Two Jedi walk into a mall and start fighting with light sabres.
Does it grab your attention? Do you whip out your cell and start sending pictures or videos to your friends? Do you search Google to see what it’s all about?
That was one of the publicity tactics that many of our groups pitched as part of an in-class activity to promote – in theory – Pablo Hidalgo (CreComm grad and artist/writer of numerous Star Wars material) coming to our college.
We seemed to agree that using guerilla marketing tactics like flash mobs – groups of people who assemble in a public place, perform an unusual action, and then quickly disperse – are effective ways for whatever you’re promoting to “go viral” through word-of-mouth and videos of the event that get posted to Youtube.
Since reading Cindy’s blog post on the T-Mobile flash mobs, I’ve been hooked on this entertaining form of viral marketing, and others like it, that seem to be quite popular in Europe.
In 2008, people in the U.K. were intrigued when a pair of “faceless” people (who, oddly enough, looked like the faceless people in that Doctor Who episode) began to appear at various events including Elton John’s party , Wimbledon, and Harrod’s Summer Sale.
Those who did a little searching on the Internet discovered it was a campaign for Lotus to create buzz about their new car, the Eagle, which used the marketing slogan “True character in a faceless world.”
In today’s world where the average person is bombarded with thousands of ads daily, it seems this form of public entertainment which sparks curiosity about what’s being promoting is the way to go .
Traditional print advertisements, like billboards, posters, and banners are now so ubiquitous in our daily routine, they’re easy to tune out. Even TV ads – although still holding a large portion of the market – are getting a little stale.
With fewer young people watching TV (turning to the Internet instead), and cable companies like Shaw and Rogers offering PVRs that allow you to skip through commercials, more and more avenues are becoming available for the consumer to avoid watching TV ads.
That’s not to say that advertisers and publicists can’t still benefit from traditional media – they can. And that’s also not to say that new social media is suitable for all advertisers – it isn’t.
But in order to get noticed and shout above the din that is today’s advertising scene, creativity and surprise where people least expect it are some of the most potent ingredients.
This flash mob ad for SKY TV used creativity, surprise (to the bystanders in the Sao Paulo airport in Brazil), a supermodel, and big money ($4 million worth to be exact), to promote high definition TV in their campaign “TV is now real”.
Personally, I prefer this type of interactive advertising that provides entertainment over the street giveaways from companies like Stride gum and Coke (and other various treats that have been shoved into my hands in various big cities).
Although if they can combine the two like Coke did for these students as part of their Happiness campaign, I’d definitely reconsider:
I agree about the creative aspect of it all- it's a challenge to keep people engaged, especially when they can change the station, switch radio stations, etc.
ReplyDeleteAdvertisers, PR people will need to get more and more creative- good group idea/thoughts from you guys.
I wish they'd brought the coke machine to Red River.
ReplyDelete