Celebrating Creativity #49 – Yellow Pages

iPhone Jonny Guerrilla Yellow Pages This little gem from New Zealand is a classic example of how guerrilla marketing can be used to promote your brand without having to put too much effort into the campaign.

Jonny Gladwell accepted a challenge to be the first kiwi to get the new iPhone 3G in New Zealand. He waited in line for three days and three nights in front of an Auckland Vodafone store creating worldwide exposure for the stunt.

What people didn’t know is that this was actually a guerrilla campaign to promote the Yellow Pages website. During the three days of waiting, Jonny documented online how he was surviving in the queue by using Yellow Pages to order everything he required for his wait: food and supplies, and even a barbershop shave and a work out on an Exercycle!

The day after Jonny purchased the phone, Yellow Pages revealed their secret using a full-page newspaper ad. It was certainly a brilliant idea that engaged people to support his cause.

This guerrilla stunt worked so well that a guy in the UK is trying to follow the same steps. He created this so-called ‘The iPhone5 Experiment’ and is asking for support of brands to help him be the first to get the new iPhone5.

Clever guerrilla stunts are the ones that are really unexpected and relevant to command the audiences’ attention. What are your thoughts? Do you think he will get the same exposure as Jonny? Tweet us @Hotcow!

Leave a Reply