Careful, That Shock Could Be an Ad Campaign

July 19, 2007 — -- When a guerrilla marketing scheme backfired earlier this year, few people outside the world of advertising had ever heard of the term.

But, when mysterious battery-operated light boxes, intended to promote Turner Broadcasting System's show "Aqua Teen Hunger Force," triggered bomb scares in Boston in February, guerrilla marketing went from advertising industry newcomer to terrorist in a matter of hours.

Despite this unsavory moment in the spotlight, guerrilla marketing has proved successful in attracting attention and garnering consumer loyalty for its products. Originally designed as a way to help brands stand out in today's advertisement-filled world, this new type of marketing has taken off, rapidly expanding to meet demand from clients, sponsors and even consumers.

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According to Sam Ewen, the CEO of Interference Inc., the company behind the electronic light boxes in Boston, guerrilla marketing's tactics work because they "treat consumers with respect" and allow them to make decisions "if they want to be aligned with a brand … or not."

"In my experience as a guerrilla marketer, I have found that clients are looking for more and more ways to form a connection between their consumers and their brands in ways that are relevant, in ways that touch [the consumers], that also activate [them] and get them to take a position or take a stand on something," said Ewen in an interview with ABC News.

Undoubtedly, anyone who saw the full-scale Roman procession making its way through New York City's Times Square last August to promote the DVD release for the HBO series "Rome" or the couple getting married last week in a giant "Wedding in a Box" erected in New York City's Diamond District to mark the launch of iVillage's new Wedding Channel certainly won't forget those sights anytime soon.

Unlike more traditional TV or radio advertisements crammed into a 30-second spot, guerrilla marketing campaigns often involve a performance aspect, an event designed to catch people's attention, which then facilitates a lengthy, often 10- to 15-minute, one-on-one interaction between consumers and the brand (or the person representing the brand).

"Brands are trying to make these connections where they create … these experiences, some of which are very unexpected, some of which might be a little more traditional, but, regardless, they're different," said Ewen. "They're something that [consumers] can look at and … say 'I am more behind a brand because it speaks to me in a way that I am, not in a demographic that I fill.'"