The Ultimate SWITCH: How did this company turn consumers’ UGLY experiences into SHINING statements? [Fridays: Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing]
Good lighting is a must-have in any home.
According to Martyn Lawrence Bullard, an English interior designer, author, and TV personality,
“Lighting is everything. It creates atmosphere, drama, and intrigue in a room.”
Allow us to ask you one simple question:
Have you ever been a victim of “ugly lights”―the ones that result in poor lighting?
If you have, check out how this company helped ugly lights victims through a fun digital guerrilla marketing campaign!
Houseof is a London-based startup business that specializes in selling creatively engineered lighting.
Co-founded in April 2019 by interior designer Helen White and digital designer Michael Jones, the company was built on a set of values related to designing high-quality products and providing solutions to consumers’ lighting problems.
Houseof’s mission?
To “rid the world of ugly lights!”
So… what did the company do to achieve that goal “one light at a time” and increase consumers’ awareness about the brand?
In 2020, amidst the COVID-19 lockdown in the UK, Houseof conducted a digital guerrilla marketing campaign called…
The #HouseOfLightSwitch!
In this brand activation, co-founders White and Jones gave away their critically acclaimed designer lights for FREE!
Woah… imagine paying zero for designer lights like these (photos below). Who wouldn’t want that?!
The only thing consumers had to do for a chance to take these products home was post a photo of their ugliest lighting via Instagram.
These were the mechanics of the campaign:
- Consumers had to post a photo of their ugly light/s via Instagram with the hashtag, #houseoflightswitch, in the caption.
- Participants must tag Houseof’s Instagram account, @houseofdotcom, in their posts’ captions and state what designer light they’d like to have in exchange for their ugly light/s.
- Aside from a newsfeed post, participants also had to share their posts via Instagram Stories, tag @houseofdotcom, and add a Houseof GIF sticker.
- Each month for five months, White and Jones picked the worst and ugliest light post. Once a winner was chosen, Houseof’s campaign team contacted the participant via Instagram DM (direct message) to proceed with the exchange.
That’s it! Simple, right?
All participants had to do was navigate through their Instagram accounts and ta-da! They’re one step closer towards breaking free from their poor lighting at home.
Not only did the lucky winners take home one of Houseof’s designer lights for free, they also had an opportunity to talk to one of the company’s founders through an online design consultation.
Talk about receiving a new high-quality light and getting advice from White or Jones regarding how to make the most out of the new house lights… there’s just one way to spell that:
A-W-E-S-O-M-E!
It wasn’t just the customers who benefitted from Houseof’s digital guerrilla marketing campaign. In fact, the brand activation was a win for the company, too!
According to Enterprise League, a technology company that empowers small and medium enterprises, the #HouseOfLightSwitch campaign drove a 30% lift in Houseof’s overall website traffic during the 5-month-long campaign.
The company also had its highest ever revenue month in June 2020 and its Instagram hashtag, #houseoflightswitch, garnered over 100 entries from consumers who wanted to get rid of their ugly lights at home.
Houseof’s Instagram account also increased from 10,000 followers to more than 31,000 followers during the span of the campaign.
Another good thing about this brand activation?
The #HouseOfLightSwitch campaign provided consumers with something light-hearted and fun amid the pandemic!
This was also a smart move by Houseof because people were already finding ways to improve their homes as they spend more time indoors.
Even if face-to-face interactions weren’t possible, Houseof was still able to constantly connect with its target market!
These results show that the two-year-old business knows how to execute the appropriate strategies to raise awareness about its brand and is on the right track towards expanding its customer base.
Plus, the numbers mentioned above are quite commendable for a startup like Houseof, particularly a startup during the pandemic!
Houseof believes that the world can be a better place if everyone genuinely makes the world feel like “home.”
That’s why the company strives to change the world one light at a time and build a community of like-minded people who are passionate about “doing things differently.”
Get inspired by Houseof’s vibrant marketing campaign and cultivate a business environment that motivates your staff to do things differently, too!
Who knows?
You may also use your brand’s products or services to turn your target market’s unpleasant experiences into shining statements and testimonials.
… then eventually, you and your brand can help make the world a happier place by changing and doing things one light (step) at a time.
Stay golden and LIT in your future guerrilla marketing campaigns! 💡
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
Powered by Valens Research
www.valens-research.com
