Loree Stark

There are few marketing challenges more difficult than connecting with “indies ” consumers who consciously avoid mainstream marketing and pledge allegiance to brands that bubble below the surface.
But the problem is: If your brand has the bucks to buy their attention it’s probably not high on the indie consumer’s list of companies to patronize. But largely because they’re always seeking the next new thing—and therefore tend to be early adopters and influential among their peers—indies remain a hot target for marketers.

Brands from Lexus to Red Bull are creating exhibits that borrow their look and feel from big-city art galleries. The goal? A sophisticated yet uncomplicated ambience.
Starbucks incorporated the look for one component of a pop-up environment last year in New York City. And Rolex USA activates its title sponsorship of the Monterey Historic Automobile Races in Monterey CA with a gallery-style exhibit that displays vintage cars.  (Agency: Sparks Philadelphia).

For decades the model remained the same. Now the rules are being rewritten.
The commercial manufacturing category has long relied on a selling strategy that is still relatively intact across the Fortune 500 today: Invite clients to a showroom at headquarters flick on a PowerPoint and do your best to get visitors to sign on the dotted line before they head back to their corporate office.

When the Cartoon Network set out to promote “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” with a 10-market guerrilla marketing effort the company never could have imagined the publicity the stunt would get.

Any brand with enough money can attach itself to the biggest music acts in the world. But finding a lesser-known band—one that hasn’t hit iTunes or the Billboard charts yet—can be more difficult. Hooking on with an up-and-coming band that has a following in a given market can give a brand instant credibility among the target audience.
When you’re on the outside of a market looking in it might be difficult to separate the next My Morning Jacket from the group that’s destined for the bar mitzvah circuit. Three tips: