It was supposed to be a seminar, hosted by the Dayton Ad Club and Books and Company, to teach local agencies and marketers about “Guerrilla Marketing.” The speaker, Al Lautenslager, co-author of “Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days” arrived at the Think TV studio to be greeted with chalk on the sidewalk “You can read a book about “Guerrilla Marketers” or you can hire one- www.thenextwave.biz.”
Then comes the next one, and the next one, with lines like “Big ideas, so little sidewalk” and “it’s only chalk- not like we spent thousands to get your attention. You probably can’t imagine what we’d do with real money” all followed by the agency URL.
Seminar participants saw the same thing. The local ad agency, The Next Wave, reached the people most interested in guerrilla marketing by demonstrating their creativity, without spending big money- or as they put it in one of the sidewalk headlines “It costs big money to put your name here or here (with arrows pointing to the names of Think TV donors engraved in marble along the sidewalk) but chalk is cheap.”
It’s that last tag that didn’t sit well with Think TV, or at least that’s what they said as they started hosing the sidewalk off, 3 hours before the seminar. Not to be daunted, the agency came back and re-chalked the walk in time for the event, and then arrived at the event as the agency logo- a man in a “blues brothers” costume, carrying a briefcase and a surfboard. Vinyl adhesive logos were added to the chalked walk as insurance against a second hose wash.
As a marketing stunt, the quick campaign achieved 2 of its three goals: while the seminar was in progress, a call came in about a piece of new business. It also cemented an internal goal of positioning the agency as the cutting edge creative firm to students from the School of Advertising Art who came to the second seminar session guaranteeing the agency that calls itself The Next Wave getting the pick of the best future talent. The last goal of reaching potential clients who attended the seminar has yet to happen. Maybe after they read the book, they will be more inclined to contact the agency about a guerrilla campaign of their own.
you can click on the pictures for a larger view.


You can read a book about "Guerrilla Marketers" or you can hire one.
You can read a book about "Guerrilla Marketers" or you can hire one.
Want to know the secrets of great advertising?
Want to know the secrets of great advertising?
Big Ideas- little chalk
Big Ideas- little chalk
So many ideas, so little sidewalk
So many ideas, so little sidewalk
You can trust this man to come up with the next big ideas marketing.
You can trust this man to come up with the next big ideas marketing.
People don’t read ads- they read what interests them
People don’t read ads, they read what interests them- sometimes it’s an ad- and if it’s by us- they probably will remember it!

ThinkTV needs a sense of humor.
ThinkTV needs a sense of humor.

What do you think?