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A blog dedicated to the weird and wonderful world of modern Advertising.

What counts as a guerrilla marketing effort?

We were talking in my advertising class on Monday about guerrilla marketing and are required for our portfolios to come up with a guerrilla campaign idea. However, we had difficulty trying to identify what counts as a guerrilla idea and what is just a brilliant outdoor/ambient media idea since the lines tend to be a bit blurred.

So I’ve decided to ask some of you clever people of the internet:
What exactly is the difference between Guerrilla Marketing and Outdoor/Ambient? 

MTR Spicy Pickle ‘Torture’ - Ogilvy IndiaBlech, this execution should have never gone forward. Torture really shouldn’t be used to advertise anything. Even though I get the idea, it’s just kind of sick. Especially when it’s been made so ‘cute’ by the illustrations. Not really crazy about the line either, it doesn’t work with the art as well as it should. Side Note: Is garlic even supposed to be spicy?

MTR Spicy Pickle ‘Torture’ - Ogilvy India

Blech, this execution should have never gone forward. Torture really shouldn’t be used to advertise anything. Even though I get the idea, it’s just kind of sick. Especially when it’s been made so ‘cute’ by the illustrations. Not really crazy about the line either, it doesn’t work with the art as well as it should. Side Note: Is garlic even supposed to be spicy?

Put Yer Ad Blogs In My Ask Box

If you have a blog about advertising / creativity / art / ideas I wanna see it!
Put the URL in my ask box and I’ll be sure to follow you. Please and Thank You!

‘The Anti-Drug Timeline’ IADA Anti-Drug Authority - McCann-Erickson, Isreal

Apparently it’s “the first Facebook timeline ad”. I thought it was a pretty neat idea but apparently Facebook took it down so I’m not sure how people are going to see it if not for this video.

If I’m nit-picking though, would anyone really have a picture of their girlfriend throwing their stuff off the balcony? When would you whip out the camera to do that and why would you then post it to Facebook? Think there might have been a better way to show a break-up, but otherwise it’s a great idea. I expect to see some copycat ideas in the future.

SAVE ADLAND!!

Adland needs $2,658.50 to help pay its server bill otherwise it’s going to die!
And we don’t want Adland to die, do we? Please help by going to http://adland.tv/ and clicking that little donate button! It’s a small price to pay to help save the ultimate advertising reference blog.

Verizon ‘Droid’ - McGarryBowen NY

My current obsession is Verizon’s Droid marketing campaign. It’s fascinating to see what this $100 million campaign produces in it’s assault against the iPhone. I can’t say much about the Droid itself (sorry guys, I’m an iPhone user) but this ad is amazing. Out of all the spots they’ve pulled out so far, this is hits it on all levels for me.

The copy is brilliant, the visuals are striking but not built on such obvious target-preferences, like the Tron inspired spots they’ve been putting out recently to appeal to gamer guys. I’m not sure if the futuristic appeal is really the right way to go and this ad is a little more human. Most of us don’t really like the idea that machines are taking over our lives, but even this spot says “It’s not a princess, it’s a robot”. Although, I do like how they incorporate the product features in the action-movie type ads.

I like this ad because it cuts across the BS. We all know that Droid and iPhone are competing, so why not just grow some balls and take them head-on? Sure, it’s going to turn-off some Apple fangirls and boys but you’re not going to sway them anyway. I think the one truth they have to hang onto right now is that Apple has over-saturated the market and people might be itching for the new thing.

Verizon just needs to be careful and make sure that their product really is up to scratch in case this campaign actually works. If people run out and buy a Droid, only to find out that it sucks, they’re not going to be able to convince people a second time.

What do you guys think?

Catvertising

I know this is a joke, but I totally wish it weren’t.

‘Elevator’ HBO Go - BBDO NY

The thing I like most about this campaign is that the agency has picked up on the fact that laugh at stuff that they can relate to just as much as the over-the-top bizarre spots that can either be hit or miss.

‘Tuxedo’ HBO Go - BBDO NY

In case you were wondering, my word is quill. Quill, quill, quill.
But what about moist? Moist, moist, moist.

Yeah, still weird.

Communication Arts Magazine: Advertising Annual 2011



Communication Arts magazine has just released their advertising annual for 2011 which shows some of the best creative work within the past year. Pick up a copy and check it out! Naturally, I’ll be posting a few up here that I really enjoyed. You can see the list of winners is online here.