Dynamic Marketing Communiqué

Rain, rain, go away! These hidden messages on the streets of Hong Kong left everyone amazed!

June 18, 2020

The Hong Kong weather is famous for being unpredictable.

One thing’s for sure, it rains a lot in this place.

Rain can even turn into sunshine in a split second!

Hong Kong has only 1,843 hours of sunshine per year.

During the monsoon season, they have only around 100 hours of sunshine! This is the time when most citizens choose to take their vacations abroad.

An airline company took advantage of this behavior and created a marketing campaign that surprised and impressed everyone in 2014.

CEBU PACIFIC.

How did Cebu Pacific, one of the Philippines’ leading low-cost airlines, attract the travel-loving citizens of Hong Kong to book flights to the Philippines?

– REVERSE GRAFFITI –

… is a process of creating temporary images and impressions on surfaces by removing dirt from the area of choice. Part of the process will show the contrast between clean and dirty sections.

Reverse graffiti is also known as clean tagging, dust tagging, clean graffiti, or clean advertising.

Cebu Pacific partnered with the ad agency Geometry Global Hong Kong (part of the Ogilvy & Mather Group) to launch a campaign called, “Rain Codes” using clean advertising.

The campaign aims to grab the attention of Hong Kong citizens during the wet-weather, lure them to the sunny Philippines, and have them book and purchase flights through Cebu Pacific.

“…Our ‘rain-codes’ were so unexpected, something people had never seen before. The campaign received a lot of attention, but even better, they sparked action.” – Reed Collins, Chief Creative Officer, Ogilvy & Mather Group Hong Kong

“With ‘Rain Codes’, we wanted to deliver the perfect storm. We took into account everything from environmental factors to subtleties in people’s behavior.” – Kenny Blumenschein, Senior Creative Director & Head of Creative, Geometry Global Hong Kong

THE BIG IDEA: Use an innovative water-repellent spray to create ads on the floor of busy streets and pedestrian areas of Hong Kong.

THE 3 MAIN TOUCHPOINTS:

  • Attract the target audience’s attention by prioritizing their needs and wants
  • Introduce and promote the company in a fun, interesting, and considerate way
  • Encourage the target audience to book flights to increase sales!

When the weather is dry, the ads aren’t visible.

But the moment the rain starts to fall, the streets become wet and the message is revealed:

“It’s sunny in the Philippines”
+ a QR code

THE RESULT: Curious pedestrians took a picture of the QR code and received an exclusive discount offer on a flight to the Philippines.

The “Rain Codes” campaign led to a 37% increase in Cebu Pacific’s online bookings.

According to the Valens Research database, the airline’s 2014 second-quarter revenue was the highest.

  • Q1: PHP 11.76 billion
  • Q2: PHP 14.95 billion
  • Q3: PHP 11.73 billion
  • Q4: PHP 13.55 billion

Quarter 2 was when the campaign was launched.

The results proved that the Guerrilla Marketing campaign was effective.

Geometry Global Hong Kong and Cebu Pacific did a great job on this unique and creative campaign.

Think about all the positive effects of Cebu Pacific’s efforts on Philippine tourism!

Out of curiosity, wouldn’t you have also taken a picture of the mysterious QR code on the streets of Hong Kong?

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 is 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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www.valens-research.com

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