Statistics

Two thirds of the world’s Internet population now visits a social network or blog site weekly

220+ million people visit the top 25 social networks each month

Facebook alone has 500+ million active users

Social media Internet traffic has exceeded adult entertainment sites

Time spent visiting Social media sites now exceeds time spent emailing

52% of people who find news online forward it on through social networks, email, or posts.

59% of adults polled state that they use their cell phone to remain connected with their social network

Because of statistics such as these, companies – big or small – have seen to it that viral marketing services are integrated into their company. Because the cost per impression is typically much lower in comparison to other forms of media, businesses have been able to reach a very large buying audience at a lower cost when compared to other forms of available media.

Guerrilla marketing

The concept of guerrilla marketing was invented as an unconventional system of promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. Typically, guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconventional, potentially interactive,and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate buzz, and consequently turn viral. The term was coined and defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing. The term has since entered the popular vocabulary and marketing textbooks.



Guerrilla marketing involves unusual approaches such as intercept encounters in public places, street giveaways of products, PR stunts, any unconventional marketing intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. More innovative approaches to Guerrilla marketing now utilize cutting edge mobile digital technologies to really engage the consumer and create a memorable brand experience.



Guerrilla Marketing is specifically geared for the small business and entrepreneur.



It should be based on human psychology rather than experience, judgment, and guesswork.



Instead of money, the primary investments of marketing should be time, energy, and imagination.



The primary statistic to measure your business is the amount of profits, not sales.



The marketer should also concentrate on how many new relationships are made each month.



Create a standard of excellence with an acute focus instead of trying to diversify by offering too many diverse products and services.



Instead of concentrating on getting new customers, aim for more referrals, more transactions with existing customers, and larger transactions.



Forget about the competition and concentrate more on cooperating with other businesses.



Guerrilla Marketers should use a combination of marketing methods for a campaign.



Use current technology as a tool to build your business.



Messages are aimed at individuals or small groups, the smaller the better.



Focuses on gaining the consent of the individual to send them more information rather than trying to make the sale. 




The term Guerrilla Marketing is now often used more loosely as a descriptor for non-traditional media, such as:




· Reverse Graffiti — clean pavement adverts

· Viral marketing — through social networks

· Presence marketing — marketing for being there

· Grassroots marketing — tapping into the collective efforts of brand enthusiasts

· Wild Posting Campaigns

· Alternative marketing

· Buzz marketing — word of mouth marketing

· Undercover marketing — subtle product placement

· Astroturfing — releasing company news to imitate grassroots popularity

· Experiential marketing — interaction with product

· Tissue-pack marketing — hand-to-hand marketing

· Live-in marketing — real life product placement - see related article or Hostival Connect

· Wait marketing — when and where consumers are waiting (such as medical offices and gas pumps) and receptive to communications





Guerrilla marketing was initially used by small and medium size (SMEs)

businesses, but it is now increasingly adopted by large businesses.

Some examples of Guerilla marketing:

UMBRO final campaign

First concepts

Ambient and guerilla advertising

Mai ideas. Print media. Posters. Collage based.

Social network application, iPhone game and direct mail

Selected Idea Development

 

The client for further development chose “WALK THE TALK” idea. Some bullet points were considered:

The design should be changed towards European advertisement posters style;

Put logo on a cloth label;

Focus attention on the product;

Make the colors rougher;

Develop through the range of media;

Less background patterns.

The client brought a very rare publication of football graphic design book. He gave that book to me for inspiration. It was very kind of him to that. That book helped me a lot. I was browsing through the AD and D books, graphic design publications, web in attempt to find any style that would be suitable for my idea and will respond to the clients comments. There was nothing that could draw my attention.

Finally I found my inspiration on one of designer’s websites. There was a collage depicting night and day scene. The idea and realization were so powerful that I decided to use that kind of style on my concept. Collage technique was quiet new for me. I have never used it before. That is why I had to browse for some examples of work. I was very surprised to discover that Fred Perry main website is made in collage style.

Here some collage examples that I was inspired from:

Another source of inspirations was Fashion Artist Aithur Thrope and his works.

All those crazy Thrope’s ideas with skulls on shoulders, elephant masks made of cloth, hoods with build in aviator’s glasses have inspired me to use symbolic objects instead of heads as it gives a wider idea of brands personality than just a certain face or facial expression. Collage technique is the most functional and expressive approach to the problem solving.

AITHUR THROPE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gCmF4xz7HM8

You either love him or hate him, but either way, he is a rising star that is not going to burn out any time soon!

Aitor Throup was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1980. He arrived in Burnley, Lancashire in 1992. It was in Burnley that Throup developed a passion for labels such as Stone Island and C.P. Company. A mixture of Aitor’s interest in these products and his own passion for drawing led him to begin a BA in Fashion Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, from where he graduated with first class honors in 2004. In 2006, he completed an MA in Fashion Menswear at the Royal College of Art in London.

Aitor is fascinated with anatomy and his main interest is drawing. His hand drawn characters become the primary tool in the exploration of his ‘justified design philosophy’, which highlights the necessity of a reason or function behind all design features. Aitor's design process is centered around innovative methods of design and construction, in particular a construction process which utilises his own sculptures of the human body as a system for blocking garments. 

Throup’s graduate collection from the Royal College of Art was entitled ‘When Football Hooligans Become Hindu Gods’ which had a strong narrative thread running through it and a diverse selection of influences from generic military garments to Hindu symbolism.

He exhibited ‘The Funeral Of New Orleans: Part One’, at London Fashion Week in September 2007. The presentation of this collection defied conventional ways of exhibiting fashion, by showing the pieces on life size sculptures (also created by Throup) rather than models, each in a different stage of transformation. The presentation also incorporated a film created in conjunction with SHOWstudio, which acted as a sort of animated instruction manual, allowing the viewer to not only understand the transformational mechanics of each piece, but also to learn the narrative behind the collection.

Aitor has won multiple awards over the years, including the ‘Collection of The Year Award’ and the ‘i-D Styling Award’ At ITS#FIVE (International Talent Support #5). He has worked as an art director/stylist with i-D magazine, Arena Homme+, V-Man, and GQ Style, and he designed the cover for the December 2008 issue of Dazed and Confused Japan, which also included an 8- page portfolio of his work.

In 2008 Aitor collaborated on two special edition projects with Stone Island, which were presented at Milan Fashion Week: 'Modular Anatomy' (AW 08) and 'Articulated Anatomy' (SS 09).Aitor Throup began working as a creative consultant with the British football brand Umbro in 2008, which led to his involvement in the concept and design of both the ‘home’ and ‘away’ football kits worn by England at the 2010 World Cup.

At the 2009 edition of Milan’s ‘Salone del Mobile’ international design fair, Aitor Throup and C.P. Company launched the special 20th anniversary edition of the iconic Goggle Jacket (A driving jacket originally designed by Massimo Osti). The re-design of this icon featured a fully ergonomic construction, based on a life-size sculpture of the human body in the driving position. It also featured a unique transformational articulation built into the pockets, which allowed the jacket's structure to morph into a driving position when required. In October 2009 a special exhibition at the Royal College of Art in London showcasing the process behind the design of this anniversary jacket, was curated by Aitor Throup. In early 2010, the jacket was nominated for the ‘Design of the Year’ award by the Design Museum in London.

Aitor recently launched his product line for A/W 2010 on-schedule at Paris Fashion Week. The presentation, titled ‘LEGS’ consisted of a retrospective of his various trouser concepts from the past six years, and culminated in a collection of three specially developed trousers (titled ‘Prelude’) which were exclusively exhibited and sold globally in a small number of boutiques and department stores including Selfridges in London.

The guy is very creative. I really like his drawings, especially those that he made for Umbro’s kit  redesign.