A novel approach - pop up bookstore

On the ground floor of a townhouse at 547 Hudson Street, in Manhattan's West Village , there is a book store that only sells one book: Martian Summer: Robot Arms, Cowboy Spacemen, and My 90 Days With the Phoenix Mars Mission.

Imagine, walking into a bookstore and seeing over 3000 copies of one book. You'd either find it really humourous and want to purchase the book or for the more curmudgeon types, be really annoyed. The idea was the brainchild of the 32 year-old first time author Andrew Kessler from Brooklyn, New York who wrote Martian Summer. Looking for an idea that would generate publicity about the book on a small budget, Kessler tapped friends and colleagues until he found a generous landlord who was willing to support the arts. Normally rents in this area go for over $1000 a square foot.

While pop-up stores aren't new, this is a fun spin that's helped raise the author's profile and generate some sales. The store is open for just a month (April 12- May 15) and to date Andrew has sold over 500 copies.

Any fun pop-up store experiences you can share?

Guerrilla-style campaigns - Inspiration #1

Let me inspire you!

There are so many great examples of how brand managers around the world are experimenting with different media and venues to build brand awareness, drive revenue and traffic. Many of these campaigns use social media, making it interactive with users who then take the idea viral by involving friends on social networks.

I'll post the top ten campaigns that I've found. Some of these require big budgets, but others are very guerrilla and are more an investment of time and creativity.

For many of you who stay up to date on the latest in digital marketing some of these campaigns will likely be familiar. For others, I'm hoping this will be a discovery.
And please, feel free to add your comments or share your favourite campaigns so I can feature them!

Enjoy!


Volkswagen - The Fun Theory, Stockholm Sweden

The Objective:

• Get more people to drive environmentally friendly cars by making it fun

• Establish Volkswagon as an environmentally responsible leader in car manufacturing

• Create awareness and interest in Volkswagen's "BlueAction Technology" which reduces environmental impact without compromising the car's performance.

The Insight:

• It's easier to change behavior if you make it fun

The Idea:

• The idea was to "test" the Fun Theory - that you could change human behavior by making things fun, by creating three experiments, “The Piano Stairs,” “World’s Deepest Bin,” and “The Bottle Bank Arcade.” All three experiments were filmed and released on YouTube; you could also go to funtheory.com to learn more about BlueMotion Technologies.

• Volkswagen also launched The Fun Theory Award, which allowed people to compete with their own ideas. Submissions were judged on how the idea could in a fun way change people's behavior and make a positive impact.

The Results:

• “The Fun Theory” became a global topic, with articles appearing in all the major Swedish newspapers and other major media outlets throughout the world. It became the most viral campaign in the world with over 20 million views on YouTube, 115,000 sharings on Facebook, over 20,000 Tweets, and 33,000 blogs have written about it worldwide. The Fun Theory website received over 1.7 million visitors, 10,000 fans on Facebook, and 10,000 subscribers on YouTube. The Fun Theory contest received 700 user-generated initiatives from 35 different countries.
  

• As a result, Volkswagen has become the most popular eco car in Sweden, selling 4% more green cars than they sold the year before, and exceeded their sales target by 50%.
  

The Work:



Bottle Bank Arcade



Piano Stairs


The World's Deepest Bin


The Fun Theory Award Winner - The Speed Camera Lottery

KLM - performance art creates buzz (and smiles)

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I absolutely love guerilla marketing as a way to generate brand buzz and launch new products. Here is a new favourite from KLM to launch their new "Economy Comfort Zone" on intercontinental flights. The event takes place in Manchester Airport using the Dutch magician Ramana. Advertising that generates awareness and smiles is a powerful duo, combined with the viral effect this ad will generate, it's a very effective campaign indeed.

PARK(ing) Day - challenges assumptions and sparks new conversations

September 18 is PARK (ing) Day. In cities around the world parking spots were “reclaimed” and transformed into public parks and social spaces. The annual event is all about bringing awareness and starting a provocative conversation on how urban public space is allocated and used. Started in 2005 by Rebar, an art and design studio based in San Francisco - a city where up to 70% of the downtown’s outdoor space is dedicated to the vehicle, while only a fraction of that space is allocated to the public realm.

As the group says “PARK(ing) Day challenges people to rethink the way streets are used and reinforces the need for broad-based changes to urban infrastructure”. "In urban centers around the world, inexpensive curbside parking results in increased traffic, wasted fuel and more pollution," says Rebar's Matthew Passmore. "The strategies that generated these conditions are not sustainable, nor do they promote a healthy, vibrant urban human habitat. PARK(ing) Day is about re-imagining the possibilities of the metropolitan landscape."

This very same question was pondered in 100 cities over four continents yesterday as artists, activists and citizens transformed metered parking spaces into public parks for a day. Over the four years of PARK(ing) Day, the conversation has extended to broader urban issues from public parks to free health clinics, from art galleries to demonstration gardens. PARK(ing) Day participants have claimed the metered parking space as a rich new territory for creative experimentation, activism, socializing and play.

While participation is focused on not-for-profit organizations, there are some commercial enterprises that did participate - businesses driven by a mission to change the world by offering earth friendly alternatives to common needs. One of these common needs is transportation. In Seattle, a “coalition” of transport groups leveraged the event to make people aware of alternatives to owning a car and promoting a healthier lifestyle. Living in the Pacific Northwest is all about access to the mountains. Zipcar was on hand to promote, in a very low key way, their solution as an alternatives to car ownership.

A two year old non-profit undriving.org, was also out promoting the “undriver license”. Their goal is to reduce car use on the planet and saw the event as a way to playfully interrupt people’s assumptions and inspire them to think about other car-less options.

This is a great example of how genius can be found by re-imagining the obvious and challenging common assumptions. It’s also a wonderful example of guerilla marketing.

Whether you are a non profit or commercial venture, how can you rethink the commonplace into something that innovates or sparks conversations about your brand, mission or cause?