0_CCULT STICKERS CAMPAIGN

Welcome back to the 0_CCULT Blog. In this blog post, I will talk about the most recent marketing campaign we pulled as 0_CCULT. I will explain the thought, inspiration, and business strategy behind this campaign. So, (spoiler alert) stick around if you are interested to learn about Guerrilla Marketing. Let’s dive into it!

Long ago, I ordered a large batch of 0_CCULT stickers to give away free with each T-shirt order. To be honest, I ordered a little bit extra so I had lots of spare stickers. I always had the idea of spreading the 0_CCULT by QR code stickers but at first, I wasn’t thinking of putting them around out in public places. When I noticed the excessive amount of spare stickers, I thought I could give it a go if I can find the right place and the right time. Istanbul was very rainy back then and I decided to wait until the weather is better so my stickers can be seen and remain in a good condition. I even tried to put a few around the block just to see how rain and other weather conditions were affecting the sticker. Luckily, those stickers are strong. Now I want to ask you a question. Who doesn’t like stickers? they are absolutely a great type of decoration and incredibly cheap. As you see from the cover, there are three types of stickers available and two of them are QR codes. One of these QR codes says “It’s not a cult” and takes you to 0_CCULT’s Instagram account once it’s scanned. Another one says “It’s 0_CCULT” and takes you directly to the 0_CCULT Website. With the 0_CCULT symbol in the middle of the QR codes, I believe it’s catchy and interesting enough even if you see only one of them alone. The best part is that we have the access to the numbers of people who scanned the QR code. Data even shows the dates, they scanned it and the user device. There was one problem though. Taking out your phone, directing it to the surface, and reading the QR code can be a bit too much action for many people. 

In my opinion, this is where this act takes a turn and becomes a guerrilla campaign. We had to beat that challenge in order to make people see the stickers. It doesn’t matter how eye-catching stickers can be. They could’ve easily be avoided because obviously, it’s not a giant-sized sticker and most importantly because the process of taking out your phone and activating the camera, etc. was way too long for a casual walker. In this disadvantage, I thought if we could grab their attention while their phones are out and cameras are open. Then the inspiration came to me. The location I live in is already a great spot for my target market and it’s one of the most popular locations in Istanbul. Spot being only one main popular street makes Bagdat Street even a better location since there are only two sidewalks and 0_CCULT stickers can be easily noticed if there are too many around. But even better and the most crucial part is the rentable electric scooters. These electric scooters are available throughout the street and usable through an app. Users must scan a QR code on the scooter to be able to rent it. These scooters can be found, locked around the street lamps and similar poles around the street. Once the user is done riding the scooter, they also have to leave it locked in somewhere safe which is usually also a street lamp. There are thousands of these electric scooter users every day. So I thought what if we target the street lamps and such where these scooters are located? Empty poles are also fine because they will eventually become a spot for a scooter to be locked. Regarding my observations, it is usually younger people who ride these scooters. So the age group who uses these scooters is very similar to our target market. Using the already existing customer base of another company might look like leeching. But honestly, it is what it is. After all, street lamps are not owned by these companies. 

When I plan this out and told my friends, I knew it was going to be some kind of a Guerrilla campaign because of its nature. I was first introduced to the term of the guerrilla campaign in one of my Entrepreneurship classes. I remember the professor talking about the elements and details of this type of marketing and giving an example of Red bull’s campaign that I still remember to this day. Basically, Red Bull strategically placed tons of empty Red Bull cans in garbage bins next to nightclubs, bar tables, and similar locations that can potentially be visible by their demographics. Which gave the impression that Red Bull consumption is high and it’s a popular choice of drink by people. Which actually led to the popularity of Red Bull. Personally, I think this was a brilliant guerrilla marketing example. Now, I  know you may be wondering what is Guerrilla Marketing exactly because I haven’t provided a hyperlink yet. Let me explain.

Guerrilla Marketing:

To be clear, Guerrilla Marketing is a type of advertising strategy that usually uses a low-cost approach and prioritizes strategic decisions and most importantly the creativity in the project. These projects aim for maximum exposure which would potentially increase brand awareness. This could come in a form of public stunts to a simple creative idea of advertising with a twist that would differentiate it from normal campaigns. The term was first used by the business writer Jay Conrad in the book “Guerrilla Advertising” in 1984. In our current time where social media is what defines this whole century, this marketing strategy can be seen as a powerful way of influencing consumers and a tool to get earned media. If you still have doubts about this type of marketing, here are some benefits and elements of Guerrilla Marketing:

As a last note, I would like to say, the second part of 0_CCULT’s sticker campaign was to capture some of the moments while placing the stickers around the city and turn it into a reels video for 0_CCULT’s Instagram account. I thought that could be a way to reach even more people and since Instagram Reels is the trend now, it could possibly get a good amount of views. Well, turns out that I was right. It was unreal to see the reels clip to get 1.5k views in the first 10 minutes and get almost 4k views the day after without any advertisement. Also, I observed a good amount of QR code scans in the past few days. After this success, as 0_CCULT, we will definitely run more and hopefully larger scaled types of guerrilla campaigns in the future.