One of the topics of my previous post was sampling. While there could be a good number of campaigns out there that understandably do a go job at sampling ‘products’, how do you execute sampling of services and experiences? I wondered.
And then I discovered Hunger Delivery
There are campaigns for NGOs that have tried to tug at your heartstrings in order to make a point and evoke your empathy (and in some cases, sympathy). But what if you are made to actually experience the cause that an organization is fighting for? In other words what if you are inadvertently compelled to sample the experience? And what if the experience is ‘hunger’? The Food Bank Foundation tied up with 2 pizzerias in Paraguay and executed the following campaign.
It could require guts to execute something like this (in fact it could almost be impossible to be executed in a number of markets given the expected temperament and potential consumer backlash characteristic of these markets). The results shown in the above video notwithstanding, I am not sure if this campaign has actually offended or ended up alienating any of their consumers. But a noteworthy campaign by any standards! Hats off to the Pizzerias that have offered to be part of this campaign even if it was for one single day. (Agency: TBWA/Oniria)
Interestingly, I also learnt that there exists a near parallel for this campaign in Spain, albeit for a TV Show.
Alcatraz Delivery
Alcatraz is an American TV series; a thriller based on the namesake Alcatraz Prison, from where all the prisoners and guards had mysteriously disappeared in 1963. The execution apparently was to make people sample the prison experience without them having to leave their homes. See the case study video here.
Alcratz reportedly was a success on its opening, given the buzz it has managed to generate with this campaign. (Agency: Leo Burnett Iberia).
Again a gutsy attempt, but I have mixed feelings about this as it almost inflicts an unpleasant experience upon unsuspecting ‘viewers’ and doesn’t make up for it (as the Hunger Delivery example did). May be it succeeds at planting an intriguing thought in your mind, but I somehow get a feeling that it appears to have tried a little too hard at it.
What do you think?
Any other ‘sampling of experience’ examples that you know of?
Riffs on technology, marketing & culture 