A Barn Roof, a Tractor Hat, and a Surfboard T-Shirt

When you get down to it - non-traditional advertising, guerrilla, viral, and advertising in "new media" in isn't all that new. It's just the venues that have changed.

Thinking beyond the scope of 30 seconds or full-page bleeds. Finding unexpected methods to get people to notice the message.

How many Southern kids out there pleaded from the back seat for a tour of Rock City -- because of a barn roof or a birdhouse?

Lets go further. Creating brand loyalty, love, interaction, WOM by example, viral -- by giving people an advertising message they enjoy interacting with.

Wearing my dad's Massey Ferguson cap when I was five, I'm positive, contributed to my successful lobbying for a Massey when he replaced the main tractor 12 years later. Wearing G&S t-shirts as a teenager has certainly influenced my surfboard purchases.

I'm not advocating tractor hats for your new startup business. The reason "new media" is new, and "non-traditional" is non, is that the older, simpler delivery vehicles have already been done.

But the basic concept is exactly the same.

Use A Stick: Put your message in places people don't expect.
Use Another One: Make messages people enjoy interacting with.