What do you get by provoking a guerrilla party? Apparently, if you provoke the right guerrilla party and do it just the right way you can try out one of it's nifty lighting devices.

Bert Stephani had an insightful comment about the "Guerrilla"ness of the Florida based California Sunbounce Guerilla video by Michael Grecco. In short he said that going out to shoot with a bunch of stylists, assistance, hair dressers and models is not really Guerrilla. Bert also suggested showing the Sunbounce guys what's real Guerrilla.

Whadayaknow? They picked the glove and sent Bert their Micro-Mini to try out. Here is the funny yet informative video Bert took:

Hey, this is also a great chance to browse around Bert's site - Confessions of a Photographer. The Great insights and videos will easily chew your evening away.

Grab the full Bert Stephani Video and post here.

This is not the first time a commercial company sends equipment to a blogging photographer to try out (not the second or third).

Time of Change?

Are we seeing a change in marketing patterns? I think so.

Not so long time ago, only high end pros and magazine writers would get a chance to try out new equipment. (OK, so Chase would have probably got the Nikon D90 for review anyway). No advanced amateurs or aspiring photographers were in on the next big thing.

You know what, maybe I am wrong, maybe advanced amateurs were part of the fun, only we, the general audience, had no way of knowing about it.

With the rise of a sharing photography in blogs like DIYP, Strobist, Pro photo life and more, the knowledge distribution model is changing.

What Is Happening?

You gotta think about it for a second. As a marketing guy, giving away a unit to a blogger is the best way to achieve fast feedback. But it is also talking a risk.

Take Bert's example as a study case. The Guys at California Sunbounce are probably getting some nice feedback from pros like Grecco. But did they get the feedback they wanted? Were they even aware of the need for feedback from two guys shooting at the beach? 

Bert's video is (accidentally) a real test for a new market segment - The Lonely Pro, which is indeed completely different from Grecco's high profile shoot. Incidentally - it is also very funny video.

So what is the risk - I can see two - The first is kinda obvious - What if Bert did not like the Mini-Micro?  The result would be a not so fluttering video. But if you turn this around - My guess is that the Sunbounce guys are so confident about their product that this risk is not a real one.

The second risk is the risk of not spreading the word. Again Sunbounce made the right choice with many photogs following Bert's blog and videos.