Horizontal Marketing

NANYANG BUSINESS SCHOOL

ACADEMIC YEAR 2011/2012

SEMESTER 2

BM214: Integrated Marketing Communications

Individual Assignment

“From the Ground Up: Taking Street and Sidewalk Advertising to

the Next Level”

Instructor:

Assoc Prof Lam Shun Yin

Submitted by:

Elijah Lee Raphael

U1011059C

Seminar Group

Date: 23 March 2012

Introduction

With the rapid advancement of technology, marketers in today’s business world are able to

creatively advertise with endless possibilities. However, with all the clutter, companies are

seeking alternative ways to get brand messages out since costumers are becoming increasingly

immune to traditional out-of-home media such as billboards. When marketers commission

advertisements for products in novel and unusual spaces they call it “guerrilla marketing” and in

Singapore’s context that would be where advertisements are rarely seen, the ground.

Internationally, advertisers have taken to using streets and sidewalks because of their sheer size.

With modern cities such as Singapore focusing on buildings and digital billboards within the

vertical landscape, the prospective of going horizontal with ground advertising is an attractive

one for a company to differentiate themselves from their competitors. To date, several companies

around the world have already launched guerrilla marketing campaigns which have creatively

utilized the ground as a platform for witty advertisements that have not only caught eyeballs but

also customer sales.

Commercializing the Ground

Pedestrian crossings and disabled parking spaces are common sights on roads and sidewalks and

serve as regulations for the general public. But history has shown that these same spaces have

also been used for activities such as children chalking marble circles and hopscotch games and

groups and/or individuals asserting their identity through graffiti-albeit sometimes illegally. It is

therefore not surprising that those with merchandise to sell would also...