Guerrilla marketing tactics work best in an environment in which people do not expect to be reached by advertising. Examples are ads on dollar bills, toilet paper or right on their dinner table. Ads that come with your food cannot be missed. They literally fall right into people’s hands in the form of chopsticks or hidden inside fortune cookies. These campaigns are successful because they carry an element of surprise and are fun and interesting so they easily engage people.

Asian restaurants offer a great variety of opportunities and GoGORILLA has created several alternative advertising methods especially for these dining establishments. We put together promotions that use a restaurant’s items such as take out boxes, chopsticks, and fortune cookies. While these items have always been used to promote the restaurants themselves, GoGORILLA uses them to market other programs and businesses.

One example of a GoGORILLA Media Chinese Restaurant promotion was done on behalf of the History Channel who wanted to promote a documentary they were airing on the “Lost Book of Nostradamus”. GoGORILLA chose 75 Chinese restaurants in Manhattan, New York to take part in this promotion. One tactic they used was to replace the traditional messages in fortune cookies with quotes from Nostradamus. It is traditional to offer fortune cookies with a Chinese meal, whether eaten in the restaurants, taken out, or delivered to homes. The owners of the restaurants were happy to take part in the promotion and their customers were likely intrigued by the new messages. They probably were also more interested in seeing the History Channel’s documentary on Nostradamus. This was a great use of alternative advertising methods to promote a television program.

Another example of a GoGORILLA Chinese restaurant campaign was designed for Continental Airlines. The company wanted to advertise and promote their flights to Japan. GoGORILLA supplied restaurants with chopsticks with promotional wrappers that restaurants handed out to customers whether they were eating in or ordering take-out or delivery. These GoChopstick wrappers included information about the airline’s Japanese routes and reached customers as they were enjoying an eastern meal, helping them to connect in their mind the idea of taking a trip to Asia. GoGORILLA used this campaign in specific zip codes in New York and also distributed the GoChopsticks to some Thai and Pan Asian restaurants to reach an even greater share of the market.

These restaurant-related alternative advertising methods also include carry-out packaging such as coffee sleeves and media specifically designed for different establishments like bars, delis, and diners such as GoPlacemats that engage kids and adults. Coupons can be used to promote everything from local tourist attractions, special events, television programs, and public service announcements.

While old-fashioned marketing methods can be successful, it is easier for savvy consumers to tune them out. GoGORILLA Media uses fun and innovative tactics to catch people by surprise and designs targeted campaigns to reach the masses. GoGORILLA Media is an expert at using alternative advertising methods to help you create a successful promotion.

History Channel Substitutes Predictions for Fortunes

This History Channel campaign promoted the new show “Lost Book of Nostradamus” through Chinese Restaurant Advertising. Placing quotes from Nostradamus’s writings inside fortune cookies, GoGORILLA Media distributed GoFORTUNE Cookies to 75 Chinese food restaurants throughout Manhattan. All restaurant owners were delighted to receive the cookies and immediately began including them with their meals, illustrating the viability of Chinese Restaurant Advertising in urban markets. 

GoCHOPSTICKS Offer an Innovative Solution

Continental Airlines chose the paper sheaths of chopsticks to make an original splash for their Japanese routes. The branded GoCHOPSTICKS were distributed to Japanese restaurants in targeted zip codes of New York City. As a value-added bonus, a portion of the GoCHOPSTICKS were also distributed to additional Thai and Pan-Asian restaurants in New York City, boosting impressions and admiration for such a pitch-perfect campaign.