Stick-to-itiveness

STICK-TO-ITIVENESS by Corliss Buenavida

During a recent staff get together we talked about creating a marketing blitz. Then Mary who does our accounts said we don’t have a budget for it.

Bumber!

Seeing our disappointment she said, “I can give you $300 bucks out of petty cash.”

Woohoo!

Having already done a little research into the matter I told everybody how we could have 1000 label stickers made up within a couple of days without spending our entire allotment which of course would then leave some left over for more beers at the bar we were about to head out to. Win-win!

A few days later after our box of sticker rolls had arrived, I was out for a cycle. However, having had dental surgery the day before I was told to take it easy, ergo no power ride. So, I figured if I’m going to be on a slow sight seeing ride, I might as well turn it into a stickering campaign. Although I posted a recent blog about graffiti on my garage door I’m going to have be a little hypocritical about vandalism so I’m going with that long standing quotation, ‘If you can’t beat them, join them!’

But I wasn’t about to deface works of art or store fronts, just do some selective placements to help spread the beerfloat.calm gospel.

My planned cycling route was taking me to a little lakefront parkette which I had read is about to get a face lift and enlargement so with my eyes wide open on the lookout for sticker targets, I had set off.

Here in Toronto, the obvious place to start sticker bombing is on city provided community message boards which have been set up all over town. The two main problems with these boards are, first; they are designed for pin up postering, and second; they are usually already plastered with all kinds of stuff so that our tiny budget friendly beerfloat.calm sticker is not going to stand out. The first one I stopped at was along a busy bike path and beside a transit stop – a good high traffic area. I did find a little room above the pin board which is too high for natural eye level and instant recognition, but I went with an angle mounting to draw attention to it.

Maybe next time I’ll fill a sheet of paper with stickers and bring some thumbtacks. Hard to miss that!

Lamp posts and hydro poles have been traditional spots to poster, but again only certain surface materials are good for applying our little stickers and there is usually a lot of competition for the viewers attention. However, the next target showed it’s face after a bit more riding - a parasite sympathy viewing stickering.

This is when you place your sticker beside (or on top, if there is room) of a missing pet poster. The soft-hearted souls of the world will see the word ‘missing’ and take a close look at the invariably lousy dark photos of the missing puss or pup and hopefully also espy our bright image lurking near by.

Incidentally, the reason why most cats go missing thus creating the need for missing posters is not what people typically think. Most of the time they are not taken by a coyote, owl or Chinese restaurant but have actually gone for a float and unfortunately dug their claws into the inflated vinyl while out in deep water. Yes, cats can always land on their feet when falling from a height, but swimming is not a strong suit.

With the low visibility probabilities of a busy notice board or light post I had to figure out where is a better spot to place a sticker in which our branding isn’t invisible.

Lo and behold, moments later it came to me in the way of a giant city sign board.

This might get noticed!

Unfortunately, even with all the construction in Toronto these boards are still few and far between, so I still needed to figure out another sticker target.

After reaching my destination and seeing that the parkette was indeed in need of a revitalisation I turned around for the return ride but took a different route which had me travel parallel with the Lake Ontario shoreline providing better opportunities to find suitable targets.

My next stop was another city parkette which I imagine is similar to what is in store for the one to be restored at my turn around point. There are many of these little rest stops and this was the first time I had been here since it was updated. What a great little viewpoint. I took a seat in one of the fixed-in-place Muskoka chairs, had a sip of my refreshing beverage and placed a little beerfloat.calm sticker firmly in place.

The great thing about a scenic view is that people will likely have their cameras out to take a picture so a QR scan will only take a moment more and give them something else to enjoy while seated in their relaxing repose.

Continuing my waterside voyage, I passed a beachfront parking lot where I spied a stand-up paddleboard and kayak rental facility. Anyone visiting here will be aquatic minded and therefore in the perfect demographic to introduce the beerfloat experience to. On the operators equipment storage container, they have posted rate cards, so I figured this was an ideal location for piggyback advertising.

Sticking with this aquatic related theme I tried to figure out how to sticker a small private yacht club, but nothing worked out at that location, so I circled back to a path side gazebo with a vista of the marina mooring area to slap a sticker on a prominent post.

My final water related connection to receive a promotional device was near a lifeguard station on the beach. I think my little addition blends in nicely with the other symbology for anyone who actually takes the time to take their personal safety into account before entering the water.        

For those of you who by some miracle are reading your first beerfloat blog because this campaign actually worked, you will discover from further reading, we always stress moderation in consumption while on a float - do it safely and use common sense.

The next sticker target on my ride was a disc golf course pole hole. Now when golfers reach the sixth hole to retrieve their discs, they should easily notice our colourful little sticker on the red rim of the chain support.

Earlier I mentioned the little parkette with the Muskoka chair. Well, although it has the really nice view of the city, similar chairs are located all along the waterfront so I stickered a few in higher human density settings even if the views are not as good. The important view for those plunking their butts on the plastic pine is what they see on the arm rest.

Sometimes a postering spot is so obvious that it is invisible. This one appeared as a massive black wall erected to hide a linear section of construction or maintenance work adjacent to the waterfront trail. It was so new that I was the first one to poster its surface with any form of advertising. After wiping away a layer of construction dust and applying our colourful beerfloat adhesive it really stood out on the dark blank canvas.

But I had learned my lesson from earlier, so I applied a few little patterns of multiple stickers along that extensive stretch. Hopefully these are not all wasted applications as I believe the whole thing will be covered in a large postering campaign explaining what is being built behind the wall. Maybe our stickers will get noticed multiple times before that happens.

Before completing my ride, I pondered where are some other places people may be stopping for a scenic view or have to stop because of reasons beyond their control. The answer was immediate as soon as I left the lakeshore trail and headed back onto city streets – traffic lights. Again, this is a spot where phones are in hand prevalently because modern humans need to visit their favourite sites at every opportunity. Therefore, my target point was as close as I could get to the crosswalk button which would be the only time they would look up from their screens.

I made two more stops on my travel back up from the lake. First, was another site where getting a sticker viewing is almost impossible to ignore. There is an outdoor elevator which was installed for access to a non-vehicular railway crossing bridge. Normally they build ramps for bicycles, strollers and wheelchairs but I believe space was limited in this location so there is an elevator installed beside stairwells at each end of the crossing. If you are going to push the button you are going to see the sticker.

Finally, just before getting home I passed through Trinity-Bellwoods, a large city park which is habited by all sorts of folks including many hip young Torontonians, so I thought the entry might be a perfect spot for a promotional image.

I’ll get out there again soon, I’ve got stick-to-itiveness!

Corliss

P.S. I was out that evening for a couple of films at the Toronto International Film Festival and placed the first of many indoor stickerings in an obvious and glorious location, the inside of a bathroom stall door where you have the user’s undivided, well, almost undivided attention.

P.P.S. I’ll try to follow up with a more comprehensive indoor guerilla marketing  campaign blog in the future.

beer float.calm =beerfloat.netnot beerfloat.com