American Guerrilla Marketing
Nationwide serivce
Media planning, media buying, billboard advertising, & guerrilla marketing
Case Study:
AGM partnered with Jay Ellis to execute a large-scale promotional campaign supporting the release of his book. The activation combined a high-impact digital billboard placement in Times Square with a multi-market wheatpasting rollout across Manhattan and Los Angeles. Designed to place the book’s creative directly in front of urban readers and cultural audiences, the campaign deployed 5,000 wheatpaste posters and leveraged strategic placements near bookstores, pedestrian corridors, lifestyle districts, and high-visibility retail zones. The result was a multi-format presence that amplified awareness, drove attention to jayellis.com, and created a visible footprint in two of the country’s most influential cities.
Jay Ellis engaged AGM to promote the release of his book by generating high-volume public visibility and supporting the launch with content creation to energize social media. The objective was to connect with readers in both New York and Los Angeles—two strong literary and entertainment markets—while simultaneously driving online engagement and in-store interest.
AGM developed a dual-city approach centered around maximum exposure and cultural relevance. The strategy integrated the Times Square digital billboard to create a hero moment in New York, paired with 5,000 wheatpaste posters installed across Manhattan and Los Angeles. Posters were placed in and around key neighborhoods known for literary culture, arts engagement, and high pedestrian density. Creative was designed to stand out visually, driving interest in the book and supporting direct traffic to jayellis.com. The combined billboards and wheatpasting formats generated sustained citywide visibility while feeding a steady stream of social media content.
AGM focused on neighborhoods where readers, creatives, and trendsetters naturally spend time. Manhattan targeting included SoHo, Lower East Side, Bowery, NoHo, Midtown West, Times Square, Chelsea, and high-traffic bookstore zones. Los Angeles targeting included Melrose, Fairfax District, West Hollywood, Silver Lake, Hollywood, the Arts District, and independent bookstores across the east and west sides of the city. Posters were intentionally placed around bookstores in both cities to reach readers at the point of interest and to support in-store discovery.
The campaign used standard 48 × 72 wheatpaste posters printed on 100lb stock for durability across various outdoor conditions. The billboard creative was formatted for a digital spectacular, ensuring crisp color and strong readability on a large-scale LED display. AGM handled routing, print oversight, and installation across all zones, coordinating multi-team deployments to achieve consistent coverage across both markets.
Over 5,000 posters were installed across New York and Los Angeles during a multi-week rollout. Install teams worked neighborhood by neighborhood to maximize visibility and secure placements in high-traffic zones, bookstore perimeters, and relevant cultural corridors. The Times Square digital billboard ran throughout the campaign window, serving as a major visual anchor for the activation. The billboard generated strong on-site reactions from pedestrians and tourists, with multiple individuals stopping to photograph or film the display.
The campaign generated notable social conversation across platforms, including Instagram, TikTok, and X/Twitter. Users posted photographs of the billboard, shared wheatpaste sightings, and tagged the author and the book. The colorful and expressive creative attracted attention from local pedestrians and out-of-market fans who documented the installations. Hashtags tied to the book circulated heavily, and independent bookstore accounts reposted images featuring the wheatpasted creative. Online engagement spiked throughout the campaign window as fans reacted to the book release, shared street photos, and amplified the promotional messaging.
The Jay Ellis wheatpasting and billboard campaign succeeded by combining a Times Square digital spectacular with widespread poster saturation across two major U.S. cities. AGM achieved strong visibility, cultural reach, and significant organic social amplification. The multi-format approach strengthened awareness, drove interest in the book, and provided the client with a robust library of content for continued online promotion. Future clients should recognize that AGM not only manages billboard and wheatpasting logistics but also delivers fully integrated campaigns that generate viral momentum and sustained consumer engagement.
The blend of Times Square visibility and large-scale wheatpasting provided a balanced strategy that delivered both high-profile exposure and neighborhood-level saturation. This approach ensured the book reached diverse audiences across two major creative markets.
AGM selected areas with high pedestrian traffic, strong creative communities, and active bookstore culture. Manhattan placements centered on SoHo, Bowery, Midtown, and Lower Manhattan, while Los Angeles placements focused on Melrose, Fairfax District, West Hollywood, Hollywood, and the Arts District.
The colorful creative, the recognizable Times Square placement, and the broad presence across both coasts encouraged fans to photograph, share, and repost the campaign. Independent bookstores and fans amplified the content organically across TikTok, Instagram, and X.
The campaign created sustained visibility in two of the country’s most influential media and cultural hubs. This helped drive interest, conversations, and visits to jayellis.com, while simultaneously generating social content that extended the campaign’s reach digitally.
This case study demonstrates AGM’s ability to execute multi-market campaigns at scale, manage both billboard and wheatpasting formats, and deliver content-ready moments that support online visibility. AGM combines operational precision with high-impact street-level executions to help brands create cultural traction.
