On a recent 8 hour drive I was struck by the number of cell phone towers “disguised” as trees. Do they really think they are fooling anyone? Are more people actually not noticing the towers because they blend in? Or, is more attention being drawn towards them? Is it worth the extra cost to add fake branches? This got me thinking (in a round about way) about guerrilla advertising.
Most times it would seem that it is more effective to let an ad stand alone as an ad. Connect with the right people and tell them what you’ve got to offer. Is it really worth disguising an advertisement as something other than what it is? Â Perhaps a “disguised” ad (product placement, paid testimonials, famous spokesperson, advertorial, etc.) can actually attract more attention. But, then again, maybe not. Perhaps that tree (or ad) is really a cell tower .
For the cell phone tower, being disguised poorly may actually draw more attention to itself and get more people talking. For the advertisement, that would be ideal – word of mouth is by far the best form of marketing and guerrilla advertising. But the question remains, is it worth any extra money to try and disguise your intent not knowing if it will help or hurt?
Perhaps this is why word of mouth marketing and sticker marketing is so effective. There is no disguise – just real people with recommendations, opinions and badges. That’s true guerrilla advertising. The easiest way to avoid the unknown results and costs of advertising is to advertise less and thrill people more. Put the money saved into tools that help fans and customers talk, share and market for you… for free.
Custom Promotional Stickers are the best guerrilla marketing tool we’ve ever found for maximizing exposure and word of mouth marketing by being a welcomed badge, not a manipulative advertisement.
Jeff Nicholson is the founder and Creative Director at 
