Alternative advertising

My favorite thing in the advertising industry is what I term "alternative advertising." This is advertising put in places that traditional advertising (television, radio, print) doesn't go. This type of advertising is distinct because it catches consumer's attention in different ways and that is an advertisement's goal. Here are some of my favorite "alternative advertising" techniques.

EcoHanger. Hangers made from recyclable products display company advertisements. EcoHanger then distributes the hangers for free, this being funded by advertisers.


Micro Target Media. This company incorporated advertising on porta potties in a creative way that got a lot of attention. This type of advertising is excellent because it is used at large events and the people there are people from the target market.


Coffee sleeves. If you're a coffee drinker, I'm sure you've put a coffee sleeve on your cup so that you don't have to hold a hot cup of joe. Have you ever seen one with an advertisement printed on the sleeve? Although this is more of a hit-or-miss type of "alternative advertising" it can be useful if you add a coupon to it. Tracking customers with coupons is easier than putting an ad out there and hoping for the best.


Has advertising gone too far by transforming into this "alternative" type of advertising? Some people think so. From an advertiser's perspective however, it is just a creative way to get a message out to a potential consumer. Although "alternative advertising" is harder to ignore than a commercial or a print ad in a magazine, incorporating ads into everyday items can make them more effective.

I'll continue to update my blog with exciting and new "alternative advertising" techniques as I see them!

Know your customers

This task seems simple enough, but knowing your customers can be complicated. Why do you need to know your customers? Because they will lead you to others just like them. Knowing your customers will help you understand their buying patterns, where to place your advertising, which method of advertising they prefer, etc. There are two kinds of information you want to know about: demographics and psychographics. Demographics include age, gender, income, region of the country, etc. Psychographics include people's attitudes, behaviors (what they purchase with expendable income), and opinions. So how do you figure this stuff out?

Let's say you sell grills and as an example, the life of a grill is about five years. The following questions bear that in mind:

-Do you have repeat customers (once the five year life is up)?
-Do they purchase accessories on a regular basis?
-What is their annual household income?
-Do they recommend your grills to their friends, family, co-workers?
-Are they customers because: of the business' reputation, excellent customer service, competitive prices?
-Do more males than females make the decision to purchase a grill?
-Are more customers from the north, south, east, west part of town, or is there an equal distribution?
-What do your customers do in their spare time?
-What types of activities do your customers have in common (working on their cars, yard work, home improvement, etc.)?
-Do they prefer gas or charcoal grills?
-How often do they grill?
-Do they live in a part of the country that has 100+ days of sunshine per year? 200+? 300+?
-What television shows do they watch?
-What radio stations do they listen to?
-Are they exposed to billboards on a daily basis?

The list of questions is endless.

Sometimes, gathering this information can be difficult especially if you have a brick and mortar store. Some businesses get this information by asking for a ZIP code from the customer at check out. Then you can compare purchasing habits by region that the customer lives in. Another way to gather information is by conducting a survey. A free online survey can be created on the Survey Monkey Web site. (The basic features are free.)

By knowing everything about your customer, you can more effectively place advertisements in places where your customers already look or listen. That way, you can attract people just like them, people that purchase your products and services.