Unusual Forms of Advertising

[UK2004]

Seeing that thread on motorway side advertising has made me wander, what other very appealing forms of alternative advertising are there. Being conservative and structure I go through the typical for my business such as magazine advertising, getting products reviewed in papers and magazines, search engine optimisation, links from other sites etc, but what about things that really create a buzz, the hanging thing from helicopter is cool but way out of budget at present!

[Tazuk]

LoL the helicopters may be out of budget but as an alternative I can provide a 2-8 man skydive team with 200-2000 sqft banners to jump in to an event.

Still a large budget but thought i would mention it as it is in with the topic or in the near future i will be offering sky writing and illuminated banners.

Tony

[imica]

Hi uk 2004

There are many unique ways of advertising your business. You say that your idea is way out of budget, but could the funding be obtained from reducing your existing advertising? Do you measure how effective your current adverts are? if yes then perhaps you could use the funding from the least effective and try something daring.

Also try strategic alliances with other companies that can compliment your product, this can be a very cheap and effective way of advertising.

Best of luck :)

[crus]

Hi,

The back of my heads up for sale, approx 6" x 6" is available for a heena tatto advert that will be displayed (head shaven with a bic) for 12 months.
I will guarantee that you ad is seen world wide, particulalry in several major cities.

Cost, £1,000,000 including VAT.

D

ps should I put this on ebay?

[WakingDragon]

Ambient marketing can be pretty hit and miss.

Beer mats are good and cheap though.

I once got a quote for an giant inflatable cartoon character outfit which we were going to use as a variation on the sandwich board theme. It was about 600 quid and you could use it again and again.

Giving out branded bottled water in summer is good for events.

Get a single really bright t-shirt printed with your company name in some catchy way and walk around town with it on a saturday or rush hour or something.

[UK2004]

Funny about the tattoo only problem is Henna only lasts week or two at most lol!

Like the beer mat and bottled water idea will note that.

Any idea on cost of beer mats, wil do some googling now!

[WakingDragon]

Pretty cheap. Any little promo supplier should be able to do them for you. Try Sarah @ Ink Promotions from this site.

[crus]

Easy get the ad redone, maybe I should, put an itinery together with a three letter domain and have a laptop blog for the whole event!

D

[crus]

the Million Dollar Head Page maybe?

D
ps On a slightly more serious note, did an sms capture campaing, three girls, tight skinny rib tops walking down park street (main drinking area bristol) with text this number for chance to win an ipod.

Worked well.

[WakingDragon]

There was that company who recently stood near a central London train station trying to give away cash to promote their service. Most people would not accept it. One of the most bizarre failures of non-traditional promotional marketing I have ever seen.

[imica]

There was that company who recently stood near a central London train station trying to give away cash to promote their service. Most people would not accept it. One of the most bizarre failures of non-traditional promotional marketing I have ever seen.

What company was that WD, How did you hear about it?

[Hedgehog Toys]

I use the back of my people carrier, it seems quite effective as I do alot of driving and people can't fail to notice the advert on the back especially if they are behind you at the traffic lights etc

I had considered beer mats, i might look at that one in more depth :P :P

[WakingDragon]

What company was that WD, How did you hear about it?

I can't for the life of me remember. The story came through on a marketing newsletter and linked through to the story in the Mail or some similar paper - but I deleted it after reading it.

I think the company was some sort of spread betting on equities like IG Index, but I am not sure. Will try and find it :(

[WakingDragon]

here is something very similar I have found though!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3667775.stm

[SEOscotland.co.uk]

There was that company who recently stood near a central London train station trying to give away cash to promote their service. Most people would not accept it. One of the most bizarre failures of non-traditional promotional marketing I have ever seen.

Not really bizarre if you think about it. As people we are conditioned a certain way - if someone offers you something for free there is the inherent feeling that you are in debt to this person should you accept.

That's why the hare krishnas are always trying to give you something for "free" in return for a donation.

Its the societal rule of reciproaction at work.

The rule says that we should try to repay, in kind, what another person has provided us. If a woman does us a favor, we shuld do her one in return; if a man sends us a birthday present, we should remember his birthday with a gift of our own; if acouple invites us to a party, we should be sure to invite them to one of ours. By virtue of the reciprocity rule, then, we are obligated to the future repayment of favors, gifts, invitations, and the like. So typical is it for idebtedness to accompany the receipt of such things that a phrase like "much obliged" has become a synonym for "thank you", not only in the English language but in others as well.

[imica]

Thanks WD

it was good for them that their failure got into the press. It shows that good things can come out of getting it wrong. I bet they were happy to have it in the national press, saved them a fair bit of ad budget

[dcraigdc]

here is something very similar I have found though!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/3667775.stm

I would like to contest the fact that nobody went in to get it. One of my friends came back shouting that a bank had just given him five pounds for free. Of course we naturally assumed that he was drunk and ignored him. Oh if we hadn't been so foolish...

[WakingDragon]

This isn't the one I was originally talking about (which happened earlier this year in London - but I can't find any reference to it now.)

Just goes to show that people are stranger than you imagine. Particularly for British audiences the promise of easy, free cash just isn't enough of a driver.

[Admiral Collections]

the Million Dollar Head Page maybe?

D


Why is your head that big? I wouldn't advertise the fact if I was you.

Nic :wink:

PS Hope you have a great birthday but judging by your pic, if you are 30 your paper round must have been pretty heavy mate :lol:

[Tazuk]

Not unusal, but does anyone use, have used or looking to use incentive schemes as i am setting one up and it will be ready this week.

Tony

[WakingDragon]

I have worked on developing them before. They are a very good way of marketing and selling but they have to be appropriate to your business and customers.

[SEOscotland.co.uk]

Just goes to show that people are stranger than you imagine. Particularly for British audiences the promise of easy, free cash just isn't enough of a driver.

I don't think that it's not enough of a driver - it's the feeling of the unknown - nobody gives you anything for free mentality. Which is actually true most of the time of when you consider the reciprocity rule.

It can be very powerful especially if you want to rid yourself of the feeling of indebtedness, often it brings about unequal exchanges.

If I was walking past a group of people offering money - I would avoid as they clearly want me to do something, something I'm not sure I would want to do.

[Mac Yeti]

You could always use viral marketing as a more affordable method of alternative advertising :)

[Tazuk]

i have a viral marketing program ready to use but wasn't sure who to send it to and if it was an accepted way of marketing.

[10 Yetis]

Tazuk,

It is an accepted form of marketing, depending on what methods are being used.

Feel free to drop me or MacYeti a PM to chat it through, Free of charge of course.

[WakingDragon]

I know it is well past being relevant, but I finally found the article.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2006/02/22/ccdiary22.xml&DCMP=EMC-mcn_22022006

[Sarah-Ink Promotions]

Pretty cheap. Any little promo supplier should be able to do them for you. Try Sarah @ Ink Promotions from this site.

Thanks for the mention, I can do Beer Mats and bottled water - if anyone wants prices please have a look at my website or mail me

Sarah :)

[directmarketingadvice]

it was good for them that their failure got into the press.

I'm not sure why this was a "failure". It was clearly a "publicity stunt" for want of a better expression and it got them publicity.

And, if at the same time, they couldn't give the money away, it cost a grand less than expected.

It's not that new an idea. There was a guy in America a long time ago (1930s perhaps) who tried to sell money at a discount and people wouldn't buy it.

So, perhaps this company had an idea that this would happen (assuming they had done their research.

It shows that good things can come out of getting it wrong.

Again, assuming that having people reject the money was somehow a "bad thing".

I bet they were happy to have it in the national press, saved them a fair bit of ad budget

I'm guessing that getting in the national press was the point.

Just giving away money wasn't going to get people to use a betting exchange. They'll probably just spend it on something else.

From the link WD gave, it looks like they were after free press coverage, pure and simple.

Steve

[WakingDragon]

Unfortunately for Regent Markets their press coverage was pretty limited: one small mention in the online-only section of the business diary.

They could have made a lot more out of it IMO.

[Mwebb]

I have to agree with steve here.
I think Barclays and the big betting exchanges are big enough to have done the research, and probably ascertained that nobody/few people would take the offer up,

and would think that they would

1. have to open an account or
2. it is just a scam of some sort. or
3. Nobody gives anything away for free.

they have then used the obvious result to get some excellent press!!
And people talk about things like this....along the lines of here, and at home, and those people that walked past that are now wishing they had taken the money....superb word of mouth about the businesses.

At very little cost to themselves.