Here’s how location services were used to circumvent book banning!

From the desk of Miles Everson:

Hello!

I’m thrilled to share with you another example of a successful guerrilla marketing campaign.

For those of you who may not know, guerrilla marketing is an unconventional strategy that inspires marketers to interact with audiences in a unique and memorable way.

I am a huge fan of this strategy because it shows that there are so many ways to attract an audience’s attention.

Today, we’ll take a deep dive on a digital guerrilla marketing campaign that cleverly took advantage of location services!

Curious to know more?

Keep reading below.

Here’s how location services were used to circumvent book banning!

Books are one of the key pillars of human imagination, knowledge, and critical thinking.

These tomes challenge humans to see the world through a different lens and push them to answer difficult questions that are crucial in shaping the future.

Simply said, books are critical to human life and development.

Despite this, book banning is a practice that still persists in this day and age.

In 2023 alone, over 3,000 books were banned in the U.S., effectively silencing voices, stifling access to ideas, and stripping readers of the opportunity to engage with differing perspectives.

As a reaction to this, the Digital Public Library of America (DPLA) , a nonprofit dedicated to providing the public with access to materials from libraries, archives, and museums, undertook a massive initiative to combat book bans.

How, you might ask?

Through the power of an app and GPS!

Spreading Knowledge One Book at A Time

The DPLA is a nonprofit that catalogs millions of materials from libraries, archives, museums, and other cultural institutions and makes those available to the public.

Since the DPLA’s mandate is to spread knowledge and make it accessible to the American public, the practice of book bans is one of the issues it has to grapple with.

That’s why in 2023, the nonprofit responded to the growing issue of book bans in the U.S. by undertaking a guerrilla marketing initiative that not only combatted the issue at hand but also raised public awareness for it.

The name of this initiative?

The Banned Book Club !

… and here’s how the initiative played out:

Using its app, The Palace Project , the DPLA added a feature that provided users access to books banned by local libraries.

All a user had to do was to download the app and provide GPS access to it. Once access was provided, the person would get access to the books that were banned by his or her local library.

The DPLA was able to pull this off since it has the most up-to-date database of all banned books in the U.S. and which libraries banned them.

So, was the digital guerrilla marketing initiative a success?

YES !

Aside from providing everyone in the U.S. access to banned books, the DPLA was able to raise public awareness about the issue of book banning—a practice that is diametrically opposed to its mandate.

What else?

The DPLA and its ad agency partner, FCB Chicago , earned accolades from the 2024 D&AD Awards and The One Show Awards .

Kudos, DPLA and FCB Chicago!

These results not only show the effectiveness of the initiative but also the creativity of it!

—

Addressing and raising awareness for an issue is one of the most challenging tasks an organization has to face.

After all, it’s a difficult thing to do, especially in this day and age where attention spans are short and relevance fades in the blink of an eye.

By leveraging the tools it had at its disposal and using them creatively to put forward its cause, the DPLA was able to genuinely and meaningfully raise awareness about book banning.

This goes to show that guerrilla marketing can be leveraged not only to promote something but also to raise awareness for an issue that has the potential to affect everyone.

Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful.

EXCITING NEWS AHEAD

The world of work has shifted, and there’s no going back. The barriers to entry have never been lower for talented professionals to work independently, and today’s massive external workforce is hardly a pandemic-produced fad. Business owners can only survive in the new work landscape by partnering with this deep talent pool.

With decades of experience in both small-business entrepreneurship and executive management at PwC, I truly believe that the future of work is independent.

With that, I’m happy to share with you that my book, co-authored with Walter Scott Lamb, is now available on Amazon!

This new bestseller is an essential read for both independent professionals and corporate executives. Here, we provide educational and practical guides to unpack the ever-growing workforce and offer you crucial ways to become a client of choice.

Click on the link above to order your copy. Let this bestselling book help you future-proof your career and organization in the new world of work.

Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!

Do you want to know how one fast food brand captured the attention of Gen Zs with its employer branding campaign ?

See it in next week’s article!