What Is Guerrilla Marketing? Strategies And Examples Of How To Do It
Guerrilla marketing a one of the coolest and the most effective way to market your business. Believe it or not, no guerrillas are involved in this process. These animals have something in common just with the name of this technique, nothing more.
So in simple words…
Guerrilla marketing is a low-cost strategy based on an innovative, unconventional and creative approach than on big marketing budgets. This means cool and engaging marketing using just a small budget, but a lot of brainpower and innovation. To make it more clear for you, here are some cool examples:
1. This is an advertisement for the Canadian company Alberta Travel. They could buy some advertising space in a newspaper or a local TV, but this guerrilla campaign was far more engaging and attractive (a poster in a metro station):
Alberta Travel – guerrilla marketing campaign. Source: flickr.com
2. This is another advertisement that employed the guerrilla marketing approach. Nobody would expect to see a big record on the ground, but if one sees it, this will be remembered for sure. This is how guerrilla marketing creates bigger interest and attraction.
Guerrilla marketing example – Heineken Donostia, flickr.com
3. One more example – an advertisement for a fitness club:
Gold’s Gym, source: flickr.com
The father of guerrilla marketing is Jay Conrad Levinson, who created the term for the first time in his book ‘Guerrilla Marketing’, issued in 1984. Since then, this has become a widely accepted word and strategy employed by companies from all around the world.
One of the main goals of this strategy is to send your message to the potential customer in a way that he/she will remember the most. This is usually achieved by creative and unconventional thinking. Once the customer is influenced this way, he/she will also and most probably share his/her impressions with family and friends. A secondary goal is to reduce your marketing budget without reducing the effectiveness of your campaign. A cool guerrilla idea is usually cheap to implement, but very effective. This makes this strategy so great.
Other common examples of guerilla marketing
Common ways to do guerilla marketing
There are countless examples of successful guerilla marketing campaigns but here are some popular ones:
• Ambient Advertising: Ambient adverts involve placing products or ads in unusual places like public toilets or on the back of cereal boxes
• Street Art: Street Art has become a popular tool for guerrilla marketers who take advantage of the art form to gain interest from passers-by
• Guerilla Events: This kind of event is used to surprise potential customers with something unexpected like flash mobs or product demos
• Viral Videos: Viral videos are an unobtrusive way for guerrilla marketers to spread their message through social media networks quickly
• Word-of-Mouth Product Samples/Product Placement: Companies can give away free samples or get products placed into movies or video games directly to consumers in order to promote them
• Social Experiments: Companies often conduct social experiments like sending people dressed up in costumes out into public places to generate interest
• Brand Activations: This involves inviting people onto interactive installations that show off a product or service that helps draw attention to it.
Advantages and Disadvantages Of Guerrilla Marketing
Pros:
- It’s cheap – this type of marketing is a low-cost one, this is by definition. So it’s really suitable if you have a small budget.
- It’s exciting – just see the examples from above – they are really cool and innovative ideas. I just enjoyed watching it, as many other people do…
- It is memorable – if you see something interesting and unique, the chances to remember it grow.
- It’s self-spreading – as I said something innovative and exciting is worth spreading with friends to share the excitement with them.
- It’s FUNNY – creating and executing such campaigns could be a really funny thing.
Cons:
- You need to be creative to achieve success – not everyone can create innovative and enjoyable ads, and it’s hard to get a good idea. It requires more time and dedication because you really need something jaw-breaking to be effective.
- Sometimes it just doesn’t – this is true, but I think it’s the same with anything else in the world.
Many innovative companies have embraced the guerilla strategy, launching some of the most effective and memorable ad campaigns in recent memory. Some famous examples include Nike’s ‘Just Do It’ campaign, Apple’s ‘Hello’ campaign, and Volkswagen’s ‘Beetlemania’ campaign. All of these campaigns utilized guerilla marketing techniques to create buzz, capture attention and create memorable experiences for the viewers.
All in all, guerilla marketing is an unconventional approach to marketing, using creative techniques and tactics that capture the attention of potential customers. The goal of guerilla marketing is to stand out from other companies in a unique and cost-effective way. Guerilla marketing campaigns are often launched without a huge budget and rely on harnessing the imagination to make a lasting impression.
So that’s all for now. I think, now you got an idea about guerrilla marketing and what it is. If you find this article useful, please share it with friends, we have some nice social buttons below. Thanks!
