Guerrilla Marketing - All You Need to Know
Our friends at Don’t Panic in London recently shared an article with us on the subject of “Guerrilla Marketing.” Similar to our mission, which is to offer fresh marketing solutions for nonprofits, small businesses, and realtors, Don’t Panic specializes in creative marketing strategies for brands and charities in their service area. Key words there: fresh and creative. Guerilla marketing isn’t about running print ads in the local paper and other expected advertising sources, it’s about the element of surprise. Take a look at how they broke down this complex topic, and reach out to us at 342MAD if we can help you come up with your own creative strategies to engage (or re-engage) your clientele!
What is Guerrilla Marketing? - 9 Examples of Effective Campaigns
May 8, 2019 | Don’t Panic
Guerrilla advertising or guerrilla marketing as it is commonly called, was coined in 1984 by American business writer Jay Conrad Levinson. No we’re not talking about the Cadbury Dairy milk advert. It is a strategy of business marketing that incurs low costs but achieves optimal results, usually using some rather unconventional methods. More often than not, it is marketing campaigns that have used guerrilla marketing that go viral online and via social media.
Guerrilla marketing campaigns are all about the experience
The main aim of guerrilla marketing or experiential marketing, as it is also sometimes referred to, is to offer an immersive and exceptional experience to potential consumers. The term, first used in Levinson’s book ‘Guerrilla Advertising’, finds its roots in the term guerrilla warfare, a form of warfare that utilises the element of surprise and sabotage to overcome small groups of enemies. In much the same way, guerrilla advertising is targeted towards members of the public in a way that will encourage engagement with the product or service being advertised, often via shock value or creative and imaginative ideas. Having created this memorable and immersive experience, the consumer is then more likely to share their experience with the advertisement through word of mouth, thus spreading the word about the campaign and reaching more people than it ordinarily may have by itself. In this way, a campaign can be targeted towards city centres or public areas with high traffic and see the effects of their campaign spread further due to the role of social media and the ways in which it is used in the modern day. When people see something cool, new and unoriginal, they naturally want to picture it, film it and spread it across their social media platforms.
Most guerrilla marketing campaigns intend to assault the consumer on a much more personal and memorable level. Whilst conventional marketing tactics involve the use of newspaper or magazine adverts, television advertisements, radio and even targeted junk mail, more creative companies are trying to find new and improved ways of involving the digital world and technological advances to aid their campaigns.
Why are Guerrilla Marketing tactics so popular?
A major draw of using guerrilla marketing tactics, especially for smaller companies, is the low cost involved if executed correctly. The only requirements for a successful guerrilla marketing campaign is time, an abundance of energy and some serious creativity. It requires thinking outside the box in an attempt to capture the attention and interest of passers-by, enough so that they won’t be able to stop themselves from snapping, sharing and raving about their experience with the campaign. Another major draw of using guerrilla marketing for companies is the use of emotional pull to create a bond between the consumer and the brand. These kind of campaign not only sticks in people’s minds and stands out, but it also develops a trust between the two parties. If a company has such faith and confidence in their product, then the consumer can too. The campaign comes to represent the companies’ values and, in this way, almost humanises them to the consumer.
What are the different types of Guerrilla Advertising?
Under the umbrella of guerrilla advertising are nine distinct types or styles of advertising. These are as follows:
Example: Ambush Marketing - Nike’s 2012 London Olympics campaign, “Find your Greatness”
Example: Buzz Marketing - 3M Security Glass
Example: Wild Posting - Weight Watchers 2009
Ambient Marking
Effective use of the environment and certain locations to elicit appropriate engagement.
Example: Copenhagen Zoo bus campaign, 2010.
Ambush Marketing
Involves marketing campaigns featured at an event that the product or service is not directly affiliated with but is used in a way to make it appear so.
Example: Nike’s 2012 London Olympics campaign, “Find your Greatness”, in direct competition with Adidas who was the official London 2012 sponsor.
Astroturfing
In-authentic hype or buzz created around a product or service via paid reviews or endorsements.
Example: Teatox products such as BooTea who pay social media influencers to endorse their products to their followers.
Buzz marketing/viral marketing
Use of amplified/organic word of mouth that creates a buzz around a product or service.
Example: 3M Security Glass campaign at a bus stop in Canada.
Guerrilla projection advertising
The (sometimes unlawful) use of a digital billboard or building to project an advertisement.
Example: H&M advertising campaign for their new flagship store in Amsterdam in 2010.
Grassroots marketing
Focuses on building a personal and unique connection with the individual consumer and the brand. Often charity based.
Example: The 2013 One Fund Boston Strong campaign in the wake of the Boston Marathon bombings.
Stealth marketing
The discrete act of involving or exposing consumers in/to a campaign without their knowledge of it.
Example: The focus on use of FedEx parcels in the Tom Hanks movie Cast Away.
Street marketing
Use of unconventional advertising of brands and products in public areas such as parks, streets, etc.
Example: 2017 Ikea campaign that saw Ikea sofas used at bus stops.
Wild posting
Sometimes also referred to as flyposting. The use of posters, magnets, stickers, etc., in high traffic areas, sometimes without permission.
Example: 2009 Weight watchers campaign featuring tear off contact details that make the model on the flyer lose weight with every tear.
Thanks to guerrilla advertising, more companies are focusing on building a relationship with their customers and improving their customer follow-up. Utilizing tools such as email subscriptions, newsletters and offers, companies are able to retain repeat customers and gain new ones through the medium of referrals and word of mouth. Whilst there is a risk associated with the use of guerrilla advertising (misinterpretation, dishonesty, potential legal consequences), the benefits of a successful campaign are immeasurable and uncontrollable.
We don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk. Here’s one of our own examples of Guerrilla Marketing:
PETA: Could you stomach this?
We created a stunt for the animal rights charity, PETA, in order to get the public to question their dairy consumption.
With a relatively cheap yet very clever prank, we showed how odd it is to consume cow’s milk beyond infancy.
The stunt saw members of the general public tasting milk and then being told the drink was actually dog’s milk. Of course, we captured all this on camera! Their responses were, understandably, varied from disgusted to complete mental breakdowns.
The campaign was both immersive and spontaneous. By using unsuspecting members of the public, the reactions were raw and real. This, in turn, set the media ablaze. The irony of people spitting out ‘dog’s milk’ (which, for the record, was normal cow’s milk) when it’s still that of a mammal triggered waves of press and social interaction.
Guerrilla Marketing worked really well here. The proof is in the pud: over 12.2 million views, and 55 thousand shares in less than 24 hours. We successfully integrated ironic humour into the campaign, asking consumers to actually question how odd it is to drink another mammal’s milk.
To see more of our work, click here.