Introducing the "only with bitcoin" campaign

[onlywithbitcoin]

Even good products need marketing. And with a great product like bitcoin that is so hard to understand (and with all the negative history), a good marketing campaign can really make a difference.

But since there is no bitcoin CEO who will start a billion dollar campaign for that, I came up with an idea to do it bitcoin-style:

The basic idea is to show people how easy it is to transfer money with bitcoin, (I don’t think the investment- or store-of-value aspect of bitcoin is suitable for a campaign for the masses).

So I made these ads http://imgur.com/a/IiPIL that consist of these 4 elements:

• Something you can only do with bitcoin (for example cheap + fast worldwide money transfers)
• the campaign logo “only with bitcoin”
• a prompt for whoever sees the ad in the wild and is a bitcoin user to show the people around them how easy it is by tipping the campaign
• the bitcoin address QR Code that belongs to whoever put the ad there.

I started with a couple of thousand stickers that I’m going to put all over Munich,Germany (see here: http://imgur.com/a/wdDIM). The plan is to get this done until Oktoberfest when millions of people will walk the city… (Of course I’m not going to damage/vandalize private/public property with them)

The cool part is: You can participate with your own ads and your own advertising space! It can be anything from stickers, flyers, billboards maybe even TV ads. Heck, if you know a skywriting pilot who can draw QR Codes in the air, go for it!

Since the bitcoin community is so passionate about the future of payments, I’m hoping that everyone who puts their own ads out there will at least get the money back that they invested. If they make a profit and keep it, I don’t care. But maybe it is smart to invest it in even more ads...

If this takes off, we would make history with the first distributed marketing campaign (that is crowdfunded while it’s running).

How can you participate?

• If you want to run your own ads, I put up the layout and logo on http://onlywithbitcoin.tumblr.com . Just make your own ads with your bitcoin address QR Code in it and start.
• If you don’t want to run your own ads think about tipping the campaign whenever you see an ad and **educate the people around you**. Of course the campaign only works when many bitcoiners contribute.
• If you have an idea for a new motif or are a illustratir/photoshop whiz (my skills are quite limited, I’m sure you can come up with better ads, just keep the logo) you can post them here or on the tumblr blog
• If you have suggestions to improve the campaign leave a comment (but please don’t nitpick minor aspects and risk discouraging people)

I will also update the tumblr blog with the best pictures of places where you see a "only with bitcoin" ad (you can upload the pictures here: http://onlywithbitcoin.tumblr.com/submit).

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[onlywithbitcoin]

please upvote if you like the idea:
http://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/2d87z6/introducing_the_only_with_bitcoin_campaign/

(is that allowed here?)

[coinableS]

Cool idea! We've got our own marketing plan going for a bitcoin start up in California.
Have you tried any other layouts to make them more eye catching?

[onlywithbitcoin]

I'm sure someone can make better layouts. As long as the campaign logo is in it and there is a call to action to show non-bitcoiners how easy it is (along with the QR Code) I'm thankful for new layouts

[Ron~Popeil]

Very cool idea. People here always talk about how to promote bit coin and where. The best place is in your own area.

[btcity]

A decentralized ad campaign. That really is the bitcoin way! When did you start with the stickers? How many have noticed them (and tipped)?

[minerpumpkin]

It's a nice idea and the layout also isn't bad. But it could still need a few tweaks! Maybe center the QR code. Or align the various elements differently, something's a bit off here.

[Lucky Cris]

Nice! Fabulous idea!!

Although I'd want to put a QR code with my address   is it possible to link a QR code to a website? Perhaps like a youtube vid that explains all about bitcoin? If the idea is to paste these all around the city to reach the mass, I just think it should be more informative - of course, this is just how I would use it

[onlywithbitcoin]

I only started friday with maybe 50 stickers and munich isn't exactly the bitcoin capital. But Im confident.i think it is just a numbers game.  When the oktoberfest starts and i find some good spots for the stickers they potentially get exposed to millions.but even for those who don't live in a city with worlds biggest fest there are enough possibilities

[onlywithbitcoin]

Nice! Fabulous idea!!

Although I'd want to put a QR code with my address   is it possible to link a QR code to a website? Perhaps like a youtube vid that explains all about bitcoin? If the idea is to paste these all around the city to reach the mass, I just think it should be more informative - of course, this is just how I would use it

Of course you can use your own QR Code. Thats the point!
I thought about the link to an informative resource too but most people don't care about how it works. The only way to reach the masses is by showing them how easy it is

[nicepumper]

To pay with bitcoins you have to buy bitcoins first, people dont want to do that given my experience.

[jcoin200]

To pay with bitcoins you have to buy bitcoins first, people dont want to do that given my experience.

Exactly, people want to impulse buy NOW w/ a credit card, and pay later.

[counter]

Love this idea and I plan to give this some real thought on the best way I could do some advertising in my general area and online.  Subbing this thread and I'll be sure to upvote on reddit.  Hope others take the time to check this out because I think something like this has potential to go viral and attract attention to Bitcoin.

[onlywithbitcoin]

To pay with bitcoins you have to buy bitcoins first, people dont want to do that given my experience.

That's true.  People who are just curious about bitcoin don't. That why whenever I owe someone money I ask them if they want it back in Bitcoin (without beeing annoying). Sometimes they do. I also bought Bitcoin for family+friends a couple of times and gave them a paper wallet or sent it to their Mycelium app.
Transfering is easy and thats what's the message of this campaign is.

[onlywithbitcoin]

Love this idea and I plan to give this some real thought on the best way I could do some advertising in my general area and online.  Subbing this thread and I'll be sure to upvote on reddit.  Hope others take the time to check this out because I think something like this has potential to go viral and attract attention to Bitcoin.

Thanks, means a lot! The more thought I was putting into it, the more I was pumped to do it.  Sponsoring a sports event is cool, but this could be the way a bitcoin campaign should be run imho (decentralized, community-driven and -hopefully- worldwide)
While i don't care moneywise if I get my invested time&money back for that, I really hope I do. Because that will probably motivate others to do the same.

[Lucky Cris]

Nice! Fabulous idea!!

Although I'd want to put a QR code with my address   is it possible to link a QR code to a website? Perhaps like a youtube vid that explains all about bitcoin? If the idea is to paste these all around the city to reach the mass, I just think it should be more informative - of course, this is just how I would use it

Of course you can use your own QR Code. Thats the point!
I thought about the link to an informative resource too but most people don't care about how it works. The only way to reach the masses is by showing them how easy it is

Well, you have a point there, lol. Oh my... I just had thought.