Dog Hotel

Via Ads of the World

These promotional signs were put up on what appears to be hiking trails in Belgium to promote a dog hotel. The signs appear to be tied to the trees with dog leashes, which is a cute touch, but I don't really see why someone would pay to board their dog when they took a vacation they could intentionally bring their dog on in the first place.

Direct Mail Puzzle

Via Ads of the World

This is actually a direct mail piece and not guerrilla in any way, but I liked it too much not to post. In Sri Lanka these promotional banks and puzzles were mailed out in order to raise donations for LifeLine, an organization that helps support victims who suffered permanent injuries as a result of bomb blasts during the Sri Lanken war. Once a donation was made, the last piece of the puzzle was mailed to donors to symbolize how they helped to put a life back together.

Guerrilla Fail-- Drunk Driving Style

Via Ads of the World

Yet another attempt at guerrilla marketing that fails, despite its heart being in the right place. In China they placed sixteen lamposts in the street in downtown Beijing to raise awareness about the fact that if you drink and drive, you are sixteen times more likely to get into an accident. I'm not really sure how lamposts are connected, but I feel they are probably more of a safety hazard being erected in the middle of the street like that. Promotional fliers were also placed on cars windshields to help raise awareness, which is the oldest trick in the book. I haven't seen any data on whether or not the lamposts have increased traffic accidents in the area, but then again, it's China, so I don't expect we would hear anything less than praise.

Disappointing Corporate Gift

Via Ads of the World

This holiday business gift from a personal trainer certainly fits his business, but I don't think it's particularly desirable. Since most people send promotional candy around the holidays, trainer Ryan Oughtred played off this idea by sending a box of vegetables. It doesn't even look like it came with dip! Granted, I don't go to the gym, let alone have a personal trainer, so I'm clearly not the target for this promotion, but I'd still rather receive a box of custom chocolate any day.

More Social Guerrilla

Via Ads of the World

In China, 30% of women experience domestic abuse at one point in their life. In order to raise awareness about the prevelence of domestic violence and encourage those who witness or experience it to report it and get help, these promotional posters were put up on doors in shopping malls around China. Apparently, the campaign has "eliminated" domestic violence in China-- while I believe it has helped reduce it, it seems hyperbolic to claim the problem is completely eradicated.

Guerrilla Fail

Back in 2007, Cadbury-Schweppes launched a contest for Dr. Pepper where they hid promotional coins within 23 cities; when contestants bought bottles of the soft drink they would receive a code that they could type in online for clues as to where the coins were buried. Since each coin held the opportunity to win one million dollars, contestants were very enthusiastic-- so you can understand the Boston Parks Commission's dismay when people showed up at Granary Burial Ground, resting place of Paul Revere, Sam Adams, Benjamin Franklin among other important American heroes, wielding shovels and demanding entrance to try and find the coin. Whoever decided to hide the coin in a cemetery really dropped the proverbial ball. Cadbury-Schweppes opted to hold a drawing to decide the winner of Boston's coin to prevent the desecration of the cemetery.

Solmafaro

Via Ads of the World

This is a neat campaign going on in Mexico to raise awareness about skin cancer and promote L'Oreal's new sunscreen. Dubbed the "solmafaro", a combination of sol (sun) and semafaro (traffic light), this device measures the intensity of the UV rays so people become aware of how strong the sun is and how they should protect themselves. The solmafaro, in combination with those bright orange T-shirts attracted the attention of pedestrians and drivers alike, so that volunteers could hand out samples of the sun screen as well as pamphlets about skin cancer prevention.

Sleeping Naked is Green

Via Ads of the World

In Portugal, these press kits, which include a promotional sleep mask and pillows were sent to journalists to promote a new book, "Sleeping Naked is Green". I'm certainly intrigued as to how that might be the case. Hopefully the press kits explained a little more because if I were a journalist, I would not be won over by a sleep mask and pillow. Girls in "naked suits" were also stationed in busy squares to promote awareness about the book's release, which seems a little half-hearted to me-- if you're trying to promote nakedness and be controversial, people should probably actually be naked. Or at least naked under a sheet.

McDonald's Guerrilla Fail

Today I bring you the ghost of a guerrilla campaign past-- a ghost that is probably still haunting McDonald's in Japan because it was such a complete, total, epic fail. Back in 2006, McDonald's and Coca Cola teamed up to give away 10,000 promotional mp3 players in Japan. Sounds like a good idea right? You would be wrong, because a bunch of the mp3 players were tainted with QQPass trojan malware. When users plugged their mp3 players into their computers, the virus would steal logins and passwords and communicate them back to the virus creator. While McDonald's instituted a recall and distributed a software patch, the PR damage was done. They should just stick to handing out unique toys in their Happy Meals.

Raising Breast Cancer Awareness in the UAE

Via Ads of the World

Because breast cancer is such a taboo subject in the Middle East, most cases of it go undetected until it's too late for treatment. To stress the importance of regular self breast exams, Dubai Health City placed a promotional magnet in the middle of a popular women's magazine, with a sticker on front that says "feel here". When women feel the irregular lump, they flip to the middle of the magazine where they are reminded that early detection can help save lives.

"The Shack Summer Netogether"

In recent branding news, Radio Shack has decided to rebrand itself as "The Shack". In honor of this ridiculous new name, beginning yesterday and ending tomorrow they are hosting a "summer netogether" in Times Square and San Francisco-- basically, they set up giant fourteen foot laptops in busy city centers, with a live feed going between them. Can you imagine the size laptop case they needed for those suckers? OH-HO! Bad puns aside, I went down to Times Square yesterday to check it out, and it was underwhelming to say the least. They had some promotional umbrellas set up and of course banners to try and attract a crowd, but considering the amount of people in Times Square at any given moment, there weren't many people around the giant laptop. The image quality on the laptop was also terrible, which doesn't really help their case, and the host, who was interviewing minor celebrities about social media, was full of such gems as "what's this 'Skype' everyone's talking about". Overall, not really proving themselves as champions of technology.

Classic Guerrilla

Via Ads of the World

It's almost the weekend, which makes it time to talk about beer promotions. These promotional stickers of beer steins were placed on doors of pubs, cafes and bars so that the young target audience would be able to envision themselves drinking Tyskie upon entering the establishment. While it's definitely been done before, their marketing team certainly makes a convincing argument-- it's almost like a point-of-purchase display. Beer brands are lucky that doors lend themselves so easily to becoming steins-- wine promoters don't have that kind of luxury.

Volkswagen Shows Us What Guerrilla Is All About

Via I Believe in Advertising

This is a neat and really simple promotion for Volkswagen's newest car, the Golf with auto-parking. For the price of the promotional vest and the parking attendant's hourly rate, Volkswagen was able to gain visibility in places car brands are rarely seen, like movie theaters, cafes, and the beach. He looks like he's about to grab a shovel and build a sand castle with that couple! This is definitely a great example of a brand getting increased visibility in unsuspecting places for a low cost-- exactly what guerrilla marketing is all about!

Canadians are Hippies

Via Ads of the World

In a move surprising to no one, Canada has developed a guerrilla marketing effort to turn its youth into hippies. Raise Your Hand aims to mobilize teens and young adults to fight for workers' rights, using themes of rock and roll, youth empowerment, and social activism from the 60s and 70s to do so. At "youth focused events", Raise Your Hand sets up tents where ambassadors can talk to youth and woo them with the organization's "anthem" and free schwag, like apparel, buttons and what appears to be guitars. Take this critical tone with a grain of salt-- I've never been to Canada, but I actually love hippies, so I'm not at all complaining about this organization's goals and methods. Peace!