"We do not produce waste, but we give pleasure to passers-by".
Guerrilla Marketing: Adidas plastic ducks or the bed-moving stunt for IKEA amuse passersby and annoy the authorities. “Great,” say the marketing executives.
Guerrilla Marketing The Adidas Plastic Ducks
in city fountains or the bed move for Ikea amuse passers-by and
annoy authorities. Great, think propaganda manager Sandro Galli
and marketing manager Pascal Rechsteiner.
WW: Mr. Galli, how do you feel about being a
Head of a below-the-line agency that does guerrilla marketing,
now that guerrilla actions have become the target of the Zurich commercial police.
Sandro Galli: I think it's interesting how the authorities have been
which common sense would not object to.
would have. On the other hand, this attitude is propaganda for our agency,
which has been putting up wildlife posters since its inception, is not new. We
were shot more violently years ago than they are today.
WW:
The testing of legal limits is inevitably a part of the
Guerrilla marketing, otherwise your actions would not get the media response
and achieve the desired advertising effect.
Sandro Galli: You are talking about a
side effect, which can sometimes be deliberately planned for, such as
for example, in the dog campaign for Ikea, in which we also specifically
PR had used and organized a press conference.
Conversely, we also carry out promotions in which we
Do not plan for attention from the general public, but they
often received by chance. This is how we were for the last two actions
rather surprised by the way they were exploited in the media. That has
the customers were of course pleased. Of course, we always want to
Implement ideas as effectively as possible in terms of advertising. But at the same time this means that
this should be done as far as possible without negative reactions, i.e. without
the police must intervene.
WW:
Does that mean you don't take risks?Sandro Galli:
I'll make a comparison: If you park in a certain place
but there is no free space and there is the threat of a fine, then
why don't you do everything you can to handle the whole thing in such a way that you can
minimize the risk for a traffic ticket. We say
therefore the customers that we carry out the actions in such a way that afterwards
flyers or giveaways lying around are removed by us again
become. After all, we do not produce waste, but make the
Passers-by small gifts and give pleasure.
WW:
But without unlawful character you do not gain attention?Sandro Galli:
Exactly not. We do a lot of guerrilla actions that are absolutely in the
legal framework. If an idea falls completely outside this framework,
then we do not implement them. I cannot justify
my employees or promoters criminally or even
take a risk in terms of health.
WW:
Have you already had to turn down requests because of this?Sandro Galli:
Yes, several times; we had to reject actions because they became the
in the direction of damage to property, or otherwise there is a suspicion of a
Criminal offense existed.
WW:
Specifically?Sandro Galli:
If, for example, a customer - a large telecom company - wants us to
asks to paint its campaign logo on houses with stencils and spray cans
spray. Pascal Rechsteiner: Generally speaking, we set a high value on all sprayers.
guerrilla concepts common sense and want them to be
give people a smile, that they are not offensive or
sexist and that no damage to property has been committed in the process.
will. Funny actions that, due to their nature or extent.
are not one hundred percent approvable, but do not pose a threat,
we gladly implement.
WW:
And the competition is happy to step in for dubious projects.Sandro Galli: I have never seen an unsustainable project from
was carried out by another agency. On the other hand, it happened once,
that the customer himself realizes the idea and for this purpose his apprentices
Pascal Rechsteiner: Sometimes customers are shocked when we inform them about the
inform possible consequences, and want to cancel the action. Often
we can still realize them slightly modified. In the
After all, guerrilla marketing is not principally about using illegal
actions to get into the newspaper or even the police on the plan
to call, but for the surprise effect in a place where it is the
People do not expect, and in a way they have never experienced.
WW:
However, Zurich does not seem to be a suitable location for this.Sandro Galli: You can't say that. The municipal ordinance, which
regulates the use of public land for advertising purposes, will be
Each Swiss municipality interprets and handles the law differently. It
there are cities where obtaining a permit is not necessary, and
others that do not issue permits at all. And then there are municipalities
such as Zurich and Lausanne, which have a rather restrictive and opaque
Approval policy. Thus, in the case of the Ikea bed we would have
apparently received a permit, while the wallet action for
Lucerne Tourism would have been rejected sooner. This arbitrariness offends
we and at the contradiction that public ground anyway constantly to
used for advertising purposes. All printed with company logos
Delivery vans and business cars are advertising media and may be used without
permit to drive around. Why is commercial advertising treated differently by licensors?
rated as political or religious advertising? The trade police
then points out that our advertisers can also place advertisements or
Pascal Rechsteiner: Permits for promotions in Zurich's public transport system are new.
Downtown contingent, three days per year per business,
regardless of its company size. In practice, we find,
that already one logo presence at an event as a contingent
applies.
in city fountains or the bed move for Ikea amuse passers-by and
annoy authorities. Great, think propaganda manager Sandro Galli
and marketing manager Pascal Rechsteiner.
WW: Mr. Galli, how do you feel about being a
Head of a below-the-line agency that does guerrilla marketing,
now that guerrilla actions have become the target of the Zurich commercial police.
Sandro Galli: I think it's interesting how the authorities have been
which common sense would not object to.
would have. On the other hand, this attitude is propaganda for our agency,
which has been putting up wildlife posters since its inception, is not new. We
were shot more violently years ago than they are today.
WW:
The testing of legal limits is inevitably a part of the
Guerrilla marketing, otherwise your actions would not get the media response
and achieve the desired advertising effect.
Sandro Galli: You are talking about a
side effect, which can sometimes be deliberately planned for, such as
for example, in the dog campaign for Ikea, in which we also specifically
PR had used and organized a press conference.
Conversely, we also carry out promotions in which we
Do not plan for attention from the general public, but they
often received by chance. This is how we were for the last two actions
rather surprised by the way they were exploited in the media. That has
the customers were of course pleased. Of course, we always want to
Implement ideas as effectively as possible in terms of advertising. But at the same time this means that
this should be done as far as possible without negative reactions, i.e. without
the police must intervene.
WW:
Does that mean you don't take risks?Sandro Galli:
I'll make a comparison: If you park in a certain place
but there is no free space and there is the threat of a fine, then
why don't you do everything you can to handle the whole thing in such a way that you can
minimize the risk for a traffic ticket. We say
therefore the customers that we carry out the actions in such a way that afterwards
flyers or giveaways lying around are removed by us again
become. After all, we do not produce waste, but make the
Passers-by small gifts and give pleasure.
WW:
But without unlawful character you do not gain attention?Sandro Galli:
Exactly not. We do a lot of guerrilla actions that are absolutely in the
legal framework. If an idea falls completely outside this framework,
then we do not implement them. I cannot justify
my employees or promoters criminally or even
take a risk in terms of health.
WW:
Have you already had to turn down requests because of this?Sandro Galli:
Yes, several times; we had to reject actions because they became the
in the direction of damage to property, or otherwise there is a suspicion of a
Criminal offense existed.
WW:
Specifically?Sandro Galli:
If, for example, a customer - a large telecom company - wants us to
asks to paint its campaign logo on houses with stencils and spray cans
spray. Pascal Rechsteiner: Generally speaking, we set a high value on all sprayers.
guerrilla concepts common sense and want them to be
give people a smile, that they are not offensive or
sexist and that no damage to property has been committed in the process.
will. Funny actions that, due to their nature or extent.
are not one hundred percent approvable, but do not pose a threat,
we gladly implement.
WW:
And the competition is happy to step in for dubious projects.Sandro Galli: I have never seen an unsustainable project from
was carried out by another agency. On the other hand, it happened once,
that the customer himself realizes the idea and for this purpose his apprentices
Pascal Rechsteiner: Sometimes customers are shocked when we inform them about the
inform possible consequences, and want to cancel the action. Often
we can still realize them slightly modified. In the
After all, guerrilla marketing is not principally about using illegal
actions to get into the newspaper or even the police on the plan
to call, but for the surprise effect in a place where it is the
People do not expect, and in a way they have never experienced.
WW:
However, Zurich does not seem to be a suitable location for this.Sandro Galli: You can't say that. The municipal ordinance, which
regulates the use of public land for advertising purposes, will be
Each Swiss municipality interprets and handles the law differently. It
there are cities where obtaining a permit is not necessary, and
others that do not issue permits at all. And then there are municipalities
such as Zurich and Lausanne, which have a rather restrictive and opaque
Approval policy. Thus, in the case of the Ikea bed we would have
apparently received a permit, while the wallet action for
Lucerne Tourism would have been rejected sooner. This arbitrariness offends
we and at the contradiction that public ground anyway constantly to
used for advertising purposes. All printed with company logos
Delivery vans and business cars are advertising media and may be used without
permit to drive around. Why is commercial advertising treated differently by licensors?
rated as political or religious advertising? The trade police
then points out that our advertisers can also place advertisements or
Pascal Rechsteiner: Permits for promotions in Zurich's public transport system are new.
Downtown contingent, three days per year per business,
regardless of its company size. In practice, we find,
that already one logo presence at an event as a contingent
applies.
WW: Nevertheless, the media hype shows that today more
Sandro Galli: This is deceptive, because the random accumulation of objectionable
actions has been hyped up in the media. The number of unconventional
Promotions, however, has not exploded in the last ten years, as
the authorities would have us believe. Today the borders are simply
pulled tighter.
WW:
With what consequences for you?Sandro Galli: That we have to become more clever in cities with restrictive licensing practices and try out new ideas.
WW:
Pascal Rechsteiner: Video beaming is on the rise in England and the USA.
In the process, teams travel from location to location and project images or
Spots on walls and monuments. We think this is a fun idea, but
After the legal clarification, it is clear that we want this new
advertising medium cannot be used in Zurich.
Interview: Luca Aloisi
