Tic Tac Toe - A Guerrilla Marketing Idea?
We all appreciate something a little different in an everyday routine. Something to spice it up just a little.
A game of tic tac toe does that.
One day I was out with the stroller getting my daughter to sleep, and I walked by a concrete wall. On this wall there was a lot of graffiti. It was one of those walls where graffiti was fully allowed. Suddenly I noticed that someone had drawed a tic tac toe game, with a cross placed in the middle.
At first, I thought someone had just been bored and drawed this while on the phone or something. Then, I thought, what if I made the next move? Would the other person follow up?
I went home when my daughter woke up, and the next trip I brought a permanent marker. I made my move.
One week went by, and nothing happened. Another week, still nothing.
Then. Suddenly, as I walked by a little over two weeks later, the other person had finally made a new move.
The game was on.
Every other week we made a new move, and I was getting really excited. I even bought a better permanent marker. Whenever I met friends and family, I started talking about the game and how cool the concept were. Everyone agreed that this was a fun little “spice up” in an everyday life, playing tic tac toe with a total stranger.
As we continued the game of tic tac toe (a game that is still going on, by the way), I started thinking of possibilities. This positive excitement is exactly what we want potential customers to feel about our brands. Could there be something here?
During the game I posted everything on my public Snapchat profile and Instagram. I have around 700 followers on Snapchat, but since I posted this on the Snap map aswell, the total reach of the first post were over 1500 people. On Instagram I have around 2000 followers, although this post only reached approximately 250 of these. The following posts had about the same reach of 1500–2000 across two social media platforms.
Anyway, the numbers is not the point here. The situation got me to post something — excited and feeling good.
This game was not branded, or in any way initiated by a brand. Although it could have been.
Thinking of this with a guerrilla marketing perspective in mind, there is definitely some inspiration to find here. If it suits your niche and your target audience, random board games around the city might actually give you a cheap and valuable reach. At least it triggered me. I believe others would be triggered, too.
We all know that following trends will work just fine, but it won’t get you viral. A trend is a trend because it’s done before. It’s nothing new and ground breaking. Doing something totally new, on the other hand, might actually get you viral. At least, it’s worth a try. Either it works or you’ll learn something.
Going forward, I encourage everyone to focus more on creativity. Be creative (remember to stay within the law), and you might just have your next viral campaign.
