Mannequin Marketing

In an effort to put pressure on the New York City Council, interest group Privy Council called on Saatchi & Saatchi to draw attention to the need for more public restroom facilities. A clever (and shameless) way to attract eyes, these mannequins were placed in plain sight around the city. The mannequin backs directed passers-by to the Privy Council website, and encouraged those interested to contact city reps to voice the need for a new network of public restrooms.

Nike Goes Guerrilla for World Car-Free Day

Nike joined earth-conscious citizens in celebrating World Car-Free Day, an annual event dedicated to reducing dependence on automobiles by using alternative forms of transportation. Nike took part in the fun in Prague by placing paper “boots” on hundreds of cars throughout the city. The “boots” were a creative and cost-effective way for Nike to encourage consumers to run rather than drive, and the campaign received worldwide recognition.


View a video of the program here.

'Feel the Bubbles' with Nestle and Burnquist

Nestlé teamed up with skateboarding legend Bob Burnquist and skate filmmaker Ty Evans to promote their bubbly Aero chocolate candy. Armed with dozens of cameras, the crew created a skate park full of thousands of chocolate-colored balloons, and sent Burnquist skating through them. The Aero “Feel the Bubbles” campaign was viral success, with thousands of people viewing the ad online.

View the video here.

Global Warming Awareness: A Guerrilla Approach

As part of an awareness campaign for MTV Switch, cleverly designed flotation devices were dropped into Amsterdam canals. The realistic looking signs got many double-takes, as it appeared the individuals holding these signs were treading water (or drowning) below the waterline. The signs were simple (each one included a short question and a website address), inexpensive and effectively communicated the topics the show planned to address on-air.

Adidas: Unofficial Curator of Berlin Street Art

With a single iPhone application, Adidas has set themselves up to be the modern day curator of all things street art. The brand recently released Urban Art Guide, a free iPhone app that allows users to view a Gooogle map of Berlin's street art masterpieces. The app lets users search for artwork close to their current location, take a guided, walking tour of the best pieces, or browse a Gallery of all the city's featured art. Each artwork marker links to information on the piece, and, if the artist is know, the artist. Users are also able to rate and comment, as well as upload their own snapshots of new street art. Plans are underway to expand to other cities.

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"Lambient Media"

Thetrainline.com has recently started working with a new type of billboard: farm animals. The company is now outfitting sheep living along popular railways with Thetrainline.com branded coats.

The sheep owner, Hugh Broom, provided quite possibly the best quote in nontraditional marketing industry news this month: “...it’s surprising that nothing like this has been done before in the UK. There is quite a bit of surface area to work with, plus it’s sure to brighten up train travel. I just hope my ewes don’t start turning into divas!”

The walking, "baa"-ing billboards are part of the company's larger campaign, which uses the animals in both TV commercials and outdoor poster ads.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H6gs2OdzZj0

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Guerrilla Gardening: Street Cred for Foliage

While all would make great band names, "Seed Bombings," "Elicit Cultivations," and "Nocturnal Plantings" refer to an environmentally friendly graffiti of sorts: Guerrilla Gardening. Nature lovers in NYC have been doing this technically illegal community beautification since the '70s, but recent pop-up gardens have us inspired to head to the nearest nursery and get to beautifying. Whether taking over a street corner or introducing a single leafy friend to your neighborhood (as seen here), we're always happy to see guerrilla tactics showing their green side.

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Stairwell Smells Soon to be a Thing of the Past

UK parking company National Car Parks (NCP) recently developed technology capable of replacing less than desirable smells in parking garage stairwells with more favorable scents (think roses, fresh bread and roast chicken). Trial garages in four English cities are featuring the different smells and asking consumers to visit their website to vote for their favorite. The winning scent will take over stairwells at these garages, and, if the campaign is successful enough, could go nationwide. Fingers crossed a stateside expansion won't be too far behind.

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Airborne Advertising

Bubbly liquid+helium= bubble advertising? Called "flogos" for flying logos, this playful medium is gaining popularity amongst a variety of U.S. marketers. A handful of variables (heat? wind?) to consider, but a fun contribution to guerrilla techniques regardless. Bubbles aren't just for babies anymore.

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Not your Granny's Floor Vinyls

If the first few months of this year are any indication of things to come, 2009 is going to be the "Year of the Floor Vinyl". The level of creativity seen so far has been downright impressive. Both Frontline and SwissSkydive.com managed to take this non-traditional advertising to a stomach churning level with clever design and location selection. In Jakarta, mall-goers played the part of infesting fleas for shoppers on higher levels as they walked over the massive Yellow Lab image. The bird's eye view found in Netherlands' elevators had to have inspired many a stomach flip-flop. We always have to give props to those that can make our insides do a little dance.






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