Guerrilla marketing is a concept that still fascinates the world of advertising even 30 years since the phrase was coined. The term ‘guerrilla’ itself is fairly straightforward, meaning to use unusual or atypical tactics in order to accomplish any given goal. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that guerrilla marketing is very similar to its military leanings in that regard.
Sticker Campaigns
Fresh and original ideas can be hard to find in the current advertising market (of course advertising execs will be horrified at such a suggestion given the time and effort they spend on actively trying to be original!), but the reality is that today adverts are all around us. It can often feel like we have seen it all before or that advertising campaigns are even trying to patronise us. With that in mind, it can be hard for advertising agencies to come up with new concepts that the public will actually want to consume. It’s all well and good having a singing frog for a mascot, but down the line when everyone has forgotten your product and all that remains is the mascot, it’s not such a great success.
Marketing
Sticker marketing is by no means a new concept; stickers are a highly useful part of lots of campaigns because they are durable, visible and they appeal to us because they spark the remnants of fun childhood memories. They’re also an easy giveaway item for consumers. With that in mind, stickers can be hugely effective in engaging an audience. Smaller sized stickers often work the best because they can be used in subtle ways to emphasise a point or product, or simply as a teaser campaign ahead of the big reveal – whatever the big reveal may be.
Using everyday objects and adding a little something extra to them with a sticker is a simple way to make a big impact. Choosing an area with high footfall is a great start, perhaps on a commuter route, so that you know your campaign will have high visibility. Everyone will be so used to seeing the same things, they will notice a small change and want to know more. Natural curiosity will take over; people will find themselves wondering and get talking to each other about the strange additions popping up along their commute. Truly effective campaigns keep their audience thinking about them in their free time, with the aim that they will try to get to the bottom of it and learn more about the product or service along the way.
This then benefits you, the advert creator, because when they figure it out, they will want to tell people. The next time they’re heading to work and see someone checking out your sticker, they’ll be so eager to share their new knowledge that the cardinal rules of commuting will be thrown out of the window. All of this results in more exposure for your company.
Popular
Sticker campaigns require a lot of patience, love and imagination rather than a huge budget, which is perfect for small or start-up businesses who have all of these ingredients in spades but not necessarily any advertising budget at all. The benefit of being the relatively low cost is that small and medium enterprises are able to adopt this method and actually compete with larger firms who have much higher budgets and can simply throw money at a campaign. Sticker marketing has proven so popular over the years that such campaigns have been seen from big businesses too.
The idea is to be interactive, unconventional and offers a talking point without overwhelming the viewer with information. A great benefit to having a small space to work with is that there is pressure to make the overall message concise, clear and unmistakable or misinterpretation can occur and the campaign could even backfire completely.
Choose the Right Printing Company
Choosing the right printing company can be almost as important as the message itself; a good printer can advise on the right colours, size and type of sticker or label to print. For example, vinyl stickers might work really well for an outdoor campaign because they are weather resistant and eye-catching.
Environmentally Friendly
There are always going to be some concerns about environmental impact when a campaign involves paper, but this can be countered by choosing a responsible printing company who are adept at managing their green credentials. After all, they’re a paper company, they should know more than most about how to be responsible.
Ultimately, no matter how great or successful the campaign may be, the onus is on the product or service to perform in the way that the campaign promises, because if your aim is to create hype, then that has to be lived up to at some point. The beauty of such campaigns is that thanks to low-cost printing options if you’ve stuck with your product up to now, you can create an ad campaign that will ensure your clients get stuck on you.
