An UNFILTERED history: Here’s how a brand carried out a guerrilla marketing stunt in a museum!

Thursday: Gorillas of Guerilla Marketing

FROM THE DESK OF MILES EVERSON: Welcome to “Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing!” According to Jay Conrad Levinson, guerrilla marketing is unconventional, engaging, impactful, and easy to execute. Campaigns of this type create a lasting impression that enables consumers to effectively recall a brand. For today’s issue, we’re thrilled to talk about a guerrilla marketing campaign that generated lots of social media impressions. Find out how a media company used augmented reality (AR) to capture the attention of millions of people in 2021. CEO, MBO Partners Chairman of the Advisory Board, The I Institute

An UNFILTERED history: Here’s how a brand carried out a guerrilla marketing stunt in a museum! There’s a hidden story behind every artifact in a museum… Although there’s an information panel beside every relic, there’s still a tale about it that remains untold. Did you know in 2021, a media organization recognized the potential of bringing untold stories of museum artifacts to light? That company was… VICE Media! VICE is a digital content creation and broadcasting company founded in 1994. It initially began as a music magazine, and in 2006, the firm shifted its focus to producing digital content. Since then, the company has created various news, videos, and entertainment segments online. In 2021, the media organization launched a new brand called VICE World News. This segment focuses on providing coverage on current and underreported issues to young audiences around the world. So, to connect with its target market and to increase brand awareness, VICE and advertising agency Dentsu Webchutney came up with The Unfiltered History Tour, a guerrilla marketing campaign carried out in the British Museum through the use of augmented reality (AR) and an Instagram filter. Why did VICE and Dentsu Webchutney choose the British Museum for their guerrilla marketing stunt? It’s because the institution is home to around 8 million artifacts from all around the world. Additionally, some of the objects in the museum’s possession are currently disputed, since a few of them were taken without consent. Among the notable examples are: Egypt’s “Rosetta Stone” India’s “Amaravati Marbles” Greece’s “Parthenon Marbles” Because of this, advocates have been petitioning for the return of the disputed artifacts to their respective places of origin. While the museum has pledged to give the relics back to their countries of origin, countless others have yet to be returned. Due to the controversial yet underreported nature of the issue, it made sense for VICE to stage its guerrilla marketing efforts in an institution that houses contested artifacts. So… how did the campaign play out? Visitors to the British Museum in London scanned 10 artifacts specified on The Unfiltered History Tour website. Once this was done, users utilized the Instagram filters to scan selected objects in the museum. After scanning the artifacts, visitors heard experts talk about the relics and how these were taken from their places of origin. For immersion purposes, visual depictions of how some relics were seized were provided as well. Since not everyone could visit the British Museum at the time, Dentsu Webchutney, the developer of The Unfiltered History Tour website, made the interactive tour available on the web page. A podcast in coordination with VICE was created as well. If you’re interested in learning more about this yourself, you’re in luck! At present, the website, the Instagram filter, and podcast are still working. This now brings us to the question: How effective was the guerrilla marketing campaign? So far, The Unfiltered History Tour has generated over 18 million impressions, 55,000 website visits, 31,000 podcast downloads, and 2 million TikTok views. VICE and Dentsu Webchutney also won these accolades: D&AD’s 2022 awards: 1 Yellow Pencil under the Digital Category 4 Graphite Pencils under the Use of extended reality (XR), Use of augmented reality (AR), Events & Stunts, and Digital Design categories 3 Wood Pencils under the Mobile, Physical & Digital, and Storytelling Categories Spikes Asia 2022 awards: 4 Grand Prix under the Design, Mobile, PR, and Radio & Audio categories 4 Gold awards under the Brand Experience & Activation, Design, Direct, and Mobile categories 3 Silver awards under the Brand Experience & Activation and Radio & Audio categories 3 Bronze awards under the Mobile, Radio & Audio, and Social & Influencer categories These results definitely show The Unfiltered History Tour was successful in capturing the attention of its intended audience! A Clever Take on Brand Promotion Since VICE was promoting a new service in a highly-competitive space, it had to come up with a way to capture its target market’s attention. To effectively address this challenge, the company had to think outside the box. The media organization’s integration of AR in its guerrilla marketing campaign allowed it to engage with its audience in a meaningful and unconventional way. Moreover, the strategy allowed VICE Global News to showcase its primary expertise—provide coverage on underreported issues to a younger demographic. What else? VICE’s guerilla marketing campaign showed how modern technology can enable brands to connect and engage with its target market. The use of AR highlights how it can be used to deliver interactive experiences to audiences, paving the way for individuals to actively remember a brand. — As you can see, modern technology provides opportunities to reach audiences from different parts of the world. So, the next time you come up with your own guerrilla marketing campaign, consider the tech tools you have at your disposal. Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Follow us on LinkedIn. Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing! Do you want to learn how one audio streaming platform connected with music lovers and horoscope fans from all over the world in 2019? See it in next week’s article!