This Campaign Cost (Almost) Nothing

This is the story of the creation of an advertising campaign that cost (almost) nothing. VIA, a mid-sized, independent advertising agency in Portland, ME took on the pro bono challenge of raising awareness of the services of The Salvation Army in the Greater Portland area (raising a little money wouldn't hurt either). Adding to this challenge was the fact that 83 cents of every dollar donated to The Salvation Army goes directly to the people that it serves leaving very little money left over for expensive advertising campaigns. So VIA created a grassroots, guerrilla campaign that is being supported by 50+ Greater Portland businesses and includes over 5,000 creative placements in spots where you would never expect to see an ad (on store windows & coffee sleeves, inside pizza boxes & on rocks, on dirty car windows & shopping bags, the list goes on and on - we even got our message on modern furniture in the trendiest of places). This gargantuan guerrilla effort was supported by traditional print, online and TV advertising all created in-house and run on media donated by local network and cable TV stations, newspapers and websites. We will be EVERYWHERE.

It has been a ton of work but also a ton of fun. It has been great for us to really feel a part of a community effort at a time when our community needs us the most. The positive energy that has been generated has been pretty inspiring.

Oh yeah, did we mention that the concept for this campaign came from one of our youngest creative teams? And, that The Salvation Army stepped way outside of their box with this one? Well, it was and they did. Check us out in action here and check out our campaign site at www.salvationarmydonate.org

May 13
Guerrilla Marketing Hits Portland | Mainebiz Great campaign write-up from Portland business weekly If you’re strolling through the Old Port today, you might notice a message scrawled on a dirty car window, painted on a rock plunked on your lunch table or stamped on the sleeve of a passerby’s coffee cup. “This ad cost nothing” it might read, or “The less we spend on advertising, the more people we can reach.” If you wind up donating to The Salvation Army after seeing it, consider yourself a successful target of “guerrilla marketing.” Local ad agency The VIA Group began blanketing Portland, South Portland and Westbrook on Monday with a pro bono grassroots ad campaign on behalf of The Salvation Army, designed to boost awareness and donations during a typically slow time of year for the charitable organization. Roughly 50 area businesses are donating space for the effort, including the Portland Pie Co., which will have ads stamped on the underside of its pizza boxes, and Novare Res, where messages will be painted on the bar’s mirrors. (cont.)

Guerrilla Marketing Hits Portland | Mainebiz

Great campaign write-up from Portland business weekly

If you’re strolling through the Old Port today, you might notice a message scrawled on a dirty car window, painted on a rock plunked on your lunch table or stamped on the sleeve of a passerby’s coffee cup. “This ad cost nothing” it might read, or “The less we spend on advertising, the more people we can reach.” If you wind up donating to The Salvation Army after seeing it, consider yourself a successful target of “guerrilla marketing.”

Local ad agency The VIA Group began blanketing Portland, South Portland and Westbrook on Monday with a pro bono grassroots ad campaign on behalf of The Salvation Army, designed to boost awareness and donations during a typically slow time of year for the charitable organization. Roughly 50 area businesses are donating space for the effort, including the Portland Pie Co., which will have ads stamped on the underside of its pizza boxes, and Novare Res, where messages will be painted on the bar’s mirrors. (cont.)
Posted at 2:21pm

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