Chapter 12

Unconventional Advertising
 Objectives
• Learn about unconventional
advertising formats.
• Understand the reasons that
unconventional advertising is being
used today.
• Consider the pros and cons of
advertising.
• Become conscious of sponsorship
as advertising.
 Definition of
Unconventional Advertising
• Unconventional advertising (also
called guerilla advertising, stealth
marketing, nontraditional marketing)
is advertising that “ambushes” the
viewer.
• It appears or is placed in unpaid
media in the public environment—
places and surfaces where
advertising doesn’t belong, such as
the sidewalk or on wooden
construction site walls.
 Unconventional
Advertising Applications
• Unconventional advertising can take many
forms – free-standing posters on sidewalks to
street teams creating theatrical happenings to
brand builders in the form of children’s books.

Secretary
Agency: Diabolical Liberties
 Purpose of Unconventional
Advertising (1 of 3)
• Effective
unconventional
solutions
successfully
promote
brands or
groups in
break-through
ways.

“Maryland Cookies Invasion”

Agency: Diabolical Liberties
Purpose of Unconventional
Advertising (2 of 3)

“Eye-Trekkers”
Agency: Renegade Marketing
 Purpose of Unconventional
Advertising (3 of 3)
• There seem to be four main reasons for a
proliferation of unconventional
advertising:
– Unconventional advertising is used to grab
the attention of a cynical public.
– Remote control and digital video recorder
technology allow viewers to avoid
television commercials.
– Advertisers with small budgets find
unconventional media appealing.
– Some unconventional formats allow for
more participation on the part of the
viewer.
 Possible (Unconventional)
Advertising Applications (1 of 2)
• Pizza box cover
• Postcards
• Chalk drawings on sidewalk
• Car windshield visor
• Car mats
• Greeting cards
• Screensaver
• CD holder
• Instant Messenger screen backgrounds
• Tissue packets
• Music CD compilation
• Stickers
• Street teams
 Possible (Unconventional)
Advertising Applications (2 of 2)
• Collectibles
• “Hand back” with car key from valet
• Coat check tags “get back”
• Odor eaters for bowling shoes
• Handles of supermarket carts
• Bottom of golf holes
• Dance club stamps (free samples when you
leave the club, too)
• Popcorn box ads
• Mini-CDs on soda cup tops
• Viral marketing
• Webisodes
• Web films
 Ad Creep
• If advertising is disrespectful and
intrusive, we will all complain about
ad creep.
• If the public finds the unconventional
work entertaining, then it will be
effective.
 Summary (1 of 3)
• Unconventional advertising can take
many forms – free-standing posters on
sidewalks to street teams creating
theatrical happenings to brand builders in
the form of children’s books.
• One could think of unconventional
advertising as promotional design or
public relations or a mix thereof.
• Effective unconventional solutions
successfully promote brands or groups in
break-through ways.
 Summary (2 of 3)
• There seem to be four main reasons for a
proliferation of unconventional
advertising:
– To grab the attention of a cynical public.
– Remote control and digital video recorder
technology allows viewers to avoid
television commercials.
– Advertisers with small budgets find
unconventional media appealing.
– Some unconventional formats allow for
more participation on the part of the
viewer.
 Summary (3 of 3)
• If advertising is disrespectful and
intrusive, we will all complain about ad
creep.
• If the public finds the unconventional work
entertaining, then it will be effective.