Street Marketing Smarts: Som Sabadell & Photoville

Ready for some fresh air thinking? Breathe life into your next street marketing initiative with these examples.

USE LOCAL ARTISTS

Smart Mobs (aka Flash Mobs) have been around for some time, but this ode to joy is particularly pleasing. Why?

• As a plug for Banco Sabadell, it’s understated, joyous and inclusive – presumably the qualities the bank embodies.
• It reaches beyond regular customers to embrace the community – in this case, a worldwide one.
• It uses local musicians from local arts institutions (which ties in with the theme of “Som Sabadell: We are Sabadell”).

Not everyone has Beethoven’s 9th symphony at their fingertips, but there are plenty of hungry artists about. You could…

• Surprise a worthy audience (kids, volunteers, veterans) with free performances.
• Use unusual performers – Nokia employed ostrich puppets and Match.com a lovelorn prince to catch the attention of passersby.
• Mix it up – sometimes beer and classical music do mix (worth watching for the audience expressions).

The trick, as always, is to tie your initiative to your brand message.

• Make a list of 3 things you want your audience to know about you.
• Stick to it.

TAKE TO THE STREETS

Break down the walls. As Photoville proves, you can take a message anywhere:

• With a fleet of shipping containers and the agreement of Brooklyn’s local authorities, Photoville transformed Brooklyn Bridge Park into a temporary exhibition space.
• There were plenty of engagement elements, including lectures, workshops, nighttime projections, a photo dog-run, a camera obscura, a photographic greenhouse with camera flowers, etc.
• Plus a beer garden and food stalls to keep blood sugar levels stable.

If you’re bored with the same old, your audience is too. You could…

• Take advantage of disused spaces – lots, empty buildings, places where your local government would like to see some life.
• Seek out stimulating partnerships – improv comedy in public gardens, farmer’s markets in city parks, music in museums – find your audience’s sweet spot.
• Make it more than an event – Photoville gave audiences lots of reasons to return. Think about engaging your audience before/during/after your initiative.

As always, don’t forget to promote like heck through all your channels – online & off.

WATCH HOW YOU GO

Marketers may argue that this is brilliant, but it made me queasy. Guns don’t belong on streets.

• Street marketing is not always controllable. Think carefully about the consequences of your actions.

GUERRILLA MARKETING EXAMPLES

Want more ways to weave the web into the street? Have a look at:

• The Most Unusual and Creative Marketing Promotions 2009-2010 has a great list of guerrilla marketing tactics – check out the IKEA Facebook Showroom.
• 10 Awesome Guerrilla Marketing Videos – Mmmmm, oreos.

Or simply contact me to start throwing around ideas.

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