A Fantastic Example of Guerrilla Marketing

I wrote about guerrilla marketing yesterday, only to discover today what I think is one of the best examples of guerrilla marketing I have ever seen.

Here's what happens:

You've somehow made it to this website, STATE OF CHAOS - with the subtitle "THIS YEAR'S BLOCKBUSTER ON YOUR BLOCK." You're curious. You're impulsive (did you read the fine print at the bottom? I didn't - and didn't think for a second about giving my street address away - but that's another story).

After you've decided to provide this State of Chaos website with your street address (and maybe your last name), you click the button "UNLEASH CHAOS" because well, chaos is meant to be unleashed (and your friend told you this website was really cool).

 Next thing you know, you find yourself in YOUR neighborhood. No, I'm not kidding. Your actual neighborhood. You recognize the trees and streets and houses and everything. And on top of that, there is a colossal, Herculean, Megatron-like robo-monster stomping through the yard - YOUR yard. If you're like me, you're still in shock and awe that you are actually seeing YOUR neighborhood. YOUR house. YOUR trees. YOUR driveway. The 3-D modeling is unreal.

You're viewing your house through the eyes of the destructive robot, who is apparently on a rampage and has set your house as his next target. Resident located. And in the next second, your house explodes, smashed into smithereens. You're launched into space, and from a Google Earth bird's eye perspective, you see a burst of flames: your home has been destroyed.

Your first reaction is how epic and cool that whole simulation was. Technology' has come a long way these days, you think to yourself. You're fascinated by how real that video was, how much it was like that last video game you played, how personalized this actualization of a Godzilla-led doomsday really was.

And then this screen pops up.

STATE FARM.

BE PREPARED. BE VERY PREPARED.

Me? I was shocked. Then incredibly impressed. 

Shocked that this was an advertisement.

And then impressed that this was an advertisement (*especially by State Farm. Their TV commercials are pretty boring and unmemorable).

That State Farm could play off of so many of our current culture's obsessions, interests, and digital platforms while reinforcing their own status as "protector" is both creative and innovative.

What this campaign really does is solidify State Farm as a "cool" company. A forward-thinking, creative company with great packaging and presentation (I'm thinking along the lines of Apple right now). Next time you're choosing your insurance, you'll think back to this ad campaign. Of course, there's nothing in this ad that really substantiates State Farm's insurance policy as being better or less expensive or more valuable than any other policy, but that's not what you remember as a consumer (more often than not). You remember the AURA that was created. The aura is the message.

(TRY IT FOR YOURSELF HERE.)