subject: The Ancient Art of Ninja Marketing [print this page] What is Ninja Marketing you ask? Ninja Marketing is very similar, but not quite the same as Gorilla Marketing. Think Gorilla Marketing meets The Blair Witch Project. Promotions that have the look and feel of a unscripted event that grabs the target audiences pulse, makes their heart jump for a sec, and then realize that its a product or event promotion.
Here is an example of Ninja marketing at its smallest. Your walking down the sidewalk, and notice on the ground, what looks like a one hundred dollar bill slight folded. Your heart jumps for a second thinking, score! When you pick it up, you notice its actually a Nano Business Card promoting a local "Cash For Your Gold" location. That would be Ninja Marketing.
Your creativity is the only limit to what you can do with Ninja Marketing. Its all about how realistic your creative is, how well the creative was delivered to the target locations, and the close conversion rate of your sales or CS staff that is handling the consumer inquiries.
When it comes to creatives don't reinvent the wheel. What makes most Ninja Marketing Campaigns work, and feel real, is by using items and imagery that can be recognized on an unconscious level. Take the $100 bill idea I was talking about earlier. The reason that works is because we care about money so much, that even on an unconscious level we recognize that hundred dollar bill on the ground, and the want to pick it up. We step over trash and discarded items all the time without really looking at them closely, but how often do we step of cash on the ground? Never. A little child knows that what they are looking at is money, and it should be picked up.
After writing this article, I hope I don't start finding piles of fake money on the ground. Get creative! With the help of your local PrintFirm, you can create some really awesome creatives.
When it comes to delivery of the creative, make sure your Ninja Marketers don't go too far. You don't want to scare the target audience, You just want to get their heart pumping. Make sure all delivery methods are legal ones.
So go forth fellow Ninjas, and may your marketing results be large and profitable.
