"The Passage" Helps The Homeless via Guerrilla Marketing

As a former design student, I love looking up design and marketing stuff – and occasionally I find some pretty cool shit. I was lucky to find “The Passage” – an organization in the UK that helps the homeless through a volunteer guerrilla marketing campaign which helps encourage donations and the spread of their message. Check out The Passage website – it’s really cool in that the colors of the site change depending on the weather to show what homeless people are going through – something that more fortunate people would not even think twice about. I love this campaign – its message, intention and execution. I think homeless people are very dehumanized in society. It’s like to bring back the acknowledgement that they are people, too. Here’s what Creative Guerilla Marketing had to say: Sometimes all it takes is a simple message and the right execution. The Passage is an organisation in London, UK with the mission to help the homeless. In order to get the word out about their organisation and encourage donations, they had volunteers stand in Victoria station with several clever cardboard signs. The agency chose to use cardboard signs as it is often associated with homelessness and often catches the eye. The campaign was quite successful as it engaged people walking by and during the three hours the campaign was run, donations increased by over 25%! The campaign also reached over 650,000 people on Twitter. The cost? A volunteer’s time, recycled cardboard and a couple marker pens. I’d say that is some great guerrilla marketing! Sometimes it’s just as simple as the right execution and clever copy! Find out more about the mission by visiting The Passage’s website. Advertising Agency: Publicis Life Brands Resolute, London, UK Creative Director: Shaheed Peera Art Directors: Nick Robinson, Shaheed Peera Illustrator: Nick Robinson Photographer: Nick Robinson Published: August 2012

About The Author

Patricia Colli, Editor of Beutiful Magazine, is a human rights activist, equality advocate, and promoter of health, acceptance and wellbeing. Having experienced disordered eating, unhealthy exercise patterns and poor body image, she is especially passionate about shedding light on eating disorders and the power of body acceptance.