Street Sampling Blog

[experiential marketing at work]

If you’ve been reading this blog, and visiting our website you are very familiar with the ideas, concepts, and implementation of word of mouth marketing… right?

So it came as no surprise to come across this post made January 8th in the New York Times:

[sic] Barack Obama has repeatedly said how much his BlackBerry means to him and how he is dreading the prospect of being forced to give it up, because of legal and security concerns, once he takes office.

“I’m still clinging to my BlackBerry,” Mr. Obama said Wednesday in an interview with CNBC and The New York Times. “They’re going to pry it out of my hands.”

What could the “BlackBerry president” charge for his plugs of the device if he were not a public servant? More than $25 million, marketing experts say, and maybe as much as $50 million.

“This would be almost the biggest endorsement deal in the history of endorsements,” said Doug Shabelman, the president of Burns Entertainment, which arranges deals between celebrities and companies. “He’s consistently seen using it and consistently in the news arguing – and arguing with issues of national security and global welfare – how he absolutely needs this to function on a daily basis.”

As the article goes on to state, if President Obama wasn’t in public office, yet a well-known figure like Michael Phelps or Jerry Seinfield, the now Mr. President would be making a bundle himself for his verbal delight with his Blackberry device.

My point?

Exactly what I’ve been talking about on this blog and at the Street Sampling website, word of mouth advertising works!

The New York Times goes on to say:

Mr. Shabelman put the value even higher, at $50 million or more, because the endorsement is worldwide.

“The worth to a company to have the president always talking about a BlackBerry and how it absolutely is a necessity to keep in touch with reality?” he said. “Think about how far the company has come if they’re able to say, ‘The president has to have this to keep in touch.’”

Never, ever under-estimate the power of experiential (word of mouth) marketing! Nor where you next great promoter may come from!

[continuation of yesterday's experiential marketing discussion]

As promised yesterday, here is the rest of my discussion regarding guerilla marketing versus traditional marketing methods:

… Traditional advertising methods have been proven conclusively to actually drive consumers away now.

Modern advances in technology have opened up new realms for shopping to all people and they have become very unappreciative of time-consuming techniques that attempt to make them feel responsible to make certain purchases. Instead, they will act far sooner with the proper mental buttons pushed – and they will look back on the experience with pleasure and happiness associated.

Back in the 80’s when guerrilla (i.e., experiential) marketing was officially introduced, it was thought to be best geared towards small businesses on smaller budgets. The emphasis was on money-saving, creative approaches to shock buyers into purchasing. Through the direct evolution of the brand marketing art, today it is utilized more and more commonly by major advertisers like Nokia, General Motors, Harley-Davidson, Levi’s, Volkswagen and many others.

Guerrilla marketing has been accepted by the advertising world as a super-effective, aggressive and entertaining promotional system.

You can learn so much more about the exciting realm of guerrilla marketing today by visiting our main web site, Street Sampling. There you will find psychological tactics that will act to ensure the lucrative success of your future advertising campaigns – and they will be far more cost effective than the outdated techniques that traditional marketing firms continue to drive into the ground.

Imagination, creativity, emotional stirring and unbound avenues to tap into the minds of your targeted audience all act in seamless conjunction. Beyond a shadow of a doubt, experiential marketing works to drive your sales through the roof and get you branded faster than you ever thought possible.

[Experiential Marketing Tactics Result in Instant Sales Surges and Lightning-Fast Branding]

Guerrilla marketing refers to a system of unconventional techniques for product or message promotion. It relies on unexpected tactics being utilized to strike the emotional centers of the brain that have to do with comfort and pleasure. Simultaneously meshing feelings of trust and the avoidance of discomfort, guerrilla marketers are able to drive surges in sales and greatly diminish branding time for advertisers. Also called brand marketing, these techniques create a buzz in the streets concerning a given product, brand or message and act to quickly establish relationships with potential consumers.

The guerrilla marketer must be in touch with his or her targeted audience. He or she needs to be aware of the target group’s feelings and thoughts concerning relevant issues that surround their propensity to purchase or act in the desired manner. Time is critical and the marketer has only seconds in which to tap into the mind of the prospect and lock their interest in. Unconventional marketing strategies like these utilize an array of visual, audible and other types of nerve-striking vehicles to forge a path to instant sales and brand acceptance.

Whereas traditional benefits-and-values advertising attempts to appeal directly to a consumer’s sense of practicality, guerrilla marketing techniques do the same in addition to creating an emotional need for the product. Impulse purchases are the desired goal – along with brand acceptance for the long run. When these types of unanticipated sales techniques are unleashed upon the public, they are received with humor, easiness and effectiveness.

[More about "traditional marketing" tomorrow, stay tuned!]

[experiential/guerrilla marketing for your website ideas]

First, a hearty Happy New Year to everyone! I spent time in Las Vegas, a favorite spot of mine – and a great place to start off the new year.

And, today I’d like to give you an example of how to translate a bit of what we do at Street Sampling to online – and how to make that so important “person to person” connection that is the hallmark of good guerilla marketing since this question often appears in our comments section. It’s natural to want new and creative ideas for your blog and/or website, not just natural, but necessary!

Read this (received today from a friend) and follow the instructions carefully. You will be rewarded.

HEMA is a Dutch department store. The first store opened on November 4, 1926, in Amsterdam. Now there are 150 stores all over the Netherlands.

Take a look at HEMA’s product page. You can’t order anything and it’s in Dutch. But do go to the website, and sit and wait. Do not click on any of the items in the picture. Again, your patience will be rewarded.

This company has a sense of humor and a great computer programmer!

HEMA – Click Here

Done? Fantastic! So when you’re trying to figure out how to get the interaction you need from your online visitors, try pushing your marketing more into the realm of experiential marketing, the way the folks at HEMA have.

Get creative!

Happy New Year!
Scott