When guerrilla goes gack.

We're always trying to one-up our clients’ competitors with guerrilla tactics that surprise and reward, with the goal of introducing our clients to those we are targeting. But we are often struck by the lack of separation in people's minds between fresh new tactics and gack - the annoying advertising for advertising sake - or what some have called “ad creep.”

So, these are a few guidelines we use to determine if an idea is worthy of pursuit:

If it annoys people, it's gack. If it entertains, it's fresh.

If it's just pasting a logo on something (escalators, elevator buttons, cups, etc.), it's probably gack. If people stop and look at it, it's fresh.

If it adds to people's loathing of advertising in general, it's gack. If they don't even think of it as advertising, it's fresh.

If the audience is captive and can’t escape the message, it might be gack. If the audience feels like they are stumbling upon it, it’s fresh.

If the guerrilla message isn’t customized for the location, it could be gack. If the message couldn’t work without the location, it’s fresh.