Outgrowing ...

This billboard concept may not be completely unique but most likely the folks in Chester, UK haven't seen a similar ad campaign before. Thinking outside of the box is very important these days and that is true for all kinds of marketing efforts.


Thanks James

Battery powered

This British ambient marketing campaign for toysdirect.com is nicely executed with this busvertising But somehow it would appear that some folks might be more so inspired to buy Duracell batteries when encountering this "toy bus."



Via: AdsOfTheWorld

Chalk it up

To promote the Livestrong message, Nike has automated what hundreds of cycling fans do during the Tour de France with pieces of chalk in their hands. Introducing the Nike Livestrong Chalkbot. This chalkbot will be in action in Europe starting Saturday July 4th when the first stage of the 2009 TdF starts in Monaco and Lance Armstrong attempt to take another title begins.

Dear, sweet Emma

I recently stumbled upon a very cool animation studio called Out Of Our Minds just around the corner from my office. Yes, Winston-Salem, NC, not California or Florida. This might prove to be a valuable resource some time. Check out this little "Dear, sweet Emma" feature.

Floating graveyard

The coral reef in the Red Sea is apparently disappearing at alarming numbers and the green party in Israel used a floating graveyard above the coral reef to raise awareness to this issue.

Agency: DraftFCB, Israel

Oh so grippy

Sometimes interaction with a billboard is voluntarily but other times it is accidental or involuntarily. As in the case of this billboard for the new grippy Coca Cola bottle in France.



Thanks for the tip Edward.

An important thought

We have been preaching that brands who do not cut down their marketing expenses during slow economic times will be the ones to survive and come out stronger in the end. The Financial Times seems to agree and they actually put their money where their mouth is. They seemingly bought space on abandoned billboards to drive this message home, as it is doubtful that they just "seized" those billboards in an overnight guerrilla marketing effort.


Via: AdsOfTheWorld

A viral thrill ride

Many brands want a viral video, but very few manage to achieve it. Just because you put it on youtube doesn't mean it'll be popular and spread around. DC Shoes on the other hand with their Ken Block Gymkhana 2 video managed to get about 3.5 million views in a 20 day span and they also got great exposure with Gymkhana video. When you watch this 7.5 minute clip you will understand why this video is so popular. Be ready for some sweaty palms.

Old guerrilla marketing stuff

Many people think that guerrilla marketing is a very recent phenomenon, but some non traditional marketing concepts date way back. Rock City in Tennessee started a very unique marketing campaign in the mid 30s using existing barns along popular roads in the Southeast and the Midwest and painted their "ads" on them. As big as would fit on the side or the roof of the barn, it said "See Rock City" or "See 7 states from Rock City." At one point there were almost 900 barns with the Rock City logo but the rules in terms of signs changed with the Interstates. Today the still existing 70 Rock City barns are popular tourist attractions.

Guerrilla pit stop

Red Bull recently did a little guerrilla marketing stunt in Times Square in NYC with a NASCAR style pit stop. The concern must have been two-fold. Will people in Times Square be too busy and self absorbed to even notice the pit stop? Will a couple crazy driving NY cabbies make the race car look somewhat slow? But it seems that the Red Bull people had it all under control. Vroom, vroom.

Coming soon

A new Guerrilla Communication site is in the works, and it will be all hand drawn and sketched. I expect it to be live and ready in another month, but I have a little teaser below. Usually I don't like splash pages, but the guy who does the drawings for me did such a nice job with the sample template that I am considering using it.

Intelligent lighting

How do you promote a car's intelligent lighting system that adapts to curves? The folks at Mercedes-Benz decided to use a conveyor belt in an airport to bring that message home quite clearly and take advantage of the undivided attention of the flying public waiting for their bags. The slogan simple says "Now with active curve lighting," but this guerrilla marketing stunt would be effective without words too.



Via: CrookedBrains

Finders keepers

"The thrill of the chase" is a guerrilla marketing campaign for handbag designer Rachel Nasvik and was done in the form of a treasure hunt in New York City. 96 of her handbags were carefully placed / hidden in various public places around NYC, like the one in Union Square below. In those bags were items most any young lady might enjoy, such as lip gloss, bobby pins and more, plus the note "You didn't find this bag, this bag found you." Rachel Nasvik's twitter gives you hints were the remaining bags are, and her blog shows images of found ones. That of course also helps her promote her twitter and blog too.

Via: Adrants

With attitude to spare

The Frawg of nTelos Wireless has unlimited attitude to go along with the unlimited prepaid calling plan the company is trying to promote. $30 a month gives you unlimited airtime without the hassle of a contract, activation fee and credit check. But Ladies, beware of the Frawg.

It is all about location

Location, location, location isn't just important in real estate, it is also key in advertising and marketing. In San Francisco, a company promoting “The Cure for iPhone Envy”, managed to get their ad placed a few feet from the Apple store’s entrance, and directly beneath the giant Apple logo. The advertising space in question apparently belongs to BART, the Bay Area’s commuter transit system and not to the Apple store.

Crayon Art

Artist Herb Williams creates sculptures from Crayola crayons and the work he does is quite stunning. The Crayola company must be quite giddy about this very unique non traditional marketing assistance.

An interesting side note here is that marketing people often get accused of doodling with crayons all day instead of doing actual work.





All images are © Herb Willams
Via: CrookedBrains

It is a meat market

Next time when you are shopping in a super market in Luxembourg you might get an interesting surprise when you get to the meat section. The government of Luxembourg is fighting prostitution with the campaign "If you pay a prostitute, you're financing human trafficking" in that part of the super market. The brings up the question, is the targeted audience for this campaign shopping in the super market?





Via: AdsOfTheWorld

Virtual shaving

The new iPhone app uArt from Gilette allows you to "shave" your face without the fear of nicks and cuts and no need to clean up after. You either use an existing image on your iPhone or take a new one and then you chose from a variety of beards and the shaving fun can begin. Even the electric razor sound is there. Save the fun images and pass them on to your friends.


Via: Directdaily

Oh my

In a new ad as part of Boost Mobile's "unwrong'd" campaign, Danica Patrick signs a few man boobs and makes those guys in the process super giddy. But since the average American male is clearly overweight and has man boobs any way, Danica Patrick better get ready to sign a lot of them this year. The question is, is this art imitating life or will it be life imitating art?

Via: AdFreak

Turning it on

How do unique guerrilla marketing ideas get started? The secret is embedded in the desks at Guerrilla Communication. Not only can we turn on hot concepts, we can also turn off cold ones. What is not to like?

Bright ideas

Does your business need help with some bright ideas? We can deliver. Contact us and find out we can do for you.

Delivering hope

Tide's non traditional campaign loads of hope is clever and great for the brand and actually helps a lot of people in need. The loads of hope vehicle shows up after disasters and allows people to do laundry on the spot. Now that is delivering hope, good will and brand awareness.

Captive audience

Going through security in an airport makes travelers a captive audience and it is amazing that not more marketers have taken advantage of that fact. Maybe the government restrictions are too tight or the fear is that the audience is captive but not receptive. But it clearly can be done and very effective too. A great ambient marketing campaign for Zappo's in the "shoe" bins is a perfect example.

Free is good

A guerrilla marketing campaign for the Salvation Army of Northern New England was created and executed for free and almost 50 local businesses offered space to make it happen. Exposure and feedback for the Salvation Army was outstanding.

Agency: VIA, USA


Via: DirectDaily

Recycled

As an environmental consultant Andrea Romani is mindful that many folks will watch her carefully to see if she is more than just talk. The first impression of course is her business card and instead of printing new cards, she is using a rubber stamp and recycles all kinds of items as the background for her card. A very simple marketing solution indeed. Of course she needs to be also aware that folks might just throw her freshly stamped card away.


Via: I Believe in Advertising

Guten Touch

With all the stress around us, we wanted to leave you with something calming going into the weekend. Multitouch Barcelona is a design group that explores natural communication between people and technology. People are invited to touch, play, move, feel as they do in the real world. Enjoy Guten Touch.

Mind that glass

My oh my this sheet of glass is so clean. Hang on a second, something seems a bit fishy here. Is there actually any glass? "Glass so clean it's invisible" is the idea behind this clever guerrilla marketing campaign for Windex.

Don't mess with the crazy chicken

What started out as a grilled chicken challenge, has gotten somewhat spicy now. A video on youtube alleges that people from KFC corporate have been calling the El Pollo Loco hotlines and leaving messages pretending to be customers prefering KFC's chicken over the El Pollo Loco one. The callers pretend to be from California, but the caller ID identifies them coming from Kentucky. Plus the knowledge of California "talk" is also off. "Prank calls from KFC. How professional. Guess if they had better grilled chicken, they wouldn't be so chicken," the video concludes.


Via: brandfreak

It is all in the suitcase

Human trafficking is still a big issue in certain parts of the world and Amnesty International in Germany wanted to raise awareness with the campaign "Frau Im Koffer." A woman with some amazing contortionist skills squeezed herself into a clear suitcase and was sent around a baggage carousel in an airport. Stickers on the suitcase made it clear for the stunned bystanders that this is a guerrilla marketing stunt.




Via: InivisibleRed

The winner is...

The winner in the search for "the best job in the world" appears to be a 34-year old Brit named Ben Southall. He beat out 35,000 other applicants from almost 200 countries for the job of caretaker of an Australian tropical island. Ben appears to be very excited about his new gig and seems to be very well suited to do that job, but the actual winner is the Tourism Bureau of Queensland who have done a fantastic job with this guerrilla marketing stunt. Bravo.

Be careful what you wish for

Audi challenges BMW. BMW responds. Checkmate. Be careful what you are wishing for.


Via: failblog

Lose that flab

Unique business cards are very entertaining and I usually consider them a marketing "gift that keeps on giving." That is certainly true for the card of trainer Zohra Mouhetta. This foldable card allows you to lose or fold away that "extra flab" in an instance. Just what you would hope that trainer will do for you.

Sticking to it

“Neglected Children are made to feel invisible," in the campaign Stop Child Abuse Now for the Australian Childhood Foundation. Child size mannequins were placed in high traffic locations around Melbourne and a poster was pasted over the them with only the feet and legs uncovered.

Agency: JWT Melbourne, Australia.


Via: DirectDaily

Give that message some meat

We often are told to give messages some meat and not just fluff. Along those lines, meatcards.com will allow you to put your guerrilla marketing message or business card info on 100% beef jerky. The key selling slogan is "MEAT CARDS do not fit in a Rolodex, because their deliciousness CANNOT BE CONTAINED in a Rolodex." Some Guerrilla Communication meatcards are on order as we speak.

Nude stuff

Seeing tons of seemingly nude folks running around London wearing only blue scarfs could mean all kinds of things, but the NudeInScarf activity is apparently a guerrilla marketing stunt for the new Peugeot 308CC. This convertible has a new Airwave Neck Heating system and thus according to Peugeot allows the users to "wear just it." But why is this stunt done with a scarf if your neck is actually being heated? Should it not be nudeinhat.com?


Via: Urlesque

Making a temporary impression

To promote the recent updates to the London Sea Life Aquarium, the Seal Life logo was stenciled on sidewalks with saltwater and Sea Life frogmen were seen nearby. This very clever temporary guerrilla marketing stunt most likely made a lasting brand impression for the aquarium.


Via: AdRants

Drive it like you stole it

As several security cameras watch over an industrial complex, one of the cameras catches a guy climbing over a fence and getting into the building. A few seconds later he is in the new Nissan 370Z and takes off like a bat out of hell. After a few donuts in the parking lot and some "taunting" of the security guys, the car joy rider thief takes off. Guerrilla marketing for the new Nissan? It is interesting though that according to the security cameras none of the employees there drive a Nissan.

Taking it literal - sort of

The new Lancia Delta 1.8 has 200 horsepower and to illustrate that point, 200 folks on horseback accompanied the car at its introduction in Amsterdam, Netherlands. That certainly was quite an impressive display but I feel bad for the guerrilla marketing assistants who had to clean up all that horse poop. But the more simplistic display of just a 1.8 liter bottle (representing the engine size) just wouldn't have been impressive or memorable enough. But since there actually were 3 Lancias, shouldn't there have been 600 horses?

A modern twist on snail mail

We may no longer use snail mail to the degree our parents did, but a Dutch Spray-Art group figured out a different twist on snail mail or should we say snailvertising? These snails may not be the fastest guerrilla marketing messengers out there and they certainly do not fall in the bigger is better category either. But we all know that "slow and steady" does it.

The bright "paint job" seemingly even helps the snails to live longer as Animal Planet’s research discovered that brightly colored animals are avoided in the food chain.

Agency: Boomerang, NL

Taking it to the dogs

Imagine your surprise when you are walking through the mall and all of a sudden a dog runs past you with a bag of dog food in his/her mouth. Since the dog clearly doesn't have a wallet to pay for it, he/she apparently must have "just fetched" it. Several dogs in South Africa were trained for a cute ambient marketing campaign for Eukanuba to carry a bag of Eukanuba food (empty) and then to do the same between specific points in the mall.

Agency: Saatchi&Saatchi SA








Via: AdsOfTheWorld

More edible stuff

Chocolate is pretty much perfect food at any time of the day, but chocolate business cards? We have lauded another edible business card a few days ago, but that is a different story all together. I understand that these cards are protected in an acrylic case so I guess the stuff won't melt in your pocket. But will that acrylic case protect it from hungry eyes? Mmm, dinner is still a few hours away, so I guess I'll have this card as a snack. Along those lines, if you want to really impress me, send me a Tiramisu business card.
Via: Crooked Brains

Not so small stuff

At Legoland in the UK environmental activists infiltrated the park and in a brazen mid day guerrilla marketing stunt put up a "Stop Climate Change" banner and small protesters on top of the miniature E.ON Kingsnorth coal burning plant replica. Rumor though has it that the kids at Legoland were mostly concerned about "how much longer?" until they finally would get some ice cream or other sweets.


Via: InvisibleRed

Eat the evidence

Crooks sometimes try to get rid of evidence by swallowing it when the police approaches. You can now do the same with the edible business card of headhunter Aert van Seggelen should your boss march into your office while you are contemplating other career options.

This campaign is money

The record inflation in Zimbabwe has rendered even trillion dollar Zimbabwean notes somewhat worthless. The Zimbabwean newspaper has used a bunch of these notes on billboards to illustrate the country's economic situation under President Mugabe and to raise readership and funds abroad.

Abandon ship ... or baby

In a guerrilla marketing campaign in Finland, UNICEF "abandoned" sound-equipped (crying) baby strollers in 14 different cities to raise awareness for the rights of children. Curious pedestrians looking into the stroller were greeted with the note: "Thank you for caring, we hope there are more people like you. UNICEF Be a mom for a moment".


Via: DirectDaily

It is raining umbrellas

The iconic red umbrella of the Travelers Insurance is quite well known and no longer needs much of an explanation. But people still need to be reminded that protection rain or shine can be had from Travelers. A new artistic red umbrella guerrilla marketing campaign was used in various cities to get exposure. Although it seems in that the umbrella buyer in Los Angeles must have been color blind or a fan of yellow instead.






Via: crookedbrains

Getting down and dirty

Not all marketing has to be completely self serving and Kentucky Fried Chicken is out to prove this in 5 different cities. Several KFC Colonels have apparently been spotted getting down and dirty filling potholes in Louisville, KY as part of a new guerrilla marketing campaign. Once the holes are filled they get a temporary stencil with the line "Re-freshed by KFC." Hey Colonel, I could point out a few cities and streets that really could use some re-freshing by KFC.


Via: adrants

Don't bite me

The guerrilla marketing action below is actually a couple years old but it keeps popping back into my head for its simplicity and low cost implementation. The most expensive part of that campaign was surely the idea.

The more "business cards" are taken, the more it is obvious that a dentist is needed badly.

Spring has sprung

After a long winter many people just can't wait for spring to come around with all those beautiful colors and warmer temperatures. Havaianas apparently want to lend a helping hand and recently brought spring in form of colorful flipflops planted in a few famous public spaces. Guerrilla marketing or a selfless act to make people happy? Either way, I feel very springy already.




Via: marketing-alternativo.es

The story of a bottle

Next time when you drink a Heineken you may want to think about the story behind that bottle. The ad below actually gives you some nice background of that green bottle.