An Elucidation of Non-Traditional Advertising

Non-traditional advertising encompasses anything that is not TV, radio, standard print or direct advertising. It is designed to cut through the clutter of traditional advertising and grab the attention of customers. Creativity and innovation are important aspects of this type of advertising and, if used properly, make it hard for customers to ignore it. Non-traditional advertising is atypical. It is a type of advertising that sets most businesses apart from their competitors.

One form of non-traditional advertising is guerrilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing entails grabbing the viewer’s attention without them expecting it. This kind of advertising uses a surprise effect to tantalize the viewer in a situation where they would not typically find media. It is difficult to embrace this type of advertising, but when done effectively it has a greater impact than that of its counterpart.

The Underlying Uniqueness

Emerging methods of advertising and use of mediums have been constantly breaking away from traditional advertising models. Some examples include: street teams, product sampling and wrapped vehicles. All of these, and more, embrace what non-traditional advertising is. Non-traditional advertising is dynamic in nature and is always changing. New methods are forever in the making and will be developed in the future. This is already being seen through the use of many online social media outlets, such as Facebook and YouTube. An astounding number of companies are using these types of social media sites as a tool for which they can easily connect with consumers. With social media, companies are able to get their products and services into the consumer’s hands and immediately receive a response. The key to non-traditional and online advertising is to make wise choices focused on the intended end-user, in order to maximize resource involvement.

With Benefits Come Risks

Non-traditional advertising enables marketers to attract consumer attention, which is vital. By exploiting a message that is out of the norm, a consumer’s retention rate will increase. They are most likely to remember precisely what the message was over a longer period of time. Moreover, the efficiency through word of mouth can create a buzz about the product or service. This helps create credibility for the brand.

Non-traditional advertising can also be very cost effective. Rather than spending thousands of dollars on 30 second commercials, just a few hundred dollars can provide you with a great non-traditional marketing campaign. As mentioned before, the most important aspect of non-traditional marketing is that it has a greater impact on consumers; that it grabs their attention and sticks with them.

Although it has its benefits, using non-traditional marketing may, at times, do more harm than good. Unfortunately, marketers do not have perfect control over it. Certain media or viewers might not like the product and may even criticize it before the product is even launched. Like anything experimental, it can be difficult to measure the impact of a non-traditional campaign. There is no exact way of tracking the results from using new forms of advertising. In the end, the repercussions may present challenges to your marketing strategy, or it may be the beginning of an inventive wave of advertising.

The Act of Doing

When all is said and done, is the use of non-traditional advertising imperative to most companies? That choice is up to the company. In most cases it will set them apart from their competitors by using attention grabbing forms of communication and media; in turn, creating a word of mouth buzz that is priceless.

Using a formula of unconventional creativity and innovation, non-traditional advertising can be used to effectively convey brand messages. Only time will tell where non-traditional advertising will go. The possibilities are endless.