Alternative media, by any other name, including word-of-mouth, is a confusing collection of attempts to reach the consumer while bypassing traditional advertising vehicles. Some refer to it as buzz marketing. Others prefer street marketing, guerrilla marketing, renegade marketing, virtual marketing, ambush marketing, vanguard marketing, ambient marketing, covert marketing, under-the-radar marketing, below-the-line marketing, diffusion marketing or viral marketing.

Viral Video

Perhaps the most well known alternative advertising technique is the viral video. Short videos, usually humorous or controversial, are created. These videos are different from traditional commercials in that the goal is generally to entertain the audience, not to inform them about a particular product. While information transferal often occurs as well, the aim of the viral video is to amuse. The idea is that getting the product into the public consciousness is the best thing that you can do; if people are curious, they will look up the details themselves.

This model makes the consumer active in the process of advertising. The consumer seeks out the product, meaning that they are already putting forth more effort than the traditional television-watcher. Because the consumer has been active, the likelihood that the particulars of the product will stick with them is greatly increased, meaning that when the consumer does need to purchase something like the product, they will be more likely to remember the particular product that they viewed the viral video for.

Blogs

Blogs are another method of reaching an audience that is tuned out of the traditional television commercial and print advertising markets. According to NetLingo, the Internet dictionary, blogs are a frequent, chronological publication of personal thoughts and web links. When compared with the slick production values of corporate web sites, blogs have the same homespun appeal as fliers stapled to telephone poles: crude but credible.

Blogs are the voice of the everyday person. Anyone with an Internet connection can establish a blog. Some of the more intrepid and well-entrenched bloggers buy webhosting services and create their own websites with nothing but their blogs on them, but this is not necessary to enter the blogosphere. Free blog capabilities are available on social networking site such as Myspace, Facebook, and LiveJournal. Additionally, many smaller sites where people interact with each other offer blogging capability to their members. Literally anyone can become a blogger.

Blogs have also begun to enter the marketing sphere. They are an essential part of the buzz-creating mechanism, especially among the hip young Gen Yers. Young people and professionals increasingly turn to the Internet for services their parents’ would never have thought to be available them through the computer. Phonebooks are online; directions can be obtained. News consumption increasingly occurs online. This makes the Internet a great place to go to attract new consumers, and blogs, because of their homespun appeal, the perfect vehicle to build credibility.

Captive Audience

Companies such as TransitTV are working another angle of the alternative marketing universe known as the captive audience. They have installed 8,400 screens on over 3,000 public transportation vehicles in five major US cities. These screens reach the “captive audience.” You can't get away when you're sitting on a bus, in a restroom stall, or in an elevator. There are no DVRs to fast forward through commercials; you can't even turn the television off like you could before the advent of the DVR. Companies offering these services know exactly what they have to give advertisers, and advertisers are buying it up.

By providing an audience that can't get away, that is completely captive, TransitTV gets rid of the worst of traditional advertising headaches. By having only one channel, they avoid the “channel surfing” flipping from channel to channel to avoid commercials. There is no other channel for viewers to change to. Of course, there is no DVR on a screen in a bus. There is no way to “skip” the commercial. Just like the rest of the programming, the audience has no choice but to watch the advertisement.

TransitTV also offers “accurate measurement.” They offer accurate demographic breakdowns and profiles, as well as measured and accurate meters of advertising success. They monitor the rate of return for advertisers using their network.

The Street Team

One branch of the alternative marketing movement that has been getting more and more attention, and becoming more and more popular, is making marketing personal. Advertisers seek to create personal connections with the people that they are seeking to entice to purchase their product. This can be done in many ways, but the most solidly constructive is the creation of “street teams.”

Street teams are paid conversationalists. They go out into a market, generally large cities, and hit the streets. They chat up people they pass, touting a particular product or brand. They paper a city with fliers and posters for that product. Often, they hand out free sample or even full-size versions of the product being touted.

This model is the first step in creating buzz. You have to get people talking about your product to create the word of mouth network that will make your product take off. Advertisers have discovered that one way to start the network of personal connections that is buzz is to force personal connections between your consumers and your company.

Buzz

All of these methods of advertising are aimed at creating “buzz,” the underground swell of excitement about a new product or a particular brand. Word-of-mouth now influences two-thirds of all consumer product sales, according to a May 2001 report by a reputable marketing firm. Once the exclusive province of renegade boutique agencies bringing counterculture products to market, viral marketing has literally spread like a cold, becoming a staple in even the most traditional provinces.

One of the factors behind this movement is pure, simple economics. The cost of a 30-second television spot is now pushing $450,000 for a single airing during primetime viewing hours. That is a very large chunk of change, and it includes nothing but the airtime. It does not include production costs of the ad itself. Manufacturers are becoming game to try an alternative that boasts a price tag just a fraction of that amount. No expensive media buys, pricey location shoots or costly creative sessions.