“Muchas gracias!” – These unlikely supermarket staff have a way of brightening shoppers’ moods! [Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing]
What do you do to help reduce plastic waste?
Do you…
Make ecobricks and other recycled materials from plastic products?
Reduce your use of single-use plastics?
Participate in clean-up activities in your community?
In our previous “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing” articles, we featured some brands that used guerrilla marketing tactics to connect with their target market while also doing their part to help reduce plastic waste.
These include Corona’s “Pay With Plastic” Campaign and Hyundai’s Eco Parking.
In this article, we’ll talk about one organization’s strategy to market its cause to the public through a mood-uplifting guerrilla marketing campaign.
Friends of Glass is a European non-profit organization that supports glass packaging.
Headquartered in the UK, the organization advocates a “lifestyle that uses glass” for 3 main reasons:
Health, taste, and sustainability!
Allow us to elaborate on this further…
Friends of Glass believes that glass is the only packaging material that is 100% inert and recyclable.
Unlike other packaging materials that produce harmful chemicals and change the way food tastes, glass preserves food stored in it without changing anything.
The organization also states that glass is made from all-natural materials and is “infinitely recyclable without a loss in quality or purity.”
What did Friends of Glass do to encourage more European consumers to buy and use glass materials instead of plastics?
In June 2019, the organization set up a guerrilla marketing tactic in selected supermarkets across Europe.
This was part of Friends of Glass’ activities for World Oceans Day on June 8.
The campaign was called…
The “Anti-Plastic Packaging” Campaign!
Every time consumers scanned glass products or products stored in glass containers, a special monitor at a selected supermarket’s checkout counter played a short but surprising video.
Any guesses about what the video contained?
An on-screen message of thanks from the most unlikely supermarket staff:
Dolphins!
Depending on where the selected supermarket was located, the dolphins thanked customers using their native language.
In the photo above, the marine animals used the Spanish language to thank grocery shoppers in Spain.
The Spanish sentence translates to:
“Thank you very much for choosing the glass container!”
Awww!
If you were one of the shoppers, wouldn’t you be touched and more motivated to buy glass products instead of plastics after seeing the dolphins’ message of thanks?
We bet you would!
That was also what most of the involved consumers felt during that time.
Aside from getting surprised (some were even speechless at the “thank you” message), other shoppers squealed out of adoration for the dolphins.
Even though they knew the dolphins were just computer-generated images (CGIs), many grocery shoppers still found the video adorable!
This clever campaign not only engaged consumers at the point of sale but also spurred repeat purchase consideration for products packed in glass.
Besides, who would be able to resist such a heartwarming message from one of the friendliest marine animals on Earth?
Surely, hearing “thank you” messages about saving their lives and the environment by buying glass products would have a positive reinforcement on you too!
Friends of Glass’ campaign ran for the whole month of June 2019 and after that period, the organization’s website visitors rose to 200,000 per month.
Some of these online visitors even signed up for Friends of Glass’ newsletters and a few others also participated in some of the organization’s environmental activities!
What other results did the organization gain from the campaign?
In a consumer survey conducted by Friends of Glass during the latter half of 2019, results showed that more Europeans are buying more products in glass packaging than before.
The survey revealed that 9 out of 10 Europeans would recommend glass as the “best packaging material to friends and family”―an 11% increase from a survey conducted during the first half of the year.
Additionally, about 76% of respondents said they were convinced by the high recyclability and other environmental benefits of glass.
The campaign also helped grow Friends of Glass’ social media presence across Europe as the organization’s followers increased to over 130,000 on Facebook, 3,200+ on Twitter, and 4,300+ on Instagram.
Thanks to the “Anti-Plastic Packaging” campaign, the organization was able to reach more consumers and spread its message about the environmental impacts of reducing the use of plastics!
Friends of Glass’ campaign was simple yet motivating.
By using dolphins to deliver a message of thanks, the organization helped consumers visualize that even a simple act of choosing glass over plastics could go a long way in saving the environment and the marine wildlife.
What’s one of the environmental issues that you think your brand can help address?
Try to identify at least one and incorporate it in your future guerrilla marketing campaign.
Just like Friends of Glass, convince your target market that every little act of kindness can add up to a BIG difference.
What does it take to achieve that?
A little bit of positive reinforcement, such as a heartfelt message of thanks, from your brand!
About The Dynamic Marketing Communiqué’s
“Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing”
Jay Conrad Levinson (1984) said that Guerrilla Marketing “works because it’s simple to appreciate, easy to execute, and inexpensive.”
Guerrilla Marketing is unconventional.
Looking beyond the traditional ways of advertising, marketers, and advertisers need to spice things up in order for their brand to have campaigns that not only make an impact but also stick to their target market’s mind.
Guerrilla Marketing usually aims to have direct contact with consumers.
This type of direct contact should spark an emotional reaction that leads to consumers effectively remembering the brand.
It’s about making a big impression and making that impression last a long time (if not forever).
Guerrilla Marketing can be inexpensive.
The effect of this is being able to create a buzz around the brand, and the strategy used to market it. Almost everything is passed around through word-of-mouth.
Word-of-mouth is one of the greatest outcomes and it usually doesn’t cost anything.
This is every business’ or brand’s dream!
Every Friday, we publish tips, examples, and other useful content on unconventional ways of marketing and promotion.
Learn more about how to grab your target market’s attention and make an amazing first and lasting impression without having to spend a lot of money.
Businesses don’t really need to spend much for a guerrilla campaign. You do not need a big budget to be successful. You just need creativity and a good imagination.
Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.
Stay tuned for next Friday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla!
Cheers,
Kyle Yu
Head of Marketing
Valens Dynamic Marketing Capabilities
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