What Is Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is a marketing tactic in which a company uses surprise or unconventional methods and interactions to promote a product or service.
Guerrilla marketing often relies on personal interaction, has a smaller budget, emanates from an original idea to engage the target audience, and focuses on smaller groups of promoters to get the word out in a particular location.
Key Takeaways
- Guerrilla marketing uses unconventional methods to boost sales or attract interest in a brand or business.
- These methods are often low- or no-cost and involve the widespread use of personal interactions.
- This marketing method can use mobile and connected technologies to focus on target groups of consumers.
Types of Guerrilla Marketing
Companies using guerrilla marketing rely on its in-your-face promotions to be spread through viral marketing, or word of mouth, thus reaching a broader audience. It is often used for “edgy” products and younger consumers who are more likely to respond positively.
- Buzz Marketing: Focuses on word-of-mouth distribution. Often deployed in social media, this strategy relies on one user sharing content from a company with their social network, friends, or family.
- Stealth Marketing: A low-cost strategy that strives to market to a customer without the customer realizing it, such as integrating products into TV shows.
- Ambient Marketing: A technique that blends into a natural environment, such as advertisements on a bus bench.
- Ambush Marketing: Companies employ coattail marketing, appearing like a sponsor although they are not. Popular within event sponsorships, ambush marketing is a guerrilla marketing strategy by companies looking to save money yet capitalize on a major event.
- Grassroots Marketing: Companies that embrace grassroots marketing often employ low-cost marketing strategies such as paper flyers, used by local or small companies, grassroots marketing is a simpler strategy than embarking on a marketing campaign.
Guerrilla marketing can be indoor, outdoor, an “event ambush,” or experiential, meant to get the public to interact with a brand.
History
Guerrilla marketing is a product of the shift from traditional print, radio, and television marketing to electronic media, coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his 1984 book Guerrilla Marketing. The goal is to create buzz about a product or brand to increase the likelihood that a consumer will purchase the product or service, or talk about it with other potential buyers.
Guerrilla marketing can be very cost-effective for small businesses and startups to create a viral marketing phenomenon. This technique can be centered around the business’s core mission, such as education, giving, growth, technology, climate, or productivity, and then the company can design initiatives that promote those values in campaign forms, give back to the community, or raise awareness.
Advantages and Disadvantages
Guerrilla marketing can be a budget-friendly option. Startups, local businesses, or companies with fewer corporate restrictions often deploy guerrilla marketing techniques. Guerrilla marketing relies on informal means of marketing information. Marketing professionals can be creative and may find guerrilla marketing campaigns more desirable and fun to deploy.
However, guerrilla marketing strategies are usually less structured; for this reason, guerrilla marketing endeavors are often less successful and have a greater risk of failure. Marketing professionals may not be able to collect metrics to gauge whether the campaign is successful.
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Often a less expensive option compared to other marketing campaign techniques
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Usually allows for greater creativity
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May reach a broader audience compared to traditional marketing campaigns
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Less structure often leads to less successful endeavors
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May be seen as a “turn-off” by some individuals
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May be more unpredictability due to data being difficult to track or collect
Examples of Guerilla Marketing
Leading up to the release of “Deadpool,” the Marvel character was issued his Tinder profile. As Tinder is not a typical avenue for promoting a movie, this absurd approach to advertising the film and character is a strong example of guerrilla marketing.
Unsuspecting college students in Queens, New York, received unsolicited doses of “happiness” from Coca-Cola in a guerrilla marketing campaign. Armed with real humans, a vending machine dubbed the “Happiness Machine” also offered pizzas, flowers, and a six-foot-long sandwich. This guerrilla marketing campaign went on to win awards.
Red Bull embarked on an “empty can” guerrilla campaign. By placing empty cans in bins around clubs, the company presumably wanted to create the impression that the drink was popular at each venue.
Is Guerrilla Marketing Illegal?
Guerrilla marketing is legal but may employ questionable techniques. In 2007, Cartoon Network promoted a show by placing LED signs resembling a character from the show all over Boston. The signs created a bomb scare, and cost Turner Broadcasting $2 million in fines.
Why Is It Called Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is derived from guerrilla warfare, the technique of physical combat that relies on using different, unique methods to gain an advantage. Instead of a large, organized approach to gaining position, guerrilla warfare relies on small tactics for success.
What Makes Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns Successful?
Guerrilla marketing works because it is often a more memorable and unconventional approach to marketing. The primary goal of a guerrilla marketing campaign is to make an impression on a client, and this approach may be more successful compared to more simplistic strategies.
The Bottom Line
Instead of conventional marketing approaches, guerrilla marketing entails using unconventional methods to attract interest in a company, product, or brand. Using low- or no-cost marketing, the company embraces interesting strategies to lure customers.
