Asymmetric Advertising

Advertising ain’t what it used to be.  There’s so much of it, and so little of it is relevant to the viewer, so it’s easy to tune it out.  Not only that, wherever there’s advertising, there’s more advertising, so it’s outrageously expensive to match, let alone beat, your competition.

Unless you advertise where there is no competition.  There may be a name for this already, but I call it asymmetric advertising.

When you advertise in areas where there are no competing messages, it’s much easier to be noticed and get your message across. Recently, Miller Brewing did it by advertising its new MGD 64 on dry-cleaning hangers.  It was smart because it hit their target market (women) in an innovative, asymmetric way, in a medium devoid of messages from competing brands.

What are some other ways to advertise asymmetrically?  Here are some Ideas to Chew On:

• Pizza boxes – Want to generate awareness in a market?  Try paying pizza joints to use boxes with your brand/logo/offer printed on top.
• Yard waste bags – You see them on curbs in American suburbs all the time, usually with a home center’s brand emblazoned on them.  That could be your brand.  Print some up and give them away in strategically chosen neighborhoods.
• Reusable grocery bags – People use them, but they don’t want to buy them.  And they get used for more than groceries.  Flood an area with bags sporting your Web site, and see if traffic goes up.

These are just ideas.  Anyone care to add any more?