Charmin Experiential Marketing

As mentioned in my Sharpie blog post and first blog post, experiential marketing is my favorite type of guerrilla marketing. In general, it's a growing form of marketing because of its effectiveness and ability for brands to engage with consumers. Experiential marketing is a two way communication experience where the consumer interacts with the product or brand without being forcefully "sold."

Charmin used experiential marketing over the 2007 holiday season by installing 20 restrooms in Times Square.  The pop-up restroom installations were a massive success with 392,862 visitors participating (Hospes, 2010).

Here is how Charmin effectively implemented experiential marketing using "4 Steps to Engaging Guerrillas":

1.  Understand the brand's Unique Selling Proposition: 
Charmin created a clean and comfortable experience for New Yorkers and tourists in the bustling city.  Instead of searching for any restroom in the city, customers experienced a clean restroom with soft toilet paper rather than dirty porta-potties with cheap and thin toilet paper.  Instead of people hurrying to got and get out of the bathroom, Charmin created an experience where customers wanted to stay.  Their Twitter hashtag #tweetfromtheseat also promotes this notion of a comfortable bathroom experience.  

2.  Incorporate the USP in nature: 
Installing 20 pop-up bathroom sites around NYC

3.  Incorporate audience engagement into the idea:  
As pictured to the right, the restrooms contained 6 different types of Charmin rolls for the consumers to try.  Charmin also made the experience a product contest by having the participants choose which type of toilet paper (Ultra Strong vs. Ultra Soft) was their favorite.  They used giant flush-o-meters for people to cast their vote! (Partnership Activation, 2008).  Lastly, two giant Charmin bears were on-site for pictures.

4.  Finish the idea by creating an effective call-to-action: 
Every person who voted in the contest was rewarded with coupons for the product.  Participants could also purchase branded t-shirts, boxers and bears as a take-away from the event.

Remember: Say "I do" to engaging the audience with guerrilla marketing--Kayleigh Green

Sources

• Chung, J.  2006.  Charmin's Time Square Bathrooms Are Open For Your Business.  http://gothamist.com/2006/11/20/charmins_times.php
• Hospes, C.  2010.  Guerrilla Marketing from Marginal to Mainstream.  http://www.creativeguerrillamarketing.com/guerrilla-marketing/guerrilla-marketing-marginal-mainstream/
• McDonough, G.  2007.  http://meetschmitt.typepad.com/schmittblog/2007/05/plunging_into_e.html
• Partnership Activation.  2008.  Is There Money In the Can? http://www.partnershipactivation.com/partnership-ideas/?currentPage=23

Lay's "Do Us a Flavor" Guerrilla Marketing

In 2009, Lay's began their creative fan-driven product campaign: Do Us a Flavor, which has continued to gain traction every year since then.  Customers submit their flavor combinations ideas, then "brand representatives, foodies, and food scientists choose the top 10 flavors" to make on a chip (Stampler 2013).  This year Lay's even used celebrities to narrow down the flavors to the top 3.

Throughout the campaign, Lay's moved consumer engagement to the streets through a specific form of guerrilla marketing: street marketing.  This is a critique of the campaign and suggestions for incorporating street marketing from the beginning.

1.  Understand the brand's Unique Selling Proposition: Lay's USP is the contest which focuses on fan creation and interaction.  Furthermore, the unique flavor finalists draw in customers: Cheese Garlic Bread, Chicken & Waffles, Sriracha.

Presence Marketing

2.  Incorporate the USP in nature: Lay's incorporated the campaign into nature through the use of pop-up marketing and brand ambassadors.  They launched the campaign on July 20, 2012 with a pop-up store in Times Square so consumers could taste test 20 of the potential flavors.  Eva Longoria and Michael Symon, celebrity chef, were also present to take pictures at the pop-up event.  Booths/stands were also next to the pop-up, with the top looking like a Lay's potato chip.  Lastly, two brand ambassadors dressed up as a flavor finalist (Chicken & Waffles) to hand out samples.

Brand Ambassadors

Experiential Marketing: Pop-Up Tents

3.  Incorporate audience engagement into the idea: The whole concept of the campaign is consumer engagement so Lay's is already utilizing marketing effectively. My suggestion is to leverage the consumer engagement to start the interaction from the beginning and carry it out throughout the end.

Suggestion: Use Pop-Up tents to promote consumer engagement three times during the campaign, instead of one.

Experiential Marketing: Consumers
tasting existing Lay's flavors at
pop-up tent.

• Pop-Up tent 1: At the start of the campaign so consumers can make and submit flavor combinations in person. Lay's can have different seasoning options available along with plain chips to increase the interaction. 
• Pop-Up tent 2: To test the top 20 flavors which Lay's already does.
• Pop-Up tent 3: Consumers can test the final 3 flavors in Times Square by purchasing snack bags from the pop-up site.  The pop-up tent should be in place for a few days so the consumers can return and purchase their favorite flavor in the full size bags.

Potential for life-size
sales thermometer

4.  Finish the idea by creating an effective call-to-action: At Pop-Up tent 3, consumers can purchase the top 3 flavors onsite.  Lay's can use these sales figures to determine which flavor received the most sales and use that as a factor in determining the winner of the contest.  
Suggestion: As the sales figures come in, Lays can have 3 life-size cans of Lay's Stax in front of the pop-up tent with each of the 3 finalist flavors shown on each can.  The cans will also look like fundraising thermometers so Lay's can show which flavor is ahead in the pop-up tent sales.

Lay's has done an excellent job of making consumer engagement a focus in its Do Us A Flavor campaign through guerrilla marketing, specifically street marketing, experiential marketing, pop-up tents and brand ambassadors.  Its campaign has gain wild success through incorporating fan creation in introducing new flavors of chips. As Lay's plans its campaign for next year, it can leverage consumer engagement by incorporating it in three steps throughout the campaign.

Remember: Say "I do" to engaging the audience with guerrilla marketing--Kayleigh Green

Sources
Buss, D.  2012.  Frito-Lay Launches Times Square Pop-Up Store Today with Eva Longoria.  Brandchannel.com.  Retrieved from http://www.brandchannel.com/home/post/2012/07/20/frito-lay-times-square-072012.aspx
Stampler, L.  2013.  Inside Lay's Crazy Process for Making Chicken & Waffle Flavor Chips.  Businessinsider.com.  Retrieved from http://www.businessinsider.com/inside-lays-crazy-process-for-making-chicken-and-waffle-flavor-chips-2013-2