The Jack Burger Truck Comes to the Live Music Capital of the World

divider

February 8th, 2013

The Jack Burger Truck is coming to Austin!

After a successful tour of Houston, in late December and January, the Jack Burger Truck is on the road and scheduled to roll into the Austin market on Feb. 23 – just in time for SXSW! With an impressive event lineup, that includes appearances at Rodeo Austin, the Zilker Kite Festival and Interactive Week at SXSW, the vehicle is primed to attract innumerable impressions and distribute thousands of Jumbo Jack® burgers with cheese to Austinites!

For more information, photos and to follow the truck as it tours Austin, visit www.facebook.com/munchiemobile!



Guerilla Marketing FAILS and Four Ways to Avoid Them

divider

January 8th, 2013

In today’s age of media and technology, it can be hard to make your mark in the advertising world. More and more, companies are turning to Guerrilla Marketing as a means of grabbing attention and inspiring interest by using consumer participation and/or engagement. This tactic involves extensive planning and a comprehensive knowledge of consumer culture. While it’s proven to be wildly successful, it does come with its share of risks which is why it is of the utmost importance to know your stuff before attempting to execute a guerrilla strategy. Take a lesson from some of the failed pursuits described below.

Not all attempts at this exciting and in-your-face approach to marketing are rewarding. When Ask.com decided to have a group of people hold a giant banner over a busy freeway in Seattle last year reading “Morning commutes suck. Let us help,” they didn’t seem concerned about the illegality of their stunt, but more worrisome is that they didn’t think about the safety of the drivers if the banner were to fall onto the 60mph freeway! Breaking the rules is one thing, but this was up there with Michael Jackson dangling his baby over a railing in terms of foolish decision making. Fortunately, thanks to the Twittersphere, Washington State DOT was on top of the ball and the banner was quickly removed.

A not-so-dangerous failed attempt was Universal Pictures’ promotion of the popular comedy, Forgetting Sarah Marshall, which didn’t appear to win over everyone. Especially the Sarah Marshalls of the world. Guerrilla-style scrawled ads were posted across major cities featuring disparaging phrases, such as “I HATE YOU SARAH MARSHALL” and “YOU SUCK SARAH MARSHALL.” Unhappy Sarah Marshalls retaliated with posters reading “You Suck Judd Apatow,” images of which went viral… Ouch.

Also, take for example, Cartoon Network’s epic fail, post 9-11 in Boston, Mass. While promoting their popular show, Aqua Team Hunger Force, they used jerry-rigged, wire- filled, LED signs installed inconspicuously on structures such as buildings and bridges prompting a crew of police and members of the DHS to mistake them for possible explosive devices. Too soon guys, too soon. This resulted in massive fines for Turner Broadcasting (I’m talking millions) paid to city police and Homeland Security.

Fortunately, many of these situations are avoidable if you follow some important steps:

  1. Do your research – I’m not going to say that what you do needs to be legal. There are a lot of laws out there after all, some more bogus than others. For example, did you know that in Washington state the “harassing of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other undiscovered subspecies is a felony punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment.” See more strange laws at www.dumblaws.com. What I will say is that it is helpful to know if you might be breaking one, and what sort of trouble you could get into. And how much it might cost you if you do. That way, you know whether to list “running from the law” as a requirement when hiring a team.
  2. Know your market (and try not to offend them) – Who do you want to react to this? And what do you want their reaction to be? Direct your efforts toward planning an event in an appropriate time at an appropriate place. Yeah yeah, you want exposure and ideally a massive crowd, but you also want the audience to follow-up. If your target audience is largely teenagers, catch them in line for a Bieber concert. If you want beer drinkers to Google you, why not host an experience at a tailgate.
  3. Commit, and hire people that are just as committed. Don’t half-ass it. You can be subtle or you can be bold, but regardless it is important that the plan is thorough and the execution is flawless. Account for anything that could go wrong and make sure everyone you bring onboard is on your side and well-trained. This might be tough if you have to contract out work, but it will be well worth it when it comes to execution.
  4. Have fun, for heaven’s sake. If you’re having fun, people around you will have fun. And more importantly, people around you will want to join in on the fun! If your plan is visual and you don’t have a crew, try and make people laugh or make people think. Some of the most effective modes of guerrilla marketing involve displaying data that the consumer can relate to.

Whether it’s a rainstorm, an unruly participant or a complaining vendor at the same event as you… sometimes you have no control over the elements. However, with carefully thought-out activations and lots of gusto, your brand is sure to make a splash!

LINKS:

http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20194067,00.html

http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-08-31/tech/30128765_1_monks-tradeshow-executives

http://www.dumblaws.com/law/1917

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



Happy New Year from Beyond Traditional!

divider

January 1st, 2013

Happy New Year from all of us at Beyond Traditional! Our New Year’s resolution is to become even more flexible, strategic and innovative, and to reaffirm our dedication to always being ahead of the curve and in-the-know when it comes to non-traditional advertising. We are looking forward to sharing our ideas and connecting with you soon!

Cheers!

Beyond Traditional



Sam, Uncensored: How to Make the Most of Your Mobile Tour

divider

December 20th, 2012

More and more brands are capitalizing on the benefits of launching a mobile tour program – they’re nimble, they allow for flexibility and invaluable one-on-one consumer interactions.

Brands, such as Wendy’s, Burger King and McDonald’s have launched national mobile tour campaigns betting on the effectiveness of guerrilla-style sampling, which is basically what happens when you don’t have a plan. In 2011, one fast food giant rolled out a fleet of 30 sampling trucks to distribute fresh smoothies and salads from it’s fresh menu makeover – the vehicles attempted to pass out samples without permission from venues or ties to any established events. This led to their vehicles being escorted out by security and infuriating fans who visited promoted locations, hoping to try new samples, only to realize that the highly touted food truck had already been kicked off the premises.

At Beyond Traditional, we don’t need 30 trucks – with a well thought-out campaign timeline and a concrete calendar of contracted and well-attended events, we can generate the same results for our clients with a single vehicle, a seasoned driver and a crack team of mobile tour experts working tirelessly behind the scenes.

When planning mobile tour campaigns, our team designs a tour schedule based around popular, established events where we have permission an­­1d documentation stating that we are welcome. This guarantees us a steady flow of traffic and vastly increases the number of brand impressions and quality consumer interactions.

While we have an extensive history of launching and coordinating wildly successful mobile tours, our most recent mobile campaign was with Verizon. We outfitted one of our 3D glass showroom vehicles with a flat screen television and eye-catching red lounge chairs and toured the Pacific Northwest spreading the word about the company’s new HomeFusion service.

Over 21 days, the vehicle travelled more than 2,000 miles and made stops at 33 targeted venues across Washington, Oregon and Idaho. The attention-grabbing vehicle garnered over a million impressions for Verizon and was most successful at the Seahawks blowout game against the Cardinals. Instead of paying an expensive sponsorship fee in order to advertise on CenturyLink Field property, we thought outside of the box and sought out a prime, privately owned location, on a major foot traffic thoroughfare, used by hoards of fans heading to the game. The vehicle and brand ambassador team was able to directly engage with crowds of fans and garner the same number of impressions as they would have on stadium grounds, but for a fraction of the investment cost.

If you’d like to chat about how to plan a thoughtful and strategic mobile tour, give me a call at 206.599.9855.

Cheers!

-S



The Jack Burger Truck Rides Again! Next Stop – Houston

divider

December 14th, 2012

On Nov. 17, after five months, 49 events, 14 cities and 40,000+ Jumbo Jack® burgers sampled, the Jack Burger Truck tour of the Southeast finished big in Baton Rouge.

Riding off the success of the campaign, a decision was made to keep on truckin’ and extend the tour — the Jack Burger Truck will be hitting the road and rolling into the Houston market just in time for New Year’s Eve!

Over the next several months, the Jack Burger Truck will travel the Lone Star State and distribute free burgers to Texans at some of the nation’s largest marathons, music festivals and rodeos.

Visit www.facebook.com/munchiemobile to view the truck’s progress and to find out where we’re headed next!