2001
“It will be the technicians from the Centro Ufologico Nazionale who will determine the ‘nature’ of a strange discovery made in Riccione. The analysis that the technicians will conduct to verify whether it is a hoax or not is called gas chromatography, and it is used to examine the chemical elements present in the traces.” Ansa 26-LUG-01 22:42
“The mysterious footprints found on Thursday morning in a parking lot at Aquafan in Riccione were not left by UFOs but were a ‘promotional stunt’ by the Municipality of Riccione.” Ansa 27-LUG-01 20:32
“The first official example of guerrilla marketing in Italy occurred in the tourism sector in 2001 in Riccione. The client was the local territorial promotion agency, and the campaign involved large circles and triangles drawn in the parking lot of Aquafan, following the tradition of ‘crop circles’ that were popular in the USA at that time. On that occasion, the media picked up the news and relayed it, unsure whether to truly believe in a UFO landing or dismiss it as a hoax. The organizers’ idea was to gain media exposure to talk about the upcoming summer events in the city during the tourist season.” Guru Marketing
“In Italy, the first form of Guerrilla Marketing is attributed to the website guerrigliamarketing.it. In the summer of 2001, they created rumors and signs of UFO sightings near Aquafan in Riccione. The water park and the municipality were soon flooded with tourists drawn by curiosity, only to discover that it was all a media hoax commissioned through a competition by the municipality.” Digital Coach
guerrigliamarketing.it La beffa di Riccione
press coverage
NewsRimini (IT) L’ufo che scatenò una tempesta. Dieci anni fa la campagna ‘aliena’
credits
Cobol Pongide