We’ve combed the web to find the best of the best urban guerilla marketing campaigns on the ground, in the streets and in the air. The following shows the truly amazing variety of clever approaches that people can and do use. Some of these are clearly extravagent, but some surprisingly impressive ones are cheap and easy. We’ve also included links to the source sites, both to give credit and so you can find even more cool stuff on your own! Leave a comment and vote for your favorite. Rhe links below contain even more cool guerilla marketing images.
High in the Sky: Some of the most provocative pieces of guerilla marketing are put way up in the air for maximum visibility. The above vodka and vacuum cleaner commercials play up visual vertigo and parody issues of scale. The dropped calls cell-phone sign is brilliant despite the simplistic pun, catching both passers-by and people from a distance. The bubble-gum poster, while not particularly outlandish, is a remarkably simple way to add a third dimension to a guerilla marketing campaign - a simple balloon on a base image (clever and cheap). The soccer ball is a great example of looking at opportunities within a particular context, while the jersey, well, it may be in poor taste but it certainly grabs attention too.
Down on the Ground: In a big city you’ve got to stay on your toes and watch where you’re going, so on-the-ground guerilla ads are another great way to grab pedestrian attention with small-but-clever designs. The manhole grill is pretty clever but a bit literal. The condom commercial could be better integrated, but at least it is better than the real thing. The steaming coffee is great optical illusion that also has an unusual element of movement. Though dangerous, the wheelchair makes an interesting statement - possibly a self-fulfilling one if people aren’t careful.
Ads on the Level: another great way to get attention and keep people engaged is to put things where they can touch and interact with them. The twisted lamp post (an ad for Superman Returns) is an in-your-face intervention that invites people to inspect it. A clever Ikea commercial turns a bus stop into a colorful and homey little living room. The Renoylds Wrap garage door is of course a clever play on the strength of the material they’re selling. The car commercial on the bridge is just fantastic - it changes over time, evokes a sense of action and adventure. And of course the Axe running sign plays on universal iconography familiar to us all.
So, what’s the secret to guerilla marketing? There really is none - some succeed by going big and bold, and others work by being subtle and clever. Some cost a great deal and others produce compelling effects with a few everyday materials. Of course, some of the success of each of these goes beyond their physical context - they are popular and interesting enough to have gotten a free second life online as well!
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31 Comments
June 7th, 2007 at 12:42 am
The pics are too small to be appreciated. Can’t really tell what many of them are about.
June 12th, 2007 at 4:22 am
Mate it’s a great find and love this sort of stuff.
I recently added something similar to my site Just Whatever
August 16th, 2007 at 5:40 pm
Thanks for these ideas! It’s great to see how people can be so imaginative, artistic and deliver the message.
I can only afford ‘down on the ground’ type ads for now. Hell, thanks for the idea, before reading this I had not even thought of that which is soooo obvious.
August 27th, 2007 at 9:18 pm
It reminds me of the old guy in Australia who for something close to thirty or forty years used to wonder around Sydney scrawling the word “Eternity” on the ground or walls in old fashioned copper plate hand writing with chalk.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Really cool Marketing Graffiti. Its great to see some of the art at work…sometimes people focus on one marketing source when there is soo many innovative ways to market, using artisic, writing, personalization skills.
Enjoyed this article
October 21st, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Hi, I’m a student from Berry College doing a report on Guerilla Marketing and I’d really like to use a couple of those pictures for visual aids. Is there anyway you could e-mail me the link to those pictures. I wont be contacting the host of the website or giving them traffic. Thanks,
Sean
March 1st, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Can anyone recommend a great book a guerrilla marketing?
March 10th, 2008 at 2:08 pm
Ha, I love the glowstick Guerilla Marketing technique. Pure genius.
October 14th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
This is a cool post about coupons.
i need this info for my site.
November 21st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Some really cool advertising techniques her, i thought that the term gurilla marketing meant for free viral advertising, this is more commercial cool advertising, anyway i love the post
December 10th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
One of the MOST AWESOME collections EVER. I remember working as a consultant for a company in NY and I showed them ideas similar to this stuff for a CONTROVERSIAL POLITICAL BLOG COMMUNITY they were started.
Simple stuff like dropping custom parachute guys onto the Giants superbowl parade (we had a rooftop of the building with MILLIONS below us on the ground.
Their response: “That would be littering.” Meanwhile every office on Broadway was dumping trash out the windows!
That’s when I knew it was time to end the relationship, haha.
Respect to all the companies that aren’t afraid to stand up and go guerrilla!!
Chris
January 21st, 2009 at 8:12 pm
I was wondering if anyone knew of east coast based guerilla marketing companies or private consultants.
Thanks.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:19 am
First of all you have to know the masters of guerilla marketing.There is no doubt their creative ideas.(Aksi mumkun degil.)
May 21st, 2009 at 9:37 am
That is very cool.No one has dialect them.
May 21st, 2009 at 9:45 am
All right Serra if you invent a creative idea (like facebook) share it with us. berkristelli@hotmail.com
Berk
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