When I walked to the computer lab this morning I spotted a tragic attempt at Guerrilla Marketing in the form of pavement marketing.
I was walking down South Clerk Street when I spotted the first.. doodle. Didn't think much of it until I passed the next one that read something about a "hip hop club night". That's when I thought: "...". Then I passed the third one which was unreadable and might as well have been in Mandarin (shit, maybe it was?).
These people probably thought they were being sort of... edgy.
Anyhow, now let me tell you what you did wrong:
1. Chalk.
Really? No, I mean: REALLY?! Last time I checked we live in Edinburgh. It kind of rains here. Kind of often. That means the chalk will be washed away. (This is a WILD assumption, of course.)
2. You chose a busy street.
Fair enough if your reasoning was that a lot of people will see this and it's also a route many students take every day. BUT. That also means people don't have time to stop and take a second look. Guerrilla Marketing is about targeting people in unexpected places. A place where people would (have the time to) stop and think: "man, that's clever".
3. The message.
It's supposed to be entertaining and engaging: Witty, intriguing and a little bit of a teaser, maybe even provoking - don't give it all away! Don't write "Hip hop night at Club X, drinks only £2.50. See you there". (No, you won't see me there.)
Guerrilla Marketing is a great word-of-mouth generator. If it's a good GM stunt that is.
I'm telling you now, that I WON'T tell my friends about this. (Well I will tell them how you failed miserably.)
Jay Conrad Levinson. Google him.
