Ponko was looking to relaunch with a bang! They came to TFA for an exciting out-of-the-box guerrilla marketing campaign.

A guerrilla marketing campaign tailored to Ponko’s brand and objectives.

Our services for the Cambridge car dealership, Ponko, started by helping them rebrand. We provided Ponko with a new logo, brand guidelines, animations, social media templates, showroom signage, and custom character illustrations for their mascots, the “Ponko Punk” and “Ponko Dog”.

Following their makeover, Ponko (formerly Reed Autos) wanted to bring attention to their relaunch. To achieve Ponko’s goals, our marketing team leveraged one of their mascots, a green-haired punk character, to create an unforgettable guerrilla marketing campaign!

Our team devised a strategy that involved hiring an actor to dress up as the Ponko Punk and roam around the streets of Cambridge, creating a scene that would captivate those passing by. In alignment with Ponko’s green brand colours, the Ponko Punk actor brandished his graffitied megaphone and bright green mohawk while parading the streets, spraying washable graffiti on his car and handing out “Punking Charge Notice” letters. These fake charge notices looked like real parking tickets but instead contained free Ponko Dog branded air fresheners and a QR code that gave people a chance to enter a competition and win huge prizes!

As part of the guerrilla marketing campaign, we also designed wall stickers, a car wrapping that the punk was riding around in, and a landing page for when people scanned the QR code. All these items were in keeping with Ponko’s new branding.

The campaign was hugely successful, generating significant buzz and excitement around Ponko’s relaunch. The attention-grabbing antics of the Ponko Punk character captured the imagination of Cambridge residents and sparked widespread conversations on social media platforms.

The campaign’s innovative approach allowed Ponko to establish a powerful rapport with potential customers, effectively positioning itself as a fun, dynamic, and customer-centric dealership within the competitive automotive market.

A scroll-stopping social media strategy to enhance the guerrilla campaign.

TFA created social media accounts for the Ponko Punk, showcasing him and his antics. We created an Instagram, TikTok, and even a Tinder account, which displayed him wandering around Cambridge, making his presence felt.

Social media was flooded with videos of the punk dancing, causing (controlled) chaos, and memes related to the Ponko competition. 

During the Ponko campaign, the actor playing the Punk remained anonymous and fueled people’s curiosity. Reddit posts and Facebook groups tried to uncover his identity, you could say he was somewhat of a viral sensation! Even a big TikTok personality with 5.3 million followers quizzed him on his geographical knowledge, and the TikTok personality’s videos featuring the Ponko Punk received 267.2 views and 426K views, respectively. The Ponko Punk’s popularity extended beyond TikTok as well, with the TV show “Come Dine with Me” expressing interest in featuring him.

Ponko’s recent relaunch campaign was a huge success! Their Instagram visits increased by almost 469.8%, and their Facebook reach rose by 137.8%. They also saw a 338.9% increase in page views on LinkedIn. Over 7,043 users visited their site, with direct traffic and QR code scans for the Ponko competition being effective drivers. Ponko’s social media channels also brought in 166 new website users, with 80% of visitors coming during the guerilla campaign. It’s clear that the campaign generated a lot of interest in Ponko’s brand and vehicles.

We are thrilled with the success of our guerrilla and social media marketing strategies and are excited to continue our partnership with Ponko. We may even send the Ponko Punk on more adventures. If you need help creating a guerrilla campaign to help your marketing go out with a bang, contact us today.