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You know the Chiquita banana sticker. Well, I noticed this morning that mine was gone. In its place: advertising. There was a Weight Watchers sticker endorsing the banana as a healthy choice.

The Weight Watchers sticker is a great example of a trend that has really taken hold in the marketing realm: talking to the audience in its natural habitat. Much of this shift can be attributed to the information-overload society we live in today. With TiVo, DVRs, pop-up ad blockers and the rest, we’ve become brilliant at constructing barriers.

People are becoming more adept at tuning out messages that they didn’t ask for. So marketers are getting smarter about putting themselves and their products out there in unconventional ways. Like product placement in a video game. Or sticky notes on the front page of a newspaper. How about creating a persona to send instant messages?

Many of the social networking tools (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) offer opportunities for you to hunt where the game is. Go where your audience already is hanging out and become a part of the action. How can you weave yourself into the action and become relevant?

These efforts don’t replace the golden oldies. They enhance them by reaching out and surprising your audience. It’s about showing up where they live. It’s an element of surprise and juxtaposing your product or service within their world. Look at your marketing plan. Does any tactic take you out into the wild? If not … you’d better get out there. Your competitors sure are.

Please note: I did possess enough restraint not to comment that the banana sticker was a form of “guerrilla” marketing. (Well, perhaps I did not after all!)

Drew McLellan is Top Dog at McLellan Marketing Group and blogs at www.drewsmarketingminute.com. He can be reached at Drew@MclellanMarketing.com. © 2008 Drew McLellan