHop located behind a bus stop in Brazil is super clever. The afro has a significant history within cultures of African descent so the hair style is a cool way of incorporating the company’s catchphrase “Tudo sobre Black Music” Or “Everything about Black Music,” which shows they want to be the leaders in their industry.

Utilizing a cultural staple in your guerilla promotional efforts in order to dynamically connect with your target market shows that you have done research in order to be meticulous about details and finding ways to connect your brand to the target.

Turtle Soup on the Beach?

(Via Commercial Archive)

To increase awareness of the dwindling turtle populations in South East Asia, the World Wildlife Fund in Indonesia staged a guerrilla marketing campaign along Bali beaches. Since over 99% of sea turtles hatched on the beach survive to adulthood without being turned into delicacy foods or threatened by poachers, global warming and illegal exportation, the WWF placed thousands of bowls along the beach to represent hatchlings making their way toward the ocean. Additional literature and brochures about the importance of conservation were also available at neighboring WWF booths. The campaign was remarkably inexpensive for the amount of attention it seems to have generated. In future campaigns like this, the WWF should consider giving out promotional keychains and buttons to help people remember the campaign and its message.

A Whole New Experience Created Through Guerilla Marketing

(Via: Direct Daily)

Malaysia Airlines’ travel package called Golden Holidays, which includes travel and accommodation, wanted to cross-sell the different tour packages to passengers whilst removing the misconception that flying with Malaysia Airlines was unaffordable. This guerilla marketing promotion created by Ogilvy & Mather (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia division) submerged the passengers into different types of activities by placing huge stickers on top of the pull-down meal trays in order to spark passengers’ interest for their next vacation trip on-board the plane.

This was a great guerilla marketing feat that used a visual stimulus in order to create a new experience for passengers without them leaving their seat.

Floating Guerilla Promotions

(Via: Air Artists)

First I think customized inflatable objects and customized balloons are a fun and great idea for most promotional effort. This balloon in shape of King Triton was part of a guerrilla marketing endeavor from The Little Mermaid. The choice of placement (over the water because King Triton is Sea King) and the promo product was an awesome way to introduce either the animated film, Broadway show, or DVD set (I have no idea what year this balloon was created because the company has been around since 1976).

Balloons and inflatable objects are not only for festivals and carnivals. Animating your logo/mascot is a great way to captivate your audience and to integrate vividness and fun in your brand.

The Giant Puzzle Campaign

Talk about a difficult puzzle! Ravensburger, the manufacturers of many popular puzzles and games, recently launched a billboard campaign in Berlin, Germany to promote sales of their 1001 piece puzzles. The boards are shaped like puzzle boxes and contain images of internationally recognized landmarks such as The White House. The “boxes”are surrounded by real, three-dimensional rubble giving the impression of a “life sized” puzzle. I’m not sure if Ravensburger actually sells picture puzzles of these famous landmarks or if they only exist in giant guerrilla marketing form, but either way this is an eye catching promotion and globally effective since it relies on imagery rather than language. Ravensburger could also consider accompanying this campaign with promotional giveaways of small puzzles and toys.

A Fluid Guerilla Marketing Campaign

(Via: La Nación)

This guy reminds me of melted chocolate for some reason. This is a really straightforward, effective guerilla promotion for the global warming initiative from Cruz Roja Argentina (the Red Cross’s Argentina division). I think that this is an awesome and unique use of sidewalk space because a passerby wouldn’t be able to overlook a melted man on the walkway, distributing pamphlets about how to save energy. What a bizarre yet great way to make people aware of global warming!

Where is the man’s actual body?

Ambient Media from Yamaha (Sweden)

Shopping carts that are slightly reminiscent of motorcycles? That was the premise of the past guerilla marketing campaign from Yamaha, placing images of sleek motorcycle handles on shopping carts throughout Sweden.

I wonder if they had a bunch of people flying through the grocery store, trying to create the same effect you would experience on a motorcycle: a cool breeze across your face with your hair blowing in the wind.

International Guerilla Promo Feature: Living Homeless

(Via: New York Times)

Since November 16-22, 2008 is dedicated to National Hunger and Homelessness Week, I thought it would be appropriate to show past guerilla marketing efforts to combat homelessness.

In 2007, in order to vividly show the struggle of the homeless, some middle class Parisians volunteered to trade the comfort of their apartments for temporary residence in tents along Canal Saint-Martin in Paris. Rather than telling people about homelessness, volunteers helped to highlight the plight of homelessness through guerilla marketing and enduring physical and mental hardship. The campaign definitely raised awareness of the homelessness in Paris.

FIFA Soccer Mania

This guerilla marketing endeavor just makes me want to say “OOOOoooo, I am telling mom!” because it is an interestingly authentic looking image created via guerilla marketing—a huge soccer ball kicked into a residential building. FIFA definitely made a strong promotional statement with this one.

Adidas Rubber Duck Guerrilla Promo

Forget about rubber ducky making bath time lots of fun...what about guerrilla promotion time? To drive customers to the opening of a brand new store in Copenhagen, Adidas created a unique guerrilla marketing campaign with the help of some bright blue promotional rubber ducks. The imprint on the side of the ducks read, "I've swum too far - help me get back home!" A second imprint on the bottom of the duck instructed people to bring the toy to the Adidas store to get a reward.

Shoppers who did return the duck received a free promotional t-shirt, and they got to keep their new floaty friends. This guerrilla campaign was an excellent way to get people talking about the new store and to drive in some crowds. Once people were compelled to visit the store to get their reward, they were more likely to browse the shop's selection and make a purchase.

Deep Sidewalk Ad

This sidewalk advertisement was part of a guerilla marketing campaign for Médecins du Monde (Doctors of the World) in France. “Doctors of the World” is an international humanitarian organization whose motto is “Health is a human right.” During this campaign, the organization wanted to illustrate the direness of homelessness and also to convey the message that hundreds of homeless people die on the sidewalks from hunger and the harshness of winter. The guerilla ad manifests the sad reality of a penniless livelihood—an actuality in which millions worldwide exist.

Ikea Clad Bus Shelter

I wish my apartment looked like this bus shelter! I am guessing that was the initial reaction the stylish furniture/home accessories company was trying to provoke with this guerilla marketing campaign. This is a great use of space by Ikea to show a glimpse of their home products and style.

I could only imagine the furniture looking really grimy after enough people sat on the ad so hopefully this was a very temporary venture, unless they didn’t allow anyone to actually use the bus shelter for the span of the campaign. I also wonder if anyone took any of the pillows!

Camden Irish Music Festival: Guerrilla Bus Promo

It's been done before, but that doesn't make it any less exciting! To advertise the Camden Irish Music Festival being held in the UK in late October, city buses were converted to giant speeding accordions! This creative guerrilla marketing campaign no doubt had a lot of commuters stopping in their tracks to see what was up. This is a great example of guerrilla execution which delivers a marketing message only after attention has been sufficiently captured. How can your company leverage the power of unique promotional products to turn heads and get people talking?

Marketing Guerrillas Love Bananas!

Jun Gil Park is an awesome photographer and artist who has an eccentric creative taste. His banana art series just reminds me that promoting on food or using food like a billboard (i.e. banana, chocolate bars) to promote a message is a great means of guerilla promotions!

Ready, Set, Gobama!

Although the 2009 U.S. presidential election is over, you can still find remnants of the hard-fought battle if you look close enough. Take a look at this picture, which depicts a guerrilla promotion that continues to build exposure for Barack Obama, even though he was declared President-Elect nearly a week ago. This promotional sticker is a cut-out that can be placed over the green light on this common traffic sign. For those unfamiliar with the slogans of the Obama campaign, the sticker morphs the sign into a blatant exclamation of "GOBAMA!"

Imprinted stickers can be used as part of a high-visibility guerrilla campaign, as long as you know where to put the stickers to gain maximum exposure!

International Guerilla Marketing: London Ink

This is a really cool surrealistic guerilla marketing project created by Mother London for the reality TV show called London Ink. It is not everyday you see a super-sized man doing laps in the grass alongside the River Thames. If this massive sculpture wasn’t captivating enough, he has an enormous tattoo on his back.

This is definitely awesome imagery!

A Spiced-Up Ride

This display of the Captain Morgan brand certainly shows creativity, but perhaps not as much respect for safety. And if you thought it was unsafe to drink a fifth of rum while riding a motorcycle, just imagine combining that activity with the 3-foot flames shooting out the front of your chopper!

Of course, it was mainly used at low speeds in parades and automotive shows...I hope. What the heck, at least make sure that when you're near that thing you have a good pair of sunglasses on--you're sure gonna need to them for the fire bursts, the hangover, or some combination of the two.

Well I Do Declare!

Here's a nifty guerrilla promotion put together by Dutch customs at Schiphol Airport to remind passengers to double-check their luggage for items that have to be declared before leaving the country. The marketing agency in charge of this campaign decided to go guerrilla by setting up a fake suitcase that had an alligator tail sticking out of it. A large sticker on the luggage questioned, "Something to declare? Please go to the red channel [line]."

Travelers are usually distracted and hurried at airports, so it's difficult to catch their attention. However, there's nothing quite like an alligator tail sticking out of luggage on the baggage return belt to stop someone dead in people dead in their tracks and get them to pay attention! Another fine example of the hypnotic power of successful guerrilla promotions.

Weeds' Weed Guerrilla Promotion

When TV show needs to get the word out about a new season or upcoming premiere, they often turn to guerrilla marketing to capture the elusive attention of busy media agencies. In these situations, NOT going guerilla can severely impact the odds of the network's message being seen. Take a look at this great example from guerrilla marketers seeking to promote the season premiere of the TV series "Weeds."

Instead of sending a boring mailer with a plain vanilla press release, Weeds went guerrilla. They sent media agencies bouqets of hemp (THC-free) that were rolled in tissue paper to resemble massive joints. When the package was unrolled, agency employees found informative flyers attached to the plant stalks.

Talk about an eye-popping, attention-grabbing campaign! If your customers aren't curious about what's inside of the GIGANTIC JOINT they just received in the mail, you probably don't stand a chance of ever reaching them. This unique idea meshes creativity with a relevant promotional plant to create a memorable and inspiring experience for the target audience.

Which Joe Is It?

(Via: Dunkin’ Beat Starbucks)

Nope, this blog post isn’t about Joe the Plumber! It’s about a good ole cup of joe (or coffee in lame terms).

In a recent national guerilla marketing endeavor, Dunkin’ Donuts implemented a blind taste test for coffee drinkers; in the rink with Dunkin’ was Starbucks. The battle ended with a tasty victory for Dunkin’ Donuts.

WARNING: Do not try drinking hot coffee blindfolded at home!