[Oconomowoc]

Let's have fun and see what you have in regards with clever, unique & unusual advertising tactics that have worked.

I'll start.

So we have a rule here about advertising a business in your residential yard. This guy who owns a local business decided to fight back.

He bought about 6-7 crappy trailers and put them all over his corner lot yard. Each trailer has wicked cool and well designed bill boards on each trailer. They are on wheels so he can't get in trouble.

I talked to him recently and he says that it is his only advertising. He has no website and ranks poorly on G-Local.

He is swamped with work. He figures he has about 2,000 cars a day driving past his house. People stop and pull over just to write down the number. He puts prices on his signage.

 

[Roofcheck]

Let's have fun and see what you have in regards with clever, unique & unusual advertising tactics that have worked.

I'll start.

So we have a rule here about advertising a business in your residential yard. This guy who owns a local business decided to fight back.

He bought about 6-7 crappy trailers and put them all over his corner lot yard. Each trailer has wicked cool and well designed bill boards on each trailer. They are on wheels so he can't get in trouble.

I talked to him recently and he says that it is his only advertising. He has no website and ranks poorly on G-Local.

He is swamped with work. He figures he has about 2,000 cars a day driving past his house. People stop and pull over just to write down the number. He puts prices on his signage.

Will you be posting pics?

 

[Oconomowoc]

Will you be posting pics?

I don't feel it's a good idea to stir the pot given the fact I own a business in town. Lol

No photos on this one

 

[tedanderson]

Blur out the names and phone numbers on the containers so that nobody knows it's you.

 

[Pearce Services]

There was one locally here in Boston...Didn't work out too good

In 2007 an advertiser placed battery operated screens that looked like "Light-Bright" of a cartoon character in advance of it's release.

Apparently the officials in the area determined it to be a terrorist threat against the city. Last I heard, they were facing criminal charges and restitution orders.

here is the story if you are interested http://www.boston.com/news/specials/local/cartoon_devices/

But it was clever

 

[Pearce Services]

Here is a humorous article about a few other blunders in marketing...

http://www.businessnewsdaily.com/2174-guerilla-marketing-wrong.html

I guess Boston isn't the only area where they over-react.


I hope this thread digs up a bunch of good tactics. I see things everyday that at one time was marketing innovation, but is now taken for granted.

Cool topic

 

[Texas Wax]

:laughing: Where? Street/city , I want to see this next trip up.

 

[Oconomowoc]

I'm surprised nobody else has anything to add.

 

[donerightwyo]

Every door in town had a hanger on it for a tree service one day before a disastrous snow storm decimated our trees in October. Lucky? I doubt it.

 

[donerightwyo]

Another guy that has a large roofing company has a radio spot were he talks himself up as being local and not a fly by night type. Then he gives out his personal cell phone number. It seems to work.

 

[MarkJames]

For a one-man operation, simple photo on your card. Nothing slick.

When I was the manager in the home medical equipment business, there was one ad postcard that always stuck out above all others. It was the one that always made me read it for some reason, over and over as they came in the mail. It was a simple post card from a place that bought/sold oxygen tanks. It was called "tank lady" and had a face pic of her right in the middle. Plain and simple postcard, list of what they did, phone number and her black and white pic. She just looked like she had nothing to hide. I eventually called her up and sold some old inventory.

 

[tedanderson]

Moonvertising isn't that far fetched.

 

[Timo]

The local Furniture Market guy planted trucks like this all over the place. People complained about it to zoning, newspaper reporters pretended that it was noteworthy.

He ate it up. Brilliant!

http://articles.herald-mail.com/2011-11-23/news/30435791_1_box-truck-truck-drivers-harry-morningstar


My most memorable tag line? My high school buddy the undertaker claims the he "Puts the fun back in Funeral" But I've never seen him put that on a sign.

 

[Roofcheck]

When lived in Tennessee I had a well lettered box truck
displaying my gutter business. One rainy Saturday I drove it to the only Lowes in town and met a customer to buy ceiling fans, light fixtures, ect. for a spec I was building.

While inside for at least a couple hours we were finally in the check out lane when my phone rang, store manager very upset I was using their lot to display my business. Laughing I explained I was in check out lane with my customers with a boat load of light fixtures, bathroom accessories.

He personally came up to apologize and help load.

 

[Leo G]

I'm surprised nobody else has anything to add.

Probably smart enough to know that their smart and clever advertising took a lot of time and money to implement and they don't want to post it up on the internet for everyone to take for free.:jester:

 

[MarkJames]

Years ago, a senior marketing guy, who did a lot of print ads, shared his method for success. Let others do the hard work, market research, etc. and then copy what catches your eye. He replicated ads as he wished. As a result, his company was involved in a lot of litigation since he was especially brash (it seemed to me). They nearly fired him more than once, but he held his ground. They finally got around to defending instead because he produced.

 

[Oconomowoc]

Probably smart enough to know that their smart and clever advertising took a lot of time and money to implement and they don't want to post it up on the internet for everyone to take for free.:jester:

Or maybe nobody here does it or sees it. Lol

 

[Leo G]

Years ago, a senior marketing guy, who did a lot of print ads, shared his method for success. Let others do the hard work, market research, etc. and then copy what catches your eye. He replicated ads as he wished. As a result, his company was involved in a lot of litigation since he was especially brash (it seemed to me). They nearly fired him more than once, but he held his ground. They finally got around to defending instead because he produced.

No he didn't, he stole.

But that works.

 

[MarkJames]

No he didn't, he stole.

But that works.

To be clear, he would page through magazines all the time. When he saw new ads that caught his eye, he would have his own made up in similar style. I don't think that's technically "stealing", but it sure would tick me off as a competitor.

 

[Leo G]

Well he sure didn't come up with the idea himself. And putting your pictures in the same type of ad is pretty close to plagiarizing the thought.