When best-selling author Gary Vaynerchuk requested a shipment of promotional pencils to use at SXSW, it didn’t seem to be an unusual event giveaway – until we found out how he planned to use them. Instead of simply passing them out to SXSW attendees, Gary took it to a whole new level: he turned them into weapons and challenged everyone who found one to a “pencil duel!”
Each custom pencil (burnt orange – the color of his new book cover) was imprinted with a mysterious URL: http://www.thisisnotforwritingitsforfighting.com.
If you visit the site, you’re greeted by this video:
The site also has a built-in widget that allows you to Tweet your pencil duel challenge directly to Gary. Just enter the location where you’d like to meet him at SXSW, and the invitation is sent to @garyvee with hashtag #pencilfightsxsw – a fun and creative way to drum up some Twitter exposure for the campaign.
The Pencil Wars project is one of the most interesting event giveaways we’ve seen. I can’t think many of any networking strategy that has been more fun and engaging than this!
You got to meet some cool folks and and create buzz for a new book in the process – nice job Gary.
Have you seen other people putting a new twist on classic promotional products? Did you beat Gary in an epic pencil duel? Share your story in the comments!
