How effective are street teams?
Street teams are a necessity for many musicians and bands, but many corporations are using them as well to launch new products, promote movies, etc. How effective is using a street team to spread the word about something?
Answers (5)
We used street teams when we launched a new cellular phone service throughout the midwest. They were both good and bad. First of all a lot rides on the quality of the street performers themselves. What are they doing to draw attention. If they are a group of people that beat drums and walk back and forth holding signs, then they're probably not going to draw much attention.
The group we used had some amazing people. They put out mats, played loud music and did break dancing. The stunts were fantastic and brought a lot of people to the door. They also had people that twirled fire on the end of ropes, juggled etc. This kind of excitement drew a ton of attention.
The second area of concern is where are they doing this. If the locations aren't where your core customers are then your waisting time and money. Our customer was urban, 18-35. They were credit challenged and needed a low priced phone solution. We had the street teams work in those neighborhoods. Primarily where we had our locations. This not only brought attention to the product and service, but it also let people where they can get them.
We had to drop our street team because their management let us down. They didn't try to keep the best performers and wound up being a banner holding, drum beating group of scary people. Not exactly what we wanted to build our brand.
Paul S
Marketing and Art Director at Resort Corporate Offices
Best Answers in: Viral Marketing (1), Public Relations (1)
I recommend you investigate Red Bull Energy Drinks "street team" inspired Mobile Energy Team marketing strategy.
Red Bull, being a market leader by introducing the "energy drink" to the world determined the best way to market something new is to put it in the hands of every person on the face of the earth. Now, almost 15 years later they have vast networks of young people carting product to every market imaginable in flashy cars all around the world. Comprising most of the marketing dollars spent, the overall impact of this program is much stronger than the elusive television ads and large scale events that promote the brand more so even than the product.
If you are marketing a product with a strong brand and to the appropriate target, a street team can reach much farther than other forms of marketing. by removing the step between learning about a product and deciding to try it. Instead it happens all at once and is facilitated by trained "street teamers."
Tread carefully here!
I come from a "guerrilla art" background and the perception of your street team will directly reflect your service/business/product. Most companies will underestimate the power and influence street teams can push, so they mistakenly lower their budgets and planning to just get something out there. The best thing to do, if you are using break dancers/graffiti artists/musicians/etc. Make sure you have the handful of individuals be real. "Real" meaning they have a name, they have built or been part of a legacy or that culture, someone that actually has credibility. So much credibility that the blur between "keeping it real" and business is blurred. Second to that, actual talent.
One example, Red Bull. By all ventures and avenues, Red Bull has remained an extreme marketing force, controlling roughly 60% of the energy drink market, even blowing Coca Cola out the water. Their tactic was buzz marketing sprinkled with street teams/guerrilla marketing not only at the event itself, but around the venue. Their guerrilla marketing campaigns are not really in their tactics, more in substance. Look at all the youthful events they sponsor. Action sport events are blessed with some of the most world renown graffiti writers painting, tapping into the creative juice. Art shows also include graffiti writers, and their most recent exhibit of Red Bull Cans. At overseas Dance Events, they are major sponsors of the show itself and sponsor individuals also. They have the BEST to represent them, the BEST to represent their product.
Treat your street teams and guerrilla marketing like sports, no half stepping and have a name/face/talent people can actually relate to in your target audience.
I think that another important to factor to note is the perceived relationship between those individuals marketing and their target audience. Research has shown that individuals trust their peers more than anyone else, making guerrilla marketing particularly effective and attractive for many brands.
Nevertheless, I have also seen many companies hire people to represent their brand but forget this still inevitably reinforces the vendor/consumer relationship. I suppose the best way to explain this is to provide a more real-life example...
My company, Moving Off Campus, is a marketing company that specializes in helping advertising partners connect with college students. We do this through combining promotion through our online portal (movingoffcampus.com), street teams and events. Unlike other guerrilla marketing efforts, however, all street teams are marketing from the Moving Off Campus brand - a brand that is trusted by students as it is a website and company with the sole mission of helping students. As a result, we elicit a much higher response from our target compared with our competitors as the marketing is being conducted through a conduit that is much more of a peer than a vendor.
Of course, maintaining this type of a relationship can be difficult which is why it is so critical to ensure that advertising partners benefit our target market (we won't just work with anyone).
Hope this was helpful...
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Tyrone T
Media Planner at RED Communications
Best Answers in: Advertising (7), Search Marketing (1), Blogging (1), Computers and Software (1)
Street teams are a novel way of getting the message across. As some have stated they cut down the time lapse between product advertising and purchase opportunity. Also they play a role in eliminating barriers and help reinforce the brand. They can generate word of mouth, and we all know how powerful that is. It's dangerous too as it can easily backfire.
An intelligent marketer knows that not all new media avenues are suitable for his brand he needs to pick and choose. Another thing acrobatics and theatrics are great but unless they fit in with the brand nature and personality they can easily overshadow the message. Just like celebrity endorsement-yuo remember Brad Pitt but not the car he was advertising!
An essential component of any successful campaign is relevance and credibility. Does the use of street teams fit in with these two goals for your brand?
