An idea worthy of paying attention to and could be adapted by today's guerrilla marketer, The Pothole Gardener goes around London filling up those unsightly potholes with the lovliest of tiny gardens (I have been using the word 'lovely' way too much recenty). There is such detail in these and I am sure, once discovered that they bring a smile to people's faces. Another good idea I did not come up with.
Talk about an experience that Target should have sponsored. Japanese artist Yayoi Kusama took an all white room and gave children colored dots to place wherever they want. The results as you can see are pretty extraordinary.
The Artist
The experience, entitled 'Obliteration Room' was designed for the Queensland Art Gallery's ‘APT 2002: Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art’. So if you are in the neighborhood, check it out.
@Dan_Rosenberg found this one and sent it over, thanks Dan!
The Evolution of an Advertising Executive which if you look at the lower right hand corner you will notice the Guerrilla Marketing Plan mention with a familiar little character that may or may not have gotten us a bit of attention a few years ago. Which leads me to ask the question, if you make it to an infographic, can you really say you have made it?
Originally seen here.
On a recent trip to Cafe Duke, the local 'everything in one place' lunch spot near our offices I came across this startling bit of marketing genius:
So, for $1.15 you can get 12OZ of a cold coke in the standard shapless can. And for $.80 MORE you can get 3.5OZ LESS of the same drink in a sexier aluminum bottle, herein known as "Coke Fancy Bottle." Not only were they charging accordingly, but they were telling you right to your face that you were paying more for less.
Before I had viewed the price tags associated, I found myself initially grabbing for the Fancy Bottle and then I looked down and saw the prices. I thought it was very odd that they were pricing the smaller, less value product higher but then I remembered the overmentioned adage Sex Sells. And here we were seeing it play out blatently before our very eyes.
The marketers conundrum. On the one hand we have this great product (Coke in a can), that comes in the shapeless, not so attractive, not extremely functional packaging, and then we have this other product (Coke in a Fancy Bottle) that has sensual curves, feels good in the hand, represents progressive thinking and enlightened purchasing decisions and a willingness to pay more for the badge that says 'I have style AND taste'. I mean, let's be honest, who ever got laid from a 12OZ can of coke, but there is probably some science behind the premise that iPhone users have more sex than Blackberry users, we choose products that we want to outwardly represent who we are and who we want to be, and we want people to notice and act accordingly.
The genius here is that, whether they know it our not, Cafe Duke has created the perfect microcosmic user study. As I stood and watched for about 15 minutes I counted 7 people (primarily guys btw, phallic shape?) that went for the Fancy Bottle vs 4 who went for the standard can. So conscious or not, almost 70% of the people chose form over function and were willing to pay a premium for it.
So next time you are thinking of how to market that product, perhaps focus more on the emotional triggers that it plays on versus the value the product may bring to the consumer's bottom line.
In the late 90s, with my last company, Eisnor Interactive, we started to execute campaigns, mainly for Internet start-ups at the time, that involved the idea of using generosity as a marketing vehicle. Random act of kindness as the industry deemed it. I distinctly remember the conversations I had with the transportation authority of San Francisco on behalf of the newly launched Cars.com. I was asking to pay for everyone’s tolls for a day in each direction of the Golden Gate bridge on behalf of the newly launched entity. Of course they had no idea how to do it back then and basically told us that their system had no way of not charging people. We ended up hiring cars and having them go through the tolls and give cash to the toll-takers for the 10 cars in back of them. They did this time and time again. 500 yards down, brand ambassadors held large signs telling people who paid for their tolls and we got some good ink on it.
Since then I have done wallet drops with random amounts of currency in them, given thousands of free metro rides for mobile New York and Chicago residents, helped old ladies across the streets and assisted new moms with their bags. I have also handed out $50,000 in $2 bills, bought people drinks over the Internet at Carribean islands and distributed $100,000 to a variety of charities and nurses as a thank you for doing the work they do. All of this has been done on behalf of brands and we never received a negative comment or article when doing things for other people, even if we did it for a bit of corporate attention.
And while at one point it seemed that this tactic has jumped the shark, it now it seems that these were only the tip if the iceberg in the branded give back. The Groupon and daily deal craze could be seen as companies foregoing dollars in exchange for loyalty (whether it works in the long run is another story). Others brands are trying to reward people for watching and participating in their advertisements. Social endorsement for reward is commonplace and brands recognizing their fans on their own media channels is growing ever more popular. Additionally, brands supporting causes has gone from a reluctant must-do to an enthusiastic love-to-do tactic In the last few years. It seems that we have successfully transitioned a portion of our media thinking from a purely brand centric attitude to one where gratitude marketing is not only accepted, but encouraged. And I for one, thank you all for doing so.
Thank you, thank you so much. In fact, thank you so much, here is a little nugget of my appreciation.
Welcome to the world of gratitude marketing. It seems like companies are doing their best to let you know how much they appreciate your loyalty and if you happen to like what they are giving, hopefully you will continue to be a fan and ideally, you will even share your love on your social network you little influencer you.
This past weekend I was invited by American Express to come to a private concert with Sting in appreciation for being "One of our best cardholders." Not only did we get to see and experience an intimate music experience with a music icon, we also got free drinks, food and giveaways. During the event, you could see people constantly on their phones updating status and tweets as well as sharing photos and video with their friends. Membership does have it's privelidges.
It reminded me of Sirius radio's 20,000,000th subscriber concert at the Apollo theater featuring a free performance by Paul McCartney for random subscribers (oh, don't mind all those celebs who took up 30% of the seats, they are probably subscribers too).
Two recent campaigns that I came across seem to re-enforce the trend that giving back is good marketing.
Heineken 1 Million Hugs
After receiving 1 million "Likes" on Facebook, the beer brand sent brand ambassadors into the night to give hugs back in return for the love they were getting socially. That they were all female, were all quite attractive and seemed to only want to hug men drinking at bars (who did not seem to mind being on the receiving end) made for a nice attempt at a viral video directed at their target audience.
Porsche 1 Million Names
In a very similar campaign luxury car maker Porsche showed love to the 1 million people who "Liked" them on FB by imprinting all million names on a 911 GT3 R Hybrid and showcasing it at the Porsche museum inStuttgart as well creating a microsite where users can find their name.
Let's see if the trend continues (I have a sneaking suspicion that it will) and if more brands will start throwing digital or physical world thanks back at their fans and supporters and more interestingly if those experiences get more over the top as they try and outdo each other. In the end, the winner could be the consumer.
