Archívy autora: ambient-cc

Authors

Assoc. Prof. Łukasz P. Wojciechowski, PhD.
Faculty of Mass Media Communication
University of SS. Cyril and Methodius
Námestie Jozefa Herdu 2
917 01 Trnava
Slovak Republic
lukasz.wojciechowski@ucm.sk

Prof. Katarína Fichnová, PhD.
Faculty of Arts
Constantine the Philosopher University
Trieda Andreja Hlinku 1
949 74 Nitra
Slovak Republic
kfichnova@ukf.sk

References

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The place of Ambient Marketing in the wider context of Guerilla Marketing

In every previous era, the markets had experienced a time of over-saturation. The current times are not an exception, as this occurrence is present and visible right now. The overly saturated market of products and services is typical for being unaccessible to newcomers, who often struggle to capture and retain the attention of a potential customer. This is one of the reasons why the marketing experts perpetually look for new ways to popularize their products[1] or the products of their clients. Approximately, in the last twenty years, primarily abroad, but also in the states of the former eastern bloc, the approach of guerilla marketing has been gaining momentum, as its forms and dissemination waves significantly resemble viral marketing. It is based on advertisement and propagation of products, ideas and services via unconventional techniques, appropriated to the target groups.

Guerilla marketing is in its core based on the previously verified and tested marketing principles, which are now, however, adequately enriched by new supplementary, creative, and original uses. The research by A. I. Maniu and M. M. Zaharie[2] proves that the originality of the guerilla marketing approach has a significant effect on the improvement of effectiveness of communication with the target groups. The research results show, that this aspect of originality tends to be well-received, especially if the new media are also utilized[3]. At the same time, guerilla marketing improves positive attitudes towards advertisement. However,  as N. Sinan, P. Aytekin and  C. Ay[4] pointed out, it is necessary to keep in mind the ethical aspects of advertisement (especially for the advertisements that use fear-inducing tactics), to avoid loss of effectivity stemming from the non-acceptance of the advertisement from the recipients.

Guerilla marketing is dedicated especially to small and medium-sized organizations[5], even though we currently could identify such initiations even from corporations and organizations that have national, even global reach. Companies and organizations have been utilizing guerilla marketing in recent years, as they have registered its (relatively) low financial requirements for a high effectivity in propagation[6]. Various forms of guerilla marketing attract attention of clients[7]  ̶  campaigns focused on creating the moment of surprise, using presentation of new, unconventional ideas[8], or unexpected, sudden activities.[9]

Hutter and S. Hoffman (2011) therefore present the potential benefits of guerilla marketing in its financial advantages and cost-effective characteristics as two of the primary incentives for companies and organizations. (See Scheme 1.)
Scheme 1:
Idiosyncratic model according to K. Hutter and S. Hoffman (2011)[10]

The primary benefits brought by guerilla marketing stem in the principle of improved capturing of attention of potential clients and consumers. Authors of campaigns focus on creation of a surprise effect in the initial phases of their activities, using new, unconventional ideas[11]. The moment of surprise, regardless whether it is positive or negative, never leaves a viewer unaffected by what they witness, by what the communiqué encompasses. Campaigns in the ambient forms do not plan on buyin media space in the classical meaning, as they rather use the effect of new sensations.

A sensation should be spread among the widest possible auditorium with the help of recipients, who thus become multipliers for the spread. Consequently, the second phase of the diffusion effect comes. Its task is to stimulate the needs of consumers in a way that would support spread of the communiqué’s message. This system builds on the low cost effect, as the moment of surprise is mediated by the target group members, effectively reducing the costs connected to traditional marketing and its dissemination channels. These mechanisms are presented in Scheme 2.


Scheme 2:
Basic effects of guerilla marketing according to K. Hutter and S. Hoffmann (2011)[12].

The basic principle of the moment of surprise is the aforementioned capture of attention of potential consumers, using unexpected and unpredicted activities in an effort to produce the feeling of surprise[13]. This can also be used  for the sole purpose of reminding of the brand or the idea presented. Surprise itself is the difference between expectation and reality. In order to reach this result, absurdity, humor and even shock are often utilized, as it is generally rather difficult to surprise consumers of the contemporary overly saturated market. The modern consumer is better-educated and more aware of marketing efforts that are in place, and thus guerilla marketing often has to include a camouflage among its objectives – hiding the marketing aim behind the objective to create sensation.

To reach the sufficient diffusion effect, it is necessary to first reach expansion of the communicated message in order for it to become a naturally spreading occurrence among recipients, the potential clients and consumers, which is the principle on which the reduction of financial costs stands. Another aspect of reaching the expected rate of success accounts for the effect of inducing an emotional response, that would motivate the recipients to spread the message – to share their own emotional experiences with others, using the word of mouth spread channel. Diffusion effect is best stimulated via the viral marketing strategies, buzz marketing[14], which can be classified as a part of viral marketing, or through the shady practices of astroturfing marketing, in which the marketer tries to induce a false or misleading impression in order to positively affect consumers, fans and/or other recipients (this can be used for products, services, political ideas and more).

The low-cost effect is also reachable via two more strategies. The first is to initially reach a wide audience for a relatively low cost, effectively reducing the marketing cost per persona. This approach is dominant in ambush marketing, which as an approach is often labeled as malicious, parasitic and unfair. This approach often creates an artificial connection between an event and the brand, without having the brand as actual partner of the event (and this can be possibly done in a way that is legal). This practice is most commonly seen at big sports events.

Guerilla marketing strategies are connected to offensive marketing and the records indicate they first emerged on the North American market. In marketing as a whole, this method emerged in 1910, even though the term guerilla marketing was not initially used in connection to the meaning common nowadays. Since the beginning of the 20th century and up to the forties and fifties, advertisers assumed that a consumer needs to be educated and their main objective was to include the consumer in the education in a playful manner, for example by interaction. Advertisements of this era insisted on relatively elaborated texts, in comparison to today’s reduced, more professionalized contents of advertisement communiqués.

Up until the late sixties, the controversial forms of advertisement had not become common. Until then, advertisement was oriented around ordinary budgets, huge and frequented expositions, catchy jingles and visually demanding projects. It was at this time when the advertisers began to realize that their viewers had become more resistant to marketing and the classical forms of advertisement had become less effective.

The marketing sphere became ready for the evolution in the form of guerilla marketing in the late sixties of the 20th century[15]. In 1965, the first definitions of guerilla marketing connected to the transformation of the business-oriented market to the consumer-oriented market emerged. At this time, budgets for advertisement had risen, with particular focus on radio and print, thanks to which new market opportunities rose and companies had to adapt to new contexts.

The principal change in understanding of the modern market understands the necessity to investigate relationships between the company, the society, the institutions, and the competition, and extends its focus to also research activities of competitors. The classical marketing was connected to the consumed products and the tools of sales. The offensive marketing, however, implements the strategies metaphorically inspired by warfare, adapting the principles for fighting against competitors and for development of marketing communication[16]. The reason is that the term guerilla marketing itself stems from the warfare terminology, referring to partisan tactics and methods used in warfare, with a special regard to partisan troops and small, paramilitary groups that fight against the odds, and are generally out-numbered and/or have to face a huge technical disadvantage[17].

The word guerilla comes from the Spanish word guerra (and the original Latin noun werra) that means war. The word guerilla itself could be freely translated as partisan war. As such, guerilla marketing is counted among the unconventional forms of marketing, which aims to capture attention of potential clients while retaining its low financial costs. The costs themselves are relative, however, as the sizes of budgets vary tremendously, and as the huge international companies have also begun utilizing the methods of guerilla marketing, while they can invest substantial amounts of money even into strategies that should be methodically counted among the guerilla marketing forms.

In principle, however, guerilla marketing strategies should be low-cost, relatively independent from the size of the budget. The objective is to capture the attention of clients without them initially noticing they are being addressed by a marketing propagation form.

One of the adequate and well-known examples of guerilla marketing, using commotion and viral spread, was the Blair Witch Project[18]. The American film titled the Blair Witch Project (1999) belongs to the psychological horror genre. The authors of the film were absolvents of the University of Central Florida. The authors only had a very limited budget for the film (60.000 USD) and a single camera. Two of the authors created an internet campaign, which spread a fictive legend about a witch from Blair. Internet pages dedicated to the witch aimed to reach potential audiences, using narratives that often spelled information such as: “In October 1994, three students of film-making disappeared in the forest near Burkittsville, Maryland, while making a documentary film… a year later, the footage they created was found.” (Poster about the alleged disappearance).

The Blair Witch Project film globally earned almost 250 millions USD and is counted among the five most-earning horror films of all time. Marketing strategies implemented in this fashion, copying war tactics based on surprising, unpredictable fighting tactics and unexpected irregular strikes instead of classic forms of warfare, have been gradually implemented in modern marketing and marketing communication[19]. Another example could be Austrian extreme sportsman Felix Baumgartner, who alongside with the Red Bull brand set the record for the highest parachute jump in history. The campaign carried the title Red Bull Stratos and it was based on the parachutist jumping from the altitude of 39.045 km, reaching the falling velocity of 1432.8 km/h (The Red Bull Stratos Project). The important part, nevertheless, was the preparation presented by the brand and the live stream from the event. On the day of the jump, the Red Bull Stratos campaign was available for live streaming and users could follow it on YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. On the first day alone, more than 8 million comments were posted. This campaign proves that an extraordinary event with well-prepared communication can gain millions of views, comments and interactions. At the same time, the Red Bull brand specializing in energy drinks gained on both reputation and visibility[20].

The first time the guerrilla marketing term was used with the same meaning and with the same contents, that are commonly used today, was in 1984 by Jay Conrad Levinson[21] in a book titled Guerrilla Marketing. He defined it as an unusual, unconventional form of advertisement with a low budget, which aims at conventional earnings, revenues and growth, but uses unconventional tools, for example widening of the inventory in suboptimal economic times, in order to inspire consumers and increase liquidity (Levinson 2003 )[22]. For comparison, we might consider Ives’ view (2004)[23], who defines guerilla marketing as a wide scale of advertisement methods, which try to reach people where they least expect it. Publicity stunts always capture our attention, and thus marketing experts and experts of the mainstream marketing use guerilla tactics with increasing frequency, as it is ever more difficult to reach potential consumers with traditional advertisement.

This new approach to marketing communication leans on energy, creativity and ideas. The main objective of guerilla marketing used to be enabling small companies in competition with huge corporations that possess unlimited financial capacities. Guerilla marketing activities therefore hold the basic premise: minimum effort, minimum investment, maximum efficiency.

Guerilla marketing builds on nonstandard techniques, currently more often than not utilizing modern technologies, placements and activities in real-life living conditions and at adequate times. Information about products, services and ideas presented this way spread naturally, similarly to urban legends, and in various forms of direct contact. Since the elementary trait of this form of marketing is creativity, it is required for the creators to apply their creativity in unique ways. Creativity thus becomes the only limit for guerilla marketing, more precisely, lack of creativity does – which has proven to be an unbeatable obstacle for many companies. Guerilla marketing tends to succeed in companies that are not afraid to take risks.

[1]      The product, in this case, means any result of creative activity – including ideas only.
[2]      MANIU, A.-I., ZAHARIE, M.-M. (2014). Advertising creativity – the right balance between surprise, medium and message relevance.
[3]      This might lead to the impression that this type of advertisement will be better accepted, especially by young people, who are closer to these technologies.
[4]         SINAN, N., AYTEKIN, P., AY, C. (2010). Guerrilla Marketing Communication Tools and Ethical Problems in Guerilla Advertising.
[5]         E. C. Bigat (2012) indicates that it is guerilla  marketing as a tool with low budgets that enables small and medium businesses to compete against big companies and corporations. Naturally, other opinions have emerged, for example see Z. Yuksekbilgili (2014) and his associated concluded that most of the smaller and medium Turkish firms have not utilized and do not plan on utilizing the tools of guerilla marketing in their future marketing plans.
[6]         HUTTER, K., HOFFMANN, S. (2011). Guerilla-Marketing – eine nüchterne Betrachtung einer vieldiskutierten Werbeform.
[7]      SHANKAR, A., HORTON, B. (1999). Ambient media: advertising’s new media opportunity?
[8]      CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
FRANKOVÁ, E. (2011). Kreativita a inovace v organizaci.
FICHNOVÁ, K. (2013). Psychology of Creativity for Marketing Communication.
[9]         MEYER, W.-U., NIEPEL, M. (1994). Surprise.
DERBAIX, C., VANHAMME, J. (2000). The ‚you know what?‘ syndrome – how to use surprise for gaining success.
[10]   HUTTER, K. a HOFFMANN, S., (2011). Guerrilla Marketing: The Nature of the Concept and Propositions for Further Research. s. 46.
[11]     FICHNOVÁ, K. (2013). Psychology of Creativity for Marketing Communication.
FRANKOVÁ, E. (2011). Kreativita a inovace v organizaci.UNCTAD, (2004). Creative Industries and Development.
SZOBIOVÁ, E., (2004). Tvorivosť – od záhady k poznaniu. Chápanie, zisťovanie a rozvíjanie tvorivosti.
CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. (1996). Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention.
[12]  HUTTER, K. a HOFFMANN, S., (2011). Guerrilla Marketing: The Nature of the Concept and Propositions for Further Research. p. 42.
[13]    DERBAIX, C. a VANHAMME, J. (2000). The ‚you know what?‘ syndrome – how to use surprise for gaining success.
MEYER, W.U. a NIEPEL, M. (1994). Surprise.
[14]   HUGHES, M. (2008). Buzzmarketing: Get People to Talk About You Stuff.
[15]   During these times, the debate over the US troops fighting in Vietnam was still important, and as such, the term guerilla marketing entered the debate from the discussions about the war. Guerilla marketing strategies were connected to success in conflict. As such, the initial guerilla marketing strategies often focused on liquidation and destruction of marketing activities of competitors (especially smaller companies against huge corporations).
[16]  HESKOVÁ, M. a ŠTARCHOŇ, P. (2009). Marketingová komunikace a moderní trendy v marketingu.
[17]  The word guerilla originated in the Peninsular War (1808-1814), in which the Spanish-Portugal asymmetrical forces called the guerrilleros helped in pushing the French from the Iberian Peninsula. Throughout the history, such asymmetrical forces were also called the rebels, insurgents, partisans or just mercenaries. See: <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/248353/guerrilla-warfare>
[18]   It was, however, not the first film to use the so-called found footage approach. The first successful experiment with the found footage that also included a beforehand prepared mystery with a big reveal was the film Cannibal Holocaust (1980, directed by Ruggero Deodato), which did not use internet marketing.
[19]  BANYÁR, M. (2011) Teoreticko-historicko-etické aspekty guerilla marketingu.
[20]   Two years of this event sponsored by Red Bull, one of Google’s top managers, Alan Eustace, beat the record by a jump from the altitude of 41.425 km (October 24th, 2012).
[21]  Levinson used to be the vice-president an advertisement agency Walter Thompson (US) and also a creative director of the Leo Burnett Advertising Europe advertisement agency. He used to give lectures about guerilla marketing at the University of California in Berkeley. He was the first author to set the theoretical basis for the guerilla marketing term.
[22]  LEVINSON, J.C (2003). Guerrilla Marketing in a Tough Economy: To succeed during an economic rough patch, you have to think and act like a successful guerrilla marketer.
[23]  IVES, N. (2004). Guerrilla campaigns are going to extremes, but will the message stick?

Specification of ambient advertisement and a proposal for systematization

The ambient marketing term includes all non-standard advertisements. If a particular advertisement is to be remembered in a wide range of advertisement materials, it is necessary for the advertisement to be uniquely creative and able to effectively use the placement space. In its forms and formats, ambient marketing is based primarily on precursored solutions and surprises by novelty. Its potential lies in interaction with the surrounding space and context, in which it emerges[1]. It reaches after the most varied communication tools, advertisement carriers, and placements, innovatively using their advantages, connecting them. Afterwards, it secondarily utilizes the benefits of the dissemination support of other media and marketing strategies[2]. The borderline meaning of the ambient marks a creative form used only once without the possibility of repetition, even though with future realizations, its value will be compared and identified with other iterations.

Ambient marketing faces various problems, for example the possibility of misunderstanding and controversy, and to an extent, even illegality. Adequately prepared, expressed and directed ambient marketing, however, has potential to be one of the strongest marketing tools available[3]. The common traits of all ambient marketing activities should be novelty, attractivity, diversion from the standards we usually see in classical marketing approaches, the element of surprise and capture of attention, that must be further retained.

In the last years, during which there have been strong trends of diversification and convergence of media and their parametric technological capabilities, as explained by H. Pravdová, (2016)[4], it is in the creators’ interest (and in their clients’ interest) to perpetually look for adequate approaches in various areas, as the old techniques and approaches register decreasing effectiveness. Tools of mass communication, as we know them in traditional forms, have lost a significant portion of their power. There are strong differences in active and passive use of the traditional media between the older and the younger generations of the recipients.

Ambient marketing uses non-traditional media, for example shopping carts, big surfaces on buildings, trash bins, street lamps, benches, and others. The main objective of an advert realized and exposed this way, in an unexpected place, is to speak to people and pique their interest. The selected position should be, however, clearly connected to the message of the advertisement, as the selection of the non-traditional marketing place should have its own reasoning, creating a complex meaning between the message and its placement. This way, the probability of success in capturing interest can be further enhanced, as it can pique media interest, and thus free media support.

A significant example of these principles is a campaign, that aimed to capture attention for a pharmaceutical product from the Jelfa company – a special pill, that should be able to reduce the effects of alcohol on an organism[5]. The realization of this campaign was referred to in 49 media, 3 of which were television reports – these media supporters, including major televisions, joined a large-scale media campaign without being aware of it. At this time, more than 7000 internet links and references emerged, while media costs of this campaign were at zero[6].

Even though these are just one-use-only kinds of realizations, connecting various types of sub-line and above-line media, they have been able to increase the efforts to create TTL (Through the Line) marketing approaches, crossing the division of sub-line and above-line activities, as their synthesis occurs naturally.

The English word ambient means surroundings or as an adjective, it describes natural conditions in the surrounding area. According to S. Luxton and L. Drummond[7], the first time the term ambient was used in the context of marketing communication was in 1996 in the Concord Advertising firm, a british agency specializing in outdoors campaigns. The name ambient became clear in its meaning after an increasing number of clients expected the agency to bring new elements that could be implemented in their campaigns. At the same time, it was necessary to create a term that would be able to unite a wide spectrum of various marketing activities under a single category.

Marketing agencies set the term for ambient communication in order to fittingly label their portfolio for efficient communication with potential clients. Clients pressed the agencies for new unusual solutions to such an extent, the agencies had to look for new placements for their advertisements. At the age of this genesis, there were places not considered for realization of advertisement communication – sidewalks, escalators, floors, elevator doors, inside doors of toilet stalls, sometimes even whole spaces or cycle paths (see Nintendo DS gaming console and Cyclepaths).

It was not possible to connect the campaigns designed this to previously existing categories, and so this new category had to emerge. Every term/label has their own etymology or genesis, and so we could use dictionaries as the first clue about their emergence. The ambiens term comes from Latin and means the surroundings. According to the Webster’s Dictionary, the word ambient is also an adjective, meaning surrounding from all sides. Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary offers a similar explanation, placed in the surrounding terrain. The Encarta World English Dictionary explains the word ambient as placed in the surrounding area. In relation to the marketing communiqués, it means that advertisements can emerge everywhere in the marked location, and it is not possible to avoid them or actively defend against them. It is assumed that the recipient will be exposed to the influence of the information contained in the advertisement communiqué in an unexpected moment, as it is not possible to avoid this advertisement as it is with the standard forms of marketing communication[8] – one could go to the cinema a bit later to avoid trailers, they could change the channel on television, refuse to take leaflets, block ads on internet websites et cetera. Consequently, such is the definition of ambient media by the Chartered Instytute of Marketing – a communication platform surrounding the consumer in their everyday lives, initially known as the lemming media, ambient media are communication platforms that surround us in our everyday lives – from the ads at gas stations to ads projected on buildings, ads on tickets to theaters, on the cricket playground or even on payrolls[9]; the term ambient media is most commonly related to the term ambient advertising. Hatalska[10] in one of the texts dedicated to non-standard forms of advertisement writes: “Ambient media are an alternative carrier, different from print, television, radio or internet. At the same time, ambient media are all non-standard actions realized via classical media and other communication channels.” Similarly, M. Węgrzyn underlines the problems of defining the term and especially the content the term ambient marketing should contain. Western authors explain the term as alternative carriers for advertisement, different from the known ones. At the same time, they are generally considered as unconventional marketing activities realized with omitting traditional media like print, television and radio[11]. M. Jurca et al.[12] the form followingly: “Ambient advertising refers to creative forms of out-of-home advertisement, mediating direct context messages via a change of element in the environment of the target group, that surprises the recipients.” We can therefore conclude that ambient marketing is a partisan type of classical outdoors marketing form, accounting with the fact that these types of advertisement are placed at unusual places, primarily in the lived environment of the target group[13]. According to J. Barnes[14], the characteristic trait of ambient advertising is to surprise the consumer with a confrontation with incongruent  stimulus placed on an unusual background. The consequenting surprise is a result of the difference between the perceived and the expected[15].

As we can see, the term is hard to define and even the experts of media houses have had troubles with it[16]. Often, outdoors activities are labeled as ambient, connecting it to the Out of Home marketing practices. Furthermore, the implementation of interesting ideas via the classical media can be labeled as such. Ambient marketing must therefore utilize unconventional  placement of provocative, but also common contents in lived environments[17], and that is why it is also possible to encounter the term street marketing in Spanish literature (Olivares, 2009)[18].

Based on these, we can conclude that ambient is based on unconventional, new and surprising ideas of execution of communication[19]. Ambient is therefore characteristic for its one-time use, individuality and the positive connotation of being borderline, placed on the periphery of marketing communication. Wożniak[20], the director of the Polish Dom Sprzedaży Mediów ARBOmedia, insists that the term presents non-standard advertisement activities that are realized in spaces where the recipients least expect it. Anna NowakowskaGodun,[21] the director of marketing at Clear Channel Poland, who focuses on outdoors marketing, thinks that ambient is the form of propagation aiming to surprise the recipient with a connection between context, atypical surroundings and unusual carriers via quantity or intensity of presence. She also underlines the importance of placement factor, realization and time aspects for execution of ambient advertisement. We can consider these to be the basic factors offering the starting points for definition presented by S. Luxton a L. Drummond[22]: „Advertisements placed at unusual and unexpected places (locations), often realized with unconventional methods (realizations), new or the first of their kind (timing).” We conclude that ambient media belong to the gallery of marketing terms that strongly avoid narrow definitions in a differentiated field of marketing communication and advertisement. Problems with differentiation and clear bordering of the term are also influenced by the fact, that underneath its meaning, there often are normal, usual activities from significantly distanced fields[23]. That is why simple drawing on sidewalks, placing advertisement on cashier  belts, changing colors of fountains of a frequented square (see The True Blood series and The Sopranos series or The Dexter series), organizing of fake manifestations or protests in the streets, or performing interesting choreographies in Flash Mobs, all of these belong to wide the family of ambient marketing techniques.

The influence of ambient on recipients is instantaneous. It creates a connection, resonates within the viewers and generates commotion with potential for a viral effect. What connects all of these activities is the fact that the medium is not only the carrier, but in itself becomes the communiqué, as according to McLuhan’s The medium is the  message[24], which is one of the fundamental dimensions of ambient advertisement.[25] Samborski[26] adds to the explanation, that ambient does not exclude any media, and as such utilizes all of the possible (and impossible) methods  and tools to reach the recipient. Ambient is an approach to advertisement, it is a way of thinking. It is the same advertisement, just more oriented towards the recipient and speaks to them where they live, eat, work, go, and seek entertainment. Ambient and sensation both impress the viewers in their home environments[27].

Ambient communication does not a priori reject any other form, but predicts the expectations of the recipient. Just like the typical outdoors marketing, ambient also uses the connection between advertisement activities and only rarely opts for individual strategy[28]. Ambient and Out-of-Home advertisements require a higher measure of creativity, as their exposition times are usually very short. These activities must also offer invention, fulfilling their roles and increasing the value of the used space, so they can leave a lasting impression[29]. Ambient media have to power to redirect the attention of viewers, forcing the to focus at unexpected realizations and their placements (Tahir, Ewing a Newton 2006)[30].  While the traditional advertisement only creates surprise by its content (for example, text or imagery of communiqués are unexpected or incongruent), the ambient media also use the ingruent element of the media itself – as it strongly contrasts with the surroundings, being surprising in the emergence itself.

Tools of ambient marketing also underline the measure of similarity in placement, realization, timing characteristics, material design or technologic support. We can therefore assume there is a certain coherence, thanks to which these techniques might be all categorized as ambient. The summary included in Scheme 3 explains it further. The scheme was published for the first time in our publication (Wojciechowski, 2016 b), but it was later revised with reflections on current case studies. Different from the previous version, in which the ambient marketing approach was categorized strictly as part of the guerilla marketing approach, the current version counts with the possibility of ambient exceeding guerilla (for example in costs, but also in disregarding other characteristics of guerilla marketing). We are aware that even this version is not a full summary and at some points, it might be insufficient in labeling all of the categories only in accordance with their respective material designs.

Scheme 3: The scheme of relations of guerilla marketing forms, revised version[31], authored design.

Ambient communication techniques have their downsides[32].  If they are displayed in a way that does not meet the viewpoint of target recipients, and their results may be impossible to measure. In order to make ambient approaches more successful, able to compete, they should meet the following requirements st by
S. Luxton a L. Drummond. It is a list of key factors that distinct ambient media from the other forms of marketing communication[33]:

  • Places stronger importance on tactics such as surprise, humor, creativity, and consequently, engagement of the audience (engaging the recipient strengthens the message, Shiffman and Kanuk, 1997)[34].
  • Enables a more significant engagement than just the out-of-home approach, and thus fewer losses. On the contrary to billboards, it avoids selective perception (meaning paying attention to advertisement from favorite brands and disregarding advertisement outside of the preferred sample), because this kind of advertisement cannot be selectively ignored (East, 1997)[35].
  • It is more intensively built on an incomplete message than the out-of-home approach. Unusuality supports interest of the consumer, thus increasing the consumer’s willingness to make cognitive effort to process the message.
  • The referential group, opinion leadership, and resonance with the target group have a higher significance – one likes the advertisement, one likes the brand – for example the word-of-mouth principle.
  • The way the consumer discovers the ambient in relation to the effectivity is of importance. Ambient partially works via mediating the surprise and creativity, but also through the consumer’s discovery that they are being spoken to. A recipient is prone to believe they have discovered something, and so the possibility to identify with the experience is strengthened. This creates a deep relationship with the target group.
  • Ambient insists on the target group that is more specific than in case of the out-of-home approach. Creators of ambient campaigns are generally young (up to 30 years old, Generation X members) and they target audiences of their age. It is considered to be generally difficult, reaching the target group of Generation X (AdNews 1999)[36], as this segment of the audience is less trusting than their parents from the generation of Baby Boomers , while they also consider themselves to be educated in media and able to see through advertisements.

Another important demarcation is the nature of connection between the consumer and the medium. Semiotics and symbols are a meaningful part of the transfer, especially in situation where lower cognitive processes take place (Fiske a Hartley, 1989)[37]. Adequately selected imagery, colors and context are able to carry meaning more effectively and faster than the text itself. In case of ambient advertisement, a symbol can be considered a medium. A symbol itself might predict innovation, sharpness, even arrogance or energy. An English company Posterscope, which includes various services from the ambient marketing approach in their portfolio, created their own authored taxonomy of localization and targeting of ambient communication[38]. This categorization is the only one we are aware of with this kind of selection process, in which the place of distribution correlates with the basic targeting of the audience, along with regard for the macro-environment (a city) with the micro-environment (a store). Authors therefore distinct between the following kinds of ambient marketing:

  • On the move: reaching the consumers on their way (advertisement on mailboxes, on gasoline pumps at stations, on television panels on city buildings, on mass transit tickets, on postcards),
  • On site: reaching the consumers in their everyday lives (advertisement on vehicles, on beer undercups, on toilet stalls, on theater tickets, at festivals, on illuminated shop vitrines, in telephone stands),
  • In connection with children: using sponsored schoolbooks, placing advertisement at amusement centers, on school trash bins,
  • In connection to stores: communicating in the area surrounding shopping centers (advertisement on shopping carts, on flooring, on shop receipts, on billboards inside the stores),
  • The strange category: including everything else that is not fitting for the other categories (huge leathery taxis, ads on bicycles, advertisement using humans, bagvertising…).

 

 

This categorization is followed by Hatalska[39], suggesting that ambient media tools should be categorized in five groups, reflecting on the way the communiqué reaches the recipient:

  • Group 1: Advertisement witnessed during commuting (advertisement on mass transit tickets, on postcards, on gas pumps at stations, on sidewalks, on surface of big entry halls at transit stations),
  • Group 2: Advertisement witnessed during entertainment (advertisement on beer undercups, on postcards in pubs, on boxes of matches, on theater tickets, on toilets, at festivals),
  • Group 3: Advertisement witnessed during learning and recreation (advertisement on school books, on trash bins and other carriers in schools, on pads for computer mice, in sports halls, at swimming pools and other recreational spaces),
  • Group 4: Advertisement witnessed during shopping (advertisement on buses, on shop flooring and outside of the shops, at places dedicated for caring for babies, on shopping carts, on shop receipts, on shopping bags),
  • Group 5: Other advertisements that are impossible to categorize among the previous (advertisement placed on bicycles, advertisement using humans, oversized mascots, laser presentations on buildings (video-mapping), on zeppelins and balloons, advertisements including actors…)

This categorization is prone to being criticized for a certain inaccuracy, as Hatalska in her second group mentions the entertainment time while she mentions the recreation time in her third group. According to us, these two categories are not sufficiently separated, and as such should not be considered disparate. Additionally, in the third group, the author connects learning with recreation, which we deem unfitting. Learning is a difficult mental activity, while recreation is, on the contrary, based on the situation of leisure, often without doing any specific activity at all. In the fourth group, the author includes the advertisement placed on buses, which we think could be counted alongside in the commuting category.

Both the Posterscope company and Hatalska establish their last categories as the most ephemeral, the final categories with everything that cannot be placed in the previous ones.

There has been an idea that non-standard creative advertisement is usually ineffective, while the effective advertisement is flat and based on cliché, even though both of this notions are easy to counter[40]. A creative and at the same time effective advertisement could be one that is not ambient and uses usual, standard and verified techniques. Many earned awards and accolades prove this, for example the categories of creative eCommerce, creative effectivity, outdoor, social influencers, creative innovations, creative data or creativity in PR campaigns along with many others (see for example the winners of the Slovak competitions Effie or Zlatý Klinec, who were definitely able to connect creativity with effectivity; but also international awards, such as Advertising Creative Circle of Great Britain, American Advertising Awards, American Advertising Federation Hall of Fame, British Television Advertising Awards, Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity, Clio Awards, Cresta International Advertising Awards, Cristal Festival Europe, Digital Media Advertising Creative Showcase, Epica Awards, Eurobest European Advertising Festival, Galaxy Award, Golden Drum, Gunn Report, Summit Awards, The Loeries, Women’s Image Network Awards, Young Guns International Award).

Even existing research[41] confirms the relationship between the classical advertisement that is not ambient and creativity.

It still stands, however, that it is the ambient communication and ambient marketing that primarily relies on connecting  creativity of campaigns with effectivity, making this connection one of the fundamental conditions and requirements. We dare to insist that it is one of the key, determining characteristics during the integration of an installed communiqué and redefinition of used environment. That is why we can conclude that this is a completely new look at ambient advertisement that regards use of traditional media and previously untouched public space.

[1]       WILCZEK, P., FERTAK, B. (2004). Ambient media, media tradycyjne – konkurencja czy współpraca?
[2]         AZHARI, A.G., KAMEN, J. F. (1984). Study shows billboards are more effective than recall, attitude‐change scores indicate.
KING, K., TINKHAM, S. F. (1990). The learning and retention of outdoor advertising.
[3]      HATALSKA, N. (2009). Niestandardowe formy promocji.
KASZUBA, Ł. (2014). Ambient media w Polsce. Zastosowanie Ambient Mediów dla celów promocyjnych na przykładzie wybranych kampanii marketingowych w Polsce. Dostupné na internete: <http://www.slideshare.net/ukaszKaszuba/ambient-media-w-polsce>
[4]      PRAVDOVÁ, H. (2016). The convergence of traditional and internet media – challenges and pitfalls.
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[6]       Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ALOqDo5FBm0>
Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJZKxYo8Q_0&feature=relmfu,>
Available at: <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89LFQyLy3BQ&feature=relmfu>
[7]         LUXTON, S. a DRUMMOND, L. (2000). What is this thing called ‘Ambient Advertising’?
[8]      PETRANOVÁ, D. a VRABEC, N. (2013). Persuázia a médiá.
[9]      Dostupné na internete: <http://www.cim.co.uk/Resources/JargonBuster.aspx>
[10]     HATALSKA, N. (2002). Niestandardowe formy promocji.
[11]     WĘGRZYN, M. (2002). Wyróżnić się za wszelką cenę. Dostupné na internete: <http://www.gazetaprawna.pl/dzialy/1.html?numer=846&dok=846.1.14.2.21.1.0.3.htm37>
[12]     JURCA, M. A. a PLĂIAȘ, I. (2013). Schema Congruity – A Basis For Evaluating Ambient Advertising Effectiveness.
Available at: < http://steconomiceuoradea.ro/anale/volume/2013/n1/187.pdf>
[13]     KRAUSACK, D. (2008). Ambient media-how the world is changing.
[14]     BARNES, J. (1999). Creating a difference with ambient media.
[15]     HUTTER, K. a HOFFMANN, S. (2011). Guerrilla marketing. The nature of the concept and propositions for further research.
[16]     KAŁDUNEK‐SOROCZYŃSKA, M., MAŁKOWSKA‐SZOZDA, A. a PREWĘCKA, K. (2002). Burza mózgów, czyli ambient media.
[17]     LUXTON, S. a DRUMMOND, L. (2000). What is this thing called ambient advertising?
SHANKAR, A. a HORTON, B. (1999). Ambient media – advertising’s new media opportunity?
[18]   OLIVARES, F., (2009). The advertising pollution in the cities.
[19]     PAVEL, C. a CĂTOIU, I. (2009). Unconventional advertising for unconventional media.
LEE YUEN, M. a DACKO, S. (2011). Ambient marketing – towards a modern definition.
[20]     PALUCHOWSKI, W. J. & MARCINIAK, M. (2005) Dostupné na internete: <http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.ekon-element-000150326446>
[21]     PALUCHOWSKI, W. J. a MARCINIAK, M. (2005). Dostupné na internete: <http://yadda.icm.edu.pl/yadda/element/bwmeta1.element.ekon-element-000150326446>
[22]     LUXTON, S. a DRUMMOND, L. (2000). What is this thing called ambient advertising?
[23]   WILCZEK, P. a FERTAK, B. (2004). Ambient media, media tradycyjne – konkurencja czy współpraca?
[24]   MCLUHAN, M. (1967). The Medium is the Massage: An Inventory of Effects.
[25]   DAHLÉN, M., FRIBERG, L. a NILSSON, E. (2009). Long live creative media choice.
[26]   SAMBORSKI, R. (2001). Ambient – myślenie o reklamie.
[27]   HUTTER, K. a HOFFMANN, S. (2011). Guerrilla Marketing: The Nature of the Concept and Propositions for Further Research.
[28]     AZHARI, A. G. a KAMEN, J. F. (1984). Study shows billboards are more effective than recall, attitude‐change scores indicate.
[29]     KING, K. a TINKHAM, S. F. (1990). The learning and retention of outdoor advertising.
[30]   TAHIR, T. EWING, T. M., NEWTON, F. J. (2006). Using Ambient Media to Promote HIV/AIDS. Protective Behaviour Change.
[31]   A revised version of the scheme from page 38 in WOJCIECHOWSKI, L. (2016). Ambient marketing: + case studies in V4.
[32]     BHARGAVA, M. a DONTHU, N. (1999). Sales response to outdoor advertising.
[33]     LUXTON, S. a DRUMMOND, L. (2000). What is this thing called ambient advertising?
[34]     SCHIFFMAN, L. a KANUK, L. (2009). Consumer Behaviour.
[35]     EAST, R. (1997). Consumer Behaviour: Advances and Applications in Marketing.
[36]     GOODSALL, J. (1999). Ruski goes feather for leather for Mardi Gras.
[37]     HARTLEY, J. (1989). Understanding News.
[38]   Posterscope Newsletter Issue 4 (2000). Dostupné na internete: <http://www.posterscope.com/>
[39]     HATALSKA, N. (2002). Niestandardowe formy promocji.
[40]   FICHNOVÁ, K. (2007). Kreativita a marketingová komunikácia.
[41]    ibid.
KOVER, A. J., GOLDBERG, S. M. a JAMES, W. L. (1995).Creativity vs. Effectiveness?
EL-MURAD, J., a WEST, D.C. (2004). The Definition and Measurement of Creativity: What Do We Know?
KOVER, A. J., et al. (1995). Creativity vs. effectiveness? An integrating classification for advertising.

Dictionary

Similarly, we could mention other specific derivatives that grew into communication techniques, by which a company, institution or a firm could speak to new potential customers or to deepen and cultivate a previously established relation with current customers, which is more profitable from the viewpoint of guerilla marketing. Among the guerilla marketing techniques, there are for example the alternative marketing[1], ambush marketing, astroturfing, experiential marketing[2], presume marketing, tissue-packing advertising, undercover marketing, wild posting, and ambient marketing.

As there is a high diversity among ambient forms, we will further look into this type of guerilla marketing. It is necessary to note that the individual types of guerilla marketing and especially the tools of ambient marketing coexist in various symbiotic correlation and it is often impossible to specify a single independent category in a specific application. Besides their interconnectivity, the merging title of guerilla marketing also accounts for the rhizomatic[3] system within marketing mix[4].

Assvertising: By title a controversial form of ambient marketing, presents placing of communiqués on buttocks or on undergarments, for example painting on skin or on short skirts. The first examples of assvertising emerged in 2004. Advertisers opting for this method vary from artists to an e-shop with car tires. Kodak used this approach in 2005 during an expo in Kyiv.

Augmented Reality: A connection between the real world  and a computer-generated world, utilizing a special application and images gathered via a camera. Real images registered with the camera are analyzed in real-time on site and the application adds information in form of text, imagery or animation on top of the footage.

Bagvertising: Next time a cashier asks whether you would like a bag for your shopping, look very carefully at the imagery on the bag – as you could easily walk out with a weapon, because you bought a book from a Belgian writer of crime novels. You could also walk out with a bag painted with blood stains. More examples of bagvertising are included in the SlideShare.

Bravertising: In 2003, a Japanese basketball team used bras as placement for their message. Later, the Burger King company did a similar thing. An undergarment-maker company, Triumph Japan, recently created a special bra to promote tourist attractions.

Beach and Trackvertising: Untouched parts of sandy beaches could be ideal as propagation spaces, but that is just one example of using lands as unconventional advertisement carriers.

Beamvertising: Static or animated advertisement projected on walls (animations, imagery, lights, shadows…). The projection mapping method (3D projections) are counted among the beamvertising techniques.

Blackmailing: The anti-messages spread by users via communication channels to demote competing products. Its aim is to ridicule or damage the competitor or their products using hostile email correspondence.

Bluecasting: Connecting to a (not necessarily) external medium via bluetooth allows for transfer of advertisement content. The recipient is allowed to download different sorts of data, maps, information about landmarks, and more. These techniques are controversial, when it comes to the topic of ethics. Propagation via the bluecasting methods  often occurs without consent and opens gate for non-requested messages, in this case called the Bluespam[5] (or Bluejacking[6]). The  Beacon[7] technology could be misused in a similar fashion.

Blogs: Every institution, company, firm or an individual has the option to choose one of the blogging techniques, or use both of them simultaneously. The first technique is to monitor foreign blogs to follow their content and gain inspiration. The second technique is creation of authored blogs, widening the discussion about chosen problematics. The importance is this case to create such blogs that would also be valuable on their own, not being just more of advertisement content.

Buzz marketing: Synonymously called the Word-of-Mouth, based on spontaneous communication of people discussing a product, service or an idea. Buzz marketing is based on the creation of a situation, in which the contact with the recipient with marketing communiqué has a unique, spontaneous and personal character. The simplest cases for use of this approach are propagations of films, music, books, basically the products that are commonly used as conversation starters. The product itself must contain an element that could be used as a specific conversation starter.

Stealth marketing: Closely related to buzz marketing, a strategy that informs about the product without actually informing about the product’s market availability, especially useful in entry phases when the product is just emerging. The main objective is not to generate revenue instantly, but to gain attraction and pique interest, which would later seep into direct advertisement. Working with the unaware audience poses a possibility to impart a message to which the audience would be more receptive.

Digital storefront (interactive display window): Display windows are able to react to movement or touch of people walking by. Initially, the display windows seem regular, until they are activated by a certain action – walking by, touch, guitar music, solving a puzzle…

Flash mob: A mass of people who had not known each other and communicated via social media gathered at a single (frequented) place with an objective to organize a short (up to 3 minutes) event. Most often it is absurd, inducing commotion and surprise in random people witnessing the event. The advantages of commercial flash mobs lie in ther potential to improve relations with consumers.[8]

Flogo (flying + logo): A logo or a company name made of soap and helium with a technology reminiscent of soap bubbles. Such a flogo is able to float for up to 40 minutes and could potentially reach the flight radius of 48 kilometers.

Grassroots marketing: A certain form of the Word-of-Mouth technique, but in this case, not entirely relies on the consumers. A necessary requirement for its success lies in truthful and transparent informing about activities and plans. Building a good reputation thus motivates the customer to only speak about the company positively.

Mobile tagging: A form of mobile marketing, in which QR codes (QR stands for Quick Response) redirect users to sites with exclusive information or benefits.

Parasitic marketing: A technique stemming from the guerilla marketing approaches that is more aggressive and its use can pose a real reputational risk for the advertiser opting for this approach. The main dimension of this approach is to leech from the known, popular and verified brands by imitating their significant traits. This type of guerilla marketing allows the advertiser to temporarily gain from the success of stronger competitors, and as such resembles ambush marketing.

Pitvertising: A form of ambient media, the advertisement is presented on a small monitor placed in the armpit of a selected person traveling in mass transit.

Projection mapping: One of the technically most advanced forms of beavertising, animated imagery from a projector shines on a building, but also utilizes all of the architectural and decorative elements of the building, thanks to which the projected imagery seems to be three-dimensional.

Water projection: A form of beamvertising, the film material is projected on a foamy surface created by water sprinkled in the air.

Poovertising: One of the most controversial forms of ambient media, utilizes real excrements (most often dog excrements) or artificial silicone excrements that seem very real.

Skyvertising: One of the most visible forms of ambient media, a logo or a brand name is painted on the sky with condensed fumes emitted from planes, most commonly using diffusion jets placed on the plane’s wings.

Trashvertising: A form using trash bins and garbage tracks as placement spots. In western Europe, this approach is often used for promotion of social issues, connected for example to homelessness, pregnancy or ecology.

Street Art: Street Art techniques use several methods.

A stencil is a spray-painted cartoon box placed on a sidewalk or on a wall, carrying a certain message, most often used by lobbying groups. It is characteristic for its illegality. This tool found use in marketing by bringing imagery to sidewalks, buildings and other public spaces.

Graffitti[9] in its wildly ranging forms is most useful for promotion of products meant for specific subcultures. The aforementioned stickering is closely related to this approach.

The reverse graffiti[10] are an interesting technique (also called clean tagging, dust tagging, grime writing, green graffiti or the clean advertising), similar to stencil[11], but instead of paint, water emitted under a high-pressure through valves is used. This water removes dirt and thus creates imagery contrasting with its dirty surroundings – thus the term clean advertising[12].

Wild posting[13]: Wild posting, also called the guerilla postering or flyposting, is a cheap form of advertisement with a high measure of gained exposition, as the communiqués are placed in high numbers at several places in order to gain as much attention as possible. Most commonly, the posters are placed in underpasses, on bridge pillars, fences, facades of buildings and on other, visible, consistent and spacious enough surfaces[14]. The technique itself is not new, but guerilla marketing has modernized it, making its visual principle more creative and seductive.

Animalvertising and advertising person: Both forms utilize the identical principle in which the medium for the communiqué is a living body. In case of animalvertising, it is necessary to consider the risk of using animals for such purposes, and this approach can potentially result in disapproval from the viewers, as it might be considered unethical. The advertising person uses the human body as a medium for the communiqué.

In connection to the animalvertising and advertising person forms, it is reasonable to mention that similar creation of new names for various marketing forms is common – the names are based solely on the materials used for the medium (or the carrier of the communiqués). This causes a needless divergence in terminology, as many of such cases are limited only by the used material instead of looking for a suitable exact term. (For example, there are names like the sandvertising, eyevertising, drone-vertising, snowvertising, foamvertising, nanovertising, wipervertising, handvertising, wristvertising, headvertising, eggvertising, bugvertising, mohawkvertising…).

Currently, it is not possible to adequately and precisely categorize these forms. They are to be counted among the techniques of ambient marketing, even though their realizations fully utilize new possibilities and more creative ways of pre-definition for subjects, shapes and forms, and other associated characteristics.

[1]     HORKY, V. (2009). Dostupné na internete: <http://www.guerrillaonline.com/cs/Alternative-marketing-73.htm>

[2]     HORKY, V. (2009). Dostupné na internete: <http://www.guerrillaonline.com/cs/Alternative-marketing-73.htm>

[3] Rhizome – a term and a metaphor, by which Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari in their book A Thousand Plateaus (2020) explain their departure from the traditional dualistic school of thought, using the term rhizome from botany. Rhizome marks a non-hierarchical, non-centrists organization, distribution and communication of occurrences, ideas, knowledge and information. Deleuze Gilles, Guattari Félix. 2020. Tisíc plošin. Praha : Herrmann & synové, 592 s.
ISBN 978-80-8-705-46-35

[4]      The following division is a deppend version of text we previously published in WOJCIECHOWSKI, L. (2016). Ambient marketing: + case studies in V4.

[5]     MARCHINI, R., TEBBUTT, K. (2007). Security and Surveillance, Bluespam: Is it legal?

[6]      Bluejacking is using the Bluetooth technology to send unrequested messages, for example name cards or imagery to other people’s devices. The recipients are unable to identify where the content came from..

[7]      Beacons are micro-computers which, thanks to the Bluetooth Low Energy technology, could connect to our smartphones. In a radius of kilometers, beacons are able to deliver dedicated communiqués or activate specific functions in hijacked devices.

[8]       KUBACKI, K. (2014). Ideas in Marketing: Finding the New and Polishing the Old.

[9]       The mural form is related. A wall painting put on a wall, the ceiling or another huge area. The distinctive trait of the mural is that the architectural traits of the placement space are harmonically included in the image. During socialist times, this form of advertisement was used for companies and institutions of the state, even though it did not have need for marketing, as it had monopolies on all industries. Currently, there are cases in which the murals not only promote products or institutions, but also ideas (for example Banksy, ABOVE, Os Gêmeos, Blek le Rat, Diego Rivera, Knox Martin, Keith Haring, and others) and art.

[10]    An English artist, Paul Curtis donning the moniker Moose, is one of the first street artists who created an image with the reverse graffiti technique – later, it was labeled as clean advertising or clean graffiti.

[11]    Stencilling creates images and patterns by applying pigments through a template.

[12]    EAGLE, L., DAHL, S., CZARNECKA, B., LLOYD, J. (2014). Marketing Communications.

[13]    HORKY, V. (2009). Available at: <http://www.guerrillaonline.com/cs/Wild-posting-70.htm>

[14]    KROUŠEK, J. (2011). Právne aspekty guerilla marketingu.

About textbook

Assoc. Prof. Łukasz P. Wojciechowski, PhD. deals with issues of necromarketing, semiotics, guerrilla marketing, the history of cinema and photography. He has practical experience in film production as a photographer. He graduated from the Institute of Literary and Artistic Communication of Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra and the Institute of Creative Photography of the Silesian University in Opava. He is currently a lecturer at the University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Trnava. He has won several awards such as photographic Grand-Prix (theatre photography). He has had over 20 exhibitions, specialising in taking journalistic photographs and creating movie posters.

Prof. Katarína Fichnová, PhD. reflects on problems of creativity and effectiveness. She has published more than 130 research outputs related to different aspects of creativity, creative potential of marketing communication agencies, creative process as well as social-psychological phenomena and their application in the areas of media production and marketing. As a researcher, she is also interested in social networking and digital marketing. She is currently a lecturer at the Constantine the Philosopher University in Nitra.