DR|ADV » guerilla marketing

Mobilizing bloggers worldwide

Wim Andréa — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 12:51:08 +0000

Blog Action Day is an initiative in which bloggers all over the world are asked to blog on a specific day (October 15th) on just one issue/subject: the environment. I enlisted with DR | ADV already and now I’m part of a (growing) network of 9.203 blogs (and counting…). In total these blogs reach the stunning amount of 6,796,283 persons.

I really like this initiative. Because it shows the longtail-effect of blogging in such a clear way. Also because I’m very curious HOW all these bloggers are going to write about the subject. Will they integrate it in their blog’s editorial framework? Or will they – just on this day – ignore their format? I choose the first option. There is plenty of time to thing on a subject. But please be my guest and let me know how you would link the environment with Direct Response Advertising. Watch the video on Blog Action Day here.

Update: Oops… October 15th gone by and I didn’t even notice it. So much for this nice initiative. But I think I’ve got an item up my sleeve. And what the heck: this issue is too important to just stick it to one specific day! Don’t you agree?

The story behind the ‘Poeremetator’

Wim Andréa — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 12:36:45 +0000

Dutch company Overtoom (sort of Office Depot) is back on radio with spots that still promote their claim on quickness. That’s simple consistent advertising. But now they’ve gone multichannel! In the spot a man can be heard asking for a ‘poeremetator’. This word doesn’t exist. Not even in Dutch… The story behind this is, that Overtoom wanted people (that listened to the spot that was on air in a high frequency) to Google the strange word. What you get is this: 89.100 hits at the moment of writing! Smart!

Dutch donor-hoax proves controversial

Wim Andréa — Fri, 08 Jun 2007 09:36:16 +0000

The initiative of Dutch broadcaster BNN caused some stir. Not only within The Netherland, but also abroad: here (BBC), here (ABC) and here (France24) amongst others. Just do a Google-search on “Dutch Donor Show” and be astonished by the results (894.000)… In short: BNN said to air a show in which a very ill patient (kidney failure) would compete for a donor kidney. Afterwards the transplant would be arranged.

While everybody was condemning the show (ethical mainly) I was never under the impression that this was for real. I could not imagine that this kind of television actually was goiing to happen. I thought of the whole initiative as a rather creative way to raise awareness for the ongoing problem we have in The Netherlands when it comes to a shortage of organ donors. Despite numerous campaigns done by the government and several ‘good causes’ during the years to alter this situation. None were successful. But now we had the whole country (and the world) talking about this topic. While the real issue was covered by the ethical discussion, I am sure that the common public is now more aware of the situation that ever before. In this respect the hoax can be regarded as a huge success. People actually were forced to really *think* about their point of view on being a donor or not. It is rather impossible now – after this hoax – to NOT have an opinion. Saying “I do not (yet) know” on the question “Are you going to be a donor?” puts you in a rather peculiar standpoint: either you are a convinced donor now. Or a convinced non-donor. The time spent in the Dutch government speaking about the moral ins-and-outs of this initiative, could – in my opinion – better be spent on discussion about solving the problem. As BNN puts it: “The problem is real, the waiting lists are real and the three candidates waiting for a kidney are real. The show was a fake. We deliberately caused a stir to raise awereness for this big problem”. Mission accomplished as far as I concern. Pity the ones that still talk about the means and not about the goal.

Guerilla marketing gone wrong

Wim Andréa — Mon, 12 Feb 2007 22:31:32 +0000

No risk, no gain. That’s what guerilla marketing (also) is about. On the website of specialist agency Interference Inc. we cannot (yet?) read about a recent campaign that went wrong: for Cartoon Network’s show ‘Aqua Teen Hunger Force‘, the agency created a campaign that included ‘electronic advertisements’ in public places. In Boston one was mistaken for a bomb. Subway stations, part of the Charles River and a highway were closed for hours after dozens of the devices, which resembled Lite-Brite toys powered by batteries, were found in and around Boston.This was January 31st, 2006.

In the meantime, Turner Broadcasting (owner of Cartoon Network) and Interference Inc. offered to pay $2 million in restitution and other costs for the inconvenience and panic the stunt caused. Now, Jim Samples, President of Cartoon Network resigns due to the bad publicity the campaign caused. Guerilla marketing can indeed be of high impact, as Interference Inc. says on it’s website…