Guerilla Warfare

As the world of TV and print advertising become over more saturated the use of guerrilla marketing appears to be on the increase. Unusual and attention-grabbing, the campaigns are often run with a much smaller budget than traditional campaigns; however often manage to achieve much greater coverage ironically.

Allstate Insurance in America carried out one such stunt recently, where a car was dangled over the edge of a tower block in Chicago and underneath was the company’s ad asking “Are you in good hands?” Apparently the company also backed this up with an advert where they filmed a car actually falling out of the tower block into the sea. The ad was then shown on TV, online and stills of the stunt also ran in the press. The only problem is perhaps that those on the ground could not appreciate it fully as they would have been unable to see the company’s logo on the board, however, effective nonetheless given the coverage received. Devised by Leo Burnett, Chicago, it seems the objective was indeed achieved – attention grabbed (Picture from Ad Goodness).

Another campaign that I particularly liked which was executed on this side of the pond a few months ago by Carlsberg, where they dropped “litter” around the streets of London, to the tune of £5000. £10 and £20 notes were placed around the streets with a removable sticker with the latest execution of “would probably be the best [insert whatever] in the world.” I have to agree with this one, definitely the best litter.

So, the next reason to love marketing that I’ve extrapolated from today’s examples? Marketing can be carried out almost anywhere and is constantly evolving. It’s not just about selling, it’s often also about entertaining and as more and more guerrilla campaigns surface who knows what will be thrown up next. And, it might just make you a little bit richer...