How to Use Brand Storytelling for Guerrilla Marketing

Richie Prynne, a young street performer (also known as a busker) formed CC Smugglers in his early twenties. He knew it was hard to make it as a band these days, and that they'd have to get creative with their marketing to really stand out.

Their idea? 'Guerrilla Busking.’ They'd pop up and play to queuing crowds waiting to go into similar shows. The long list of targets included the fans of SeaSick Steve, Old Crow Medicine Show, The Devil Makes Three, Jools Holland and more. And it seemed to be working, so the strategy became fundamental to their innovative brand promotion.

In 2013, their journey took a drastic turn as they decided to create careers as touring stage performers. In their usual innovative fashion, they used their well-rehearsed approach of ‘guerrilla busking’ to create a media splash and reach more fans than ever before.

Cue their most daring ‘Guerrilla Busking’ mission to date, the eventual success of which would elevate them to national recognition. The stunt was picked up and reported by The Sunday Times and triggered a series of events that saw them eventually touring across the world.

The aim of that mission was simple: Busk their way on stage with two-time Grammy award-winning Nashville band ‘Old Crow Medicine Show’. How? Follow them to every date of their UK tour busking to their audiences on the streets and sleeping in a small van in the freezing depths of British winter in the hopes of earning the band's respect and eventually getting invited on stage. The whole thing was filmed for a self-made documentary that never got released.

Now, on the brink of their first official debut album, they are releasing that documentary footage as a part of a new docu-series that documents and compares their struggles to forge careers in the music industry then & now. The new album is set to release in Spring 2019 and is being produced with the help of their fanbase. 

CC Smugglers started off as young British street performers. Over the years, their infamously engaging live performances and innovative brand of self-promotion saw them take the show on to stages and audiences across the world.

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