If It Comes In a Bag...

Sometimes, all it takes to make a guerrilla marketing promotion out of an ordinary advertising space is a promotional plastic bag. In the case of this Australian ad for mystery novelist Patricia Cornwell's latest book, a super-sized "forensic evidence" custom bag attracted the attention of mall-walkers long immune to the pop-up advertising posters that speckle the aisles of shopping spaces worldwide.

The promotion is expertly aimed, too. A mystery or suspense fan is much more likely to approach a simulated forensics-evidence bag, recognizing its purpose, and thus read the copy on the ad, which in this case yields tantalizing plot details. The Scarpetta Factor doubtless made a fine showing in Sydney.