Survival of the Innovative

Between Television, Radio, Internet, magazines, mail...advertisements are unavaiodable. Many, like myself, have been dumbed and numbed to the marketing tactics of differnt organizations in these traditional mediums. The market place has become nothing but undifferentiated clutter and the survival of any organization depends on the single most important factor- innovation. It is of utmost importance, especially to small and medium scale enterprises, as they need to survive along with large organizations, which have huge sums of money and influences. So, for small and medium scale enterprises who just can't afford to take out an ad during the superbowl, you should pay close attention to all the places that these big comapanies ARE NOT advertising. This strategy has given way to Guerrilla Marketing and involves the investment of energy and creativity rather than money.

I personally think this tactic is more effective. I always take note when a message has the ability to break into my precious, protected, selective attention. Ad avoidance is my gerneral policy, consequently when an ad effectively breaks into my screen, I have to give credit where credit is due; the advertisment worked and the message was dually noted! I am more likely to take action for the organization if I think they are original and cool. Many others from my generation have similiar feelings towards marketing since we have been exposed and saturated in it from the moment our eyes could register objects. Our generation therefore is more critical and conscious than any market that has ever been advertised to in the past. This is perhaps why Guerilla tactics are extremely effective for Generation X and Y. We are very adept at tuning out traditional marketing tactics. When a company puts there message in a new place using objects that are relevant to our culture they make a sound and we hear it. Companies that can adapt to these new circumstances will survive. Those who think they can reach us through old methods of advertising will likely fall into the abyss of clutter and unheard messages. Sorry

Guerilla Marketing in its finest hours

Smirnoff: underage drinking isn't their only legal concern

Guerilla marketing is a technique employed in non-traditional mediums in order to get the consumer to hear or see a message when they least expect to. The suprise factor is the point and companies go to many extremes to achieve this. When marketing to young people it is important to have the appearance of being original and unique. In search of the perfect attention-getting marketing device, Smirnoff overlooked some important details.
In 2003 the vodka producer, Smirnoff, wanted to try something new to promote their Smirnoff ice drink to 18-25 year olds in Leeds, United Kingdom. They stenciled and steam jetted their trendy slogans and catch phrases in a busy underpass. But they failed to get permission from the government and were soon accused of vandalism. The government imposed a cleaning fine on them which cost them several thousand pounds. Smirnoff apologized for not following governmental procedures before marking up public property. Luckily they were allowed to keep up the art work until the completion of the campaign and accepted to clean the underpass once it was finished, so much for using a cheap media vehicle.
Smirnoff was successful in getting plenty of exposure. It is said that guerilla marketing in more popular with younger people and younger people is who Smirnoff was targeting in their marketing efforts. Although getting consumer attention is the main objective, it would help to not get negative publicity and government fines in the process!

Got Guerilla Marketing?

In Australia, Marketforce created an ironic campaign to inform people about the health benefits of drinking milk. Under the guise of a missing milk carton person, they place a photograph of an unpleasantly overweight person implying that what is missing is the fat from milk, or your fat if you drink milk. I think it is clever, however I think I might loose weight from loosing my appitite from looking at my milk carton.

Thought By Me

Guerilla Marketing is creative and creativity is the essence of effective advertising.

A new Edge on Advertising Clothing

A clothing chain in Belgium called C&A ran a guerilla campaign to raise money to support UNICEF. The initiative was to collect money for the young victems of the earthquake in Pakistan. In order to make a meaningful impression on customers, clothing was fashioned out of Pakistani newspapers and hung around the store next to the real clothes, featuring the message: "Is this the only thing homeless children will wear this winter? Help them with a gift at the pay desk".

"Jay is one of the foremost business marketing experts in the world. No one knows how to use the weapons of the trade better than industry expert Jay Levinson" --Entrepreneur Magazine

Guerilla Marketing is the future of the industry since the effectiveness of the 30 second TV spot is fading and the market is becoming increasingly deaf to the cries of desperate advertising. The Guerilla approach hits the target when they least expect it, in the bathroom or on a napkin. This new appoach has blurred the traditional media barriers. The conventional way of marketing was to expose the consumer to a product when they were engaged in a type of media, but now, we can find the consumer while he is doing anything, even number 2.