Thinking about the thinking behind advertising

For Denver Water, conserving water is a big part of their business and the Denver way of life. When researching the company’s background by visiting their website, I noticed a lot of their advertising is guerilla oriented. This ad in particular stood out to me because it’s clever and straightforward. The ad shows a park bench with plenty of room for one person to sit on painted with Denver Water’s signature orange color. The rest of the bench is missing. This strategy shows the customer that even though you will be conserving water, you will still have enough to use for your own personal needs. Also, the copy on the bench says “USE ONLY WHAT YOU NEED,” which strengthens the connection between conserving water and the partially intact bench that’s big enough for one person. Denver Water’s guerilla advertisement is not only creative but it is successful in spreading the issue of water conservation in eye-catching, thought-provoking kind of way.

This is a guerilla marketing campaign for The Western Union, a company that transfers money from one place to another for just a small fee. Their campaign needed to be simple and promote what they do. They did this by placing stickers in specific locations on a grocery checkout lane. Showing money moving from one hand to another via the conveyer belt. A simple slogan of, “ The fastest way to send money” being displayed above. This campaign works for many reasons, one being that it is a unique place to catch peoples attention while they wait in line. Maybe while mom and dad wait to pay for their groceries they will think of us poor, starving college students.

This was a guerrilla campaign by Mini Cooper in Amsterdam. The campaign involved putting Mini-sized boxes out with the trash and covering them with some wrapping paper and tape. This was executed Christmas morning making it look like people had received Minis as Christmas gifts in conveniently packaged boxes. It’s a fun, different way to advertise the Mini which resonates with Mini Coopers brand personality. The strategy here was to promote the Mini Cooper as an  affordable compact car.

This is a guerrilla advertising campaign for a casino called Casinò di Venezia located in Italy. I found it in a search for guerrilla campaigns on the web. It struck me as an interesting execution because it’s a moving and interactive approach. Anyone who has to pick up their bag or suitcase off the belt will notice something about it, getting the message noticed.

I think the strategy was probably to inspire travelers to go and spend some of their free travel time and go gamble. This is put into action by turning baggage claim into a spinning roulette wheel. The image is clearly noted and would probably catch people in the airport’s attention.

In a strategy to bring awareness to homelessness issues,  the Father Bob Maguire Foundation turned to guerrilla advertising to gain the attention of the general public.

Trash cans in urban areas were decorated to look like dinner plate settings by painting a knife, fork, spoon and onto the top each trash can opening. As people toss their leftover trash, they could compare their normal dinner plate to that of the homeless, who usually search for scraps of food.

The strategy is to remind the public of the extreme measures that some people unfortunately have to go to in order to survive. The slogan on the corner of the can reads,  “For the homeless, every day is a struggle.”  This slogan, along with the visual image of the can, is very effective in encouraging thought and donation to those who are less fortunate.