Your Ad Here: The Cool Sell of Guerrilla Marketing

238 Pages·2013·2.47 MB·English

by  Michael Serazio

Your Ad Here
POSTMILLENNIAL POP
General Editors: Karen Tongson and Henry Jenkins
Puro Arte: Filipinos on the Stages of Empire Franchising Culture: Creative License,
Lucy Mae San Pablo Burns Collaboration, and the Media Industries
Derek Johnson
Spreadable Media: Creating Value and
Meaning in a Networked Culture Your Ad Here: The Cool Sell
Henry Jenkins, Sam Ford, of Guerrilla Marketing
and Joshua Green Michael Serazio
Your Ad Here
The Cool Sell of Guerrilla Marketing
Michael Serazio
a
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
NEW YORK UNIVERSITY PRESS
New York and London
www.nyupress.org
© 2013 by New York University
All rights reserved
References to Internet Websites (URLs) were accurate at the time of writing.
Neither the author nor New York University Press is responsible for URLs that
may have expired or changed since the manuscript was prepared.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Serazio, Michael.
Your ad here : the cool sell of guerrilla marketing / Michael Serazio.
pages cm. — (Postmillenial pop)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8147-4547-2 (cl : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-8590-4 (pb : alk. paper)
ISBN 978-0-8147-6494-7 (e-book) (print)
ISBN 978-0-8147-2459-0 (e-book) (print)
1. Marketing. 2. Marketing—Technological innovations. I. Title.
HF5415.S373 2013
658.8—dc23
2012042108
New York University Press books are printed on acid-free paper,
and their binding materials are chosen for strength and durability.
We strive to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials
to the greatest extent possible in publishing our books.
Manufactured in the United States of America
c 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
p 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Mom, Dad, and Jules—those who made me and she who sustains me
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Contents
Acknowledgments ix
1 Buying into the Cool Sell 1
2 The Ambient Governance of Advertainment 30
3 Street Spectacle and Subculture Jamming 60
4 Buzz Agency and the Regime of Dialogue 92
5 Crowd-Sourced Marketing and the Freedom to Labor 122
6 Managing Agency in the Regime of Engagement 154
Appendix 171
Notes 177
Bibliography 203
Index 217
About the Author 227
>> vii
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Acknowledgments
I’ve been hoping to be able to write a book since I was a little kid, so there’s
no shortage of wonderful people to whom I’m indebted—indeed, far more
than space allows for here. Know that I count myself as immeasurably
blessed and that you remain deeply ensconced in my heart. Let me begin by
offering my gratitude to the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School
for Communication and its staff and administration for the generous sup-
port that made this work possible. Thanks to Eric Zinner, Ciara McLaughlin,
Karen Tongson, Henry Jenkins, Despina Papazoglou Gimbel, Mary Suther-
land, New York University Press, David Amrani, and the anonymous read-
ers of this manuscript for their thorough and insightful feedback. Thanks to
all my teachers, mentors, and institutions whose formative wisdom and self-
less dedication shaped my writing, curiosity, and character over the years,
including: Joseph Jones, Amy Schuff, and C.F.H.S.; Bryan Whaley, Berna-
dette Barker-Plummer, Michael Robertson, Rick Roberts, and the University
of San Francisco; Thierry Robouam and Sophia University; Stephen Isaacs
and Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism; and Margaret
Downing and the Houston Press.
Thanks to the influential faculty at Annenberg, including: Paul Messaris,
Elihu Katz, Monroe Price, and Carolyn Marvin. Thanks to my warm-hearted,
inspiring colleagues and students at Fairfield University and, in particular,
in the Department of Communication: Colleen Arendt, Robbin Crabtree,
Gisela Gil-Egui, David Gudelunas, Michael Pagano, Sallyanne Ryan, Maggie
Wills, and Qin Zhang. Thanks to my PhD committee: to Joseph Turow for
putting advertising and cultural production at the forefront of my research
agenda; to Katherine Sender for coaching me through qualitative methods
and modeling a diverse and creative scholarly output that I aspire toward;
and, most of all, to Barbie Zelizer. I couldn’t ask for a more dedicated,
thoughtful, and encouraging advisor—you’ve made this career possible and,
for that, I am forever indebted.
Thanks to all my classmates and friends, the good Company I’ve been
fortunate to keep from first to twenty-second-grade (if calculations are cor-
rect): Your charms and sense of humor have made the challenges tolerable,
and your capacity for brilliance and zest for life have made the experiences
>> ix