Our previous campaign of converting flex banners to tents was super hit. People living on the roadside put it to use. One thing we observed was, they used it only when they rested. We thought, why don’t we do something with the banners that they could use when they were working as well?. Most of the people working on the roadside may not have an umbrella or a raincoat. We also got a great response for the tent video and many event managers offered us to give the used flex banners. But unfortunately the rains had stopped and summer began. After an year when the rainy season came again, we pitched the concept to M-auto.
They readily agreed to execute the plan for security personnel & auto drivers. We then designed the rain coat in such a way that it is easy to use and the execution cost was less. We came up with an idea of just using velcro and stapled the ends.
The total cost of making the rain coat was less than Rs.30. We then discussed the concept & explained the design to the brand & they approved the process. We shared the design & the process. In 2 days the drivers were able to make 100+ raincoats. We then went out and distributed the raincoat to auto drivers and roadside vendors MYTH #12 GUERRILLA MARKETING CANNOT USE SIMILAR PRACTICES WITH DIFFERENT BRANDS 79 The drivers were so happy that they did this for a cause. It was an awesome feel when the security people thanked us.
One of the roadside vendors immediately used the rain coat & did the service. He offered tender coconut as a gesture to thank us. We were excited & felt emotional at the same time. We made a video & posted it online. We asked if we can get more banners. We got a call from one actor’s fan club & they said they wanted to execute the same. We got excited & we readily trained them in the process. We helped them to do first few raincoats & they themselves called their fellow friends from the club & processed around 100+ raincoats. They delivered the raincoats to the people on the roadside. This video was also posted online, the actor himself retweeted it and thanked the fans. After the government banned the banners, we upcycled the used banners and the idea went viral.
The story got greater reach when a couple of newspapers covered the story. One TV channel featured the entire campaign. The money spent was very less and, in turn the reach was 100x the value that they had spent.
