Guerrilla Marketing – Innovative Brand Campaigns

When I say marketing or advertising, what comes to your mind? TV commercials, billboards, hoardings, pamphlets, flyers, PPC, SMM, SEO influencer marketing and so on. The list goes on, and probably, it is never-ending. That’s because marketing isn’t restricted to one medium. It can be done through any means that connects you with people and lets you engage with them; you just have to be creative enough to grab their attention. In fact, the more you use unconventional ways to market your brand, the more likely you’re to be in talks. One such method is guerrilla marketing. In this blog post, we’ll explore what guerrilla marketing is, look at some inspiring examples, and see if it’s something you can do for your brand.

Guerilla Marketing -Unconventional Way to Gain the Spotlight

If you want to promote your brand today, there are numerous unconventional methods available, thanks to the internet. You don’t need to spend money plastering your brand all over the city. A creative, out-of-the-box idea that effectively sells your message is all you need. If you can pull off this idea on a low budget, you’ve struck gold. This is what we refer to as guerrilla marketing.

Guerilla marketing is a marketing strategy where a brand uses unconventional ways to interact with their audience to promote their message/idea/product/service. 

In 1984, American business writer Jay Conrad released a book titled “Guerrilla Marketing,” marking the origins of this marketing approach. 

In his book, he outlined what guerilla marketing is and how it has been used to surprise viewers, make a strong impression, and ultimately generate a lot of buzz through word-of-mouth. The past three decades have witnessed successful attempts of marketers employing guerrilla marketing successfully to promote a wide range of products, from soap and movies to pizzas. 

Because Guerilla marketing mainly focuses on surprising the consumer and creating a buzz in the market, it is generally regarded as inexpensive and based on expanding the reach rather than frequency. Small businesses or startups often use it, especially when they are competing against bigger companies. 

The Evolution of Guerilla Marketing: Then vs. Now

Guerilla marketing, known for its unconventional tactics and low budgets, has always helped smaller players disrupt the market. However, with the advent of social media and advanced digital technology, the promotion arenas have changed completely. Let’s see how it has impacted the approach of marketers to make their brand a buzz. Let’s explore the past and present of guerilla marketing.

In the 1970s and 80s, guerilla marketing was about surprising people in the real world to grab attention. Common strategies included:

• Street Art

Bright murals or stencils on busy sidewalks were used to promote a brand. You can see that in the following examples:

• Ambush Marketing

This type of marketing approach was based on using existing events like sports games to highlight a brand unexpectedly. The brand promotes itself either by taking advantage of any popular event without being an official sponsor. 

• Interactive Installations

This included using unique experiences and installations, such as pop-up shops, to create buzz.

Back then, surprise was the most crucial element. With fewer media channels, generating word-of-mouth was essential for spreading the message.

But Now, With the Advent of Social Media 

The game has changed for once and all. Modern tactics include:

1. Nowadays, viral campaigns are taken advantage of. Brands now create short, catchy videos or leverage social media challenges that can spread quickly online, reaching millions without high costs.
2. They focus on expanding their social media engagement through interactive polls, contests, and partnerships with influencers are another way to build brand loyalty and a sense of community.
3. Using social media data, brands/marketers hyper-target their ideal customers, making campaigns more effective.

Today’s focus is on engagement. Creating content on social media gets brands the most attention from their audience and infact helps identify their ideal customers.

But The Core Stays the Same

While tactics have changed, the core principles of guerilla marketing remain the same. Here is how:

1. The goal still revolves around thinking outside the box and trying new and unexpected ideas.
2. The focus should be on maximizing the impact of advertising with limited resources. Marketers need to find clever and unique ways to make a big impression without spending much.

The only change we can observe is that the focus now lies on the target audience. Earlier, it was tough to measure success and identify the ideal customer base due to limited tracking. But now, with digital tools and social media, campaigns can be targeted to specific demographics and interests. This allows for better audience understanding and message tailoring.

So, the core target audience focus remains, but technology has made it more accurate and measurable.

Guerilla marketing has gone digital, but its innovative and disruptive spirit continues. When brainstorming marketing ideas, remember that a touch of guerilla thinking can have a big impact.

Is guerrilla marketing right for your brand?

To understand whether guerrilla marketing is the right strategy for your brand, consider the following factors:

1. Brand Image

Guerrilla marketing often involves unconventional or surprise tactics that can be bold or edgy. Before going ahead with it make sure that these methods align with your brand’s image and values.

2. Target Audience

Your marketing should resonate with your target audience. Guerrilla marketing is typically found to be more effective with younger demographics since they appreciate creativity and innovation.

3. Budget

One of the advantages of guerrilla marketing is that it can be executed on a relatively low budget. It relies more on creativity and the element of surprise rather than financial investment.

4. Risk Tolerance

Guerrilla marketing can be unpredictable. Be prepared for the campaign to either be a hit or miss and consider the potential impact on your brand’s reputation.

5. Objectives

Clearly define what you want to achieve with your marketing efforts. Guerrilla marketing is great for building brand awareness and generating buzz but may not be the best for direct sales or lead generation.

6. Legal Considerations

Ensure that your guerrilla marketing campaign does not violate any laws or regulations, including permits for public space usage or intellectual property rights.

7. Measurability

Consider how you will measure the success of your guerrilla marketing campaign. Set clear metrics and goals to evaluate its effectiveness.

8. Competitive Landscape

Look at what your competitors are doing. This can help you target a specific demographic and customer base. 

9. Cultural Sensitivity

Be mindful of cultural norms and sensitivities, especially if your brand operates in multiple regions or internationally. As one mistake can lead to adverse impact on your reputation that too for a long time period. 

10. Flexibility

Guerrilla marketing campaigns often require quick thinking and adaptability. Ensure your team is ready to respond and engage with the audience in real time and adept at dealing with mishaps.

By thinking about these factors, you can decide if guerrilla marketing is right for your brand. Remember, it’s all about making a memorable impact with creativity and surprise.

How Guerrilla Marketing Can Win in Today’s Scenario?

Now, people’s attention is limited to screens, mostly even when they are walking on the streets. They barely pay attention to any detail but are busy on their own. So it’s better to engage with them on the platforms where they are present the most. Here is how you can do it:

1. Some of the most common themes of social media marketing appear as viral campaigns. Come up with content like short clips and polls that will capture the attention of the users, or use filters created through augmented reality that can be viral on platforms like TikTok or Instagram.

2. Incorporate branding on popular websites

Coordinate with popular websites to use their popularity and give the user a surprise while adding your brand message into the mix.

3. Partner up with existing mobile apps (Involving authorization)

Integrate your product as an app or partner with existing apps that can use incentives or activities like gamification, etc., within the app to advertise for you.

4. Focus on marketing using social media apps that use the geolocation of the user.

Use geofilters and location-based AR experiences to target viewers in specific geographic areas.

Create iconic pieces of art that are meaningful and are meant to be touched, viewed, and shared. Always try to be innovative and do something further from the norm but at the same time anticipate the outcomes as well and be ready to proactively handle it. 

You can also create innovative installations that get people’s attention, make them take pictures or record videos and share them on social media, hence raising awareness of the brand. Megabrands like Coca-Cola and Kit Kat often use this kind of guerilla marketing to stay in talks. 

Guerrilla Marketing Examples to Take Inspiration From

Marshall Headphones

This clever campaign showcases the premium quality of their earphones, perfectly suited for hard rock music lovers. The message is clear and impactful, conveyed simply through a powerful image with minimal visuals and text.  It grabs attention instantly, requiring only a second to understand.

Coca Cola

Coca-Cola strategically places their ad with temperature to remind the audience to refresh themselves in the summer heat. This is smart because it connects their product directly with the audience’s immediate need, increasing the likelihood of purchase. 

The ads serve as timely reminders that a cold Coca-Cola can provide relief from the heat, making the brand more relevant and appealing during hot weather. They are using temperature that any person would naturally check, and this is how they are grabbing loads of attention, creating buzz, and making the campaign more memorable.

AXE

Axe Body Spray uses custom stickers to tell a story about the exit man we see in many places. By adding their sticker next to the ‘exit man’, Axe shows that women chase him after using their spray.

IKEA

IKEA used stairs to smartly advertise their furniture. They put drawers under staircases to show how IKEA furniture can help people save space in their homes and organize their closets in the best way.

It’s Coca-Cola again,  we can’t help it; they are so smart!

In a clever ad placement strategy, Coca-Cola capitalized on another billboard featuring a model with glossy lips. They positioned their own billboard directly below, extending a straw from their bottle towards the model’s lips. This creates a playful thirst trap, drawing attention and suggesting the model is enjoying a refreshing Coca-Cola. While certainly eye-catching, it’s important to consider they effectively prompted the audience to have their drink.

Kingfisher

Don’t you think having the menu on the door itself is a great idea? Anyone passing by would feel tempted to enter the bar/restaurant and enjoy chilled beer. It’s a clever way to attract customers using neuromarketing.

Canon

This Canon camera campaign perfectly showcases how their cameras deliver exceptional image quality,  freezing precious moments in stunning detail.  It’s a powerful way to connect with potential customers by showing them how Canon cameras can help them capture HD pictures.

Marvel

This bag cum poster is probably promoting Marvel’s upcoming movie or show. People carrying the bag essentially become walking billboards for the movie/show. It increases reach and brand awareness without spending extra on advertising. The unique format creates intrigue and makes people curious about the movie/show it promotes. Fans might want to collect the bag as memorabilia.

If such a way is used in today’s time, people would love to share photos of themselves with the bag on social media, further increasing exposure for the movie/show.

Conclusion

Guerrilla is a marketing tactic that is compelling and unique due to its approach of directing efforts in the opposite direction.

Advertisements are conventionally delivered as a message through standard channels, and the message is supposed to peculate from top to bottom through the audience. But, the opposite is the case for grass root marketing.

Instead of broadcasting your message in hopes, it will appeal to your audience; you are targeting stimuli which catches there attention, telling them of goods and services and hoping they can spread the word to a much wider audience on their own. It is a very cost-effective form of marketing and also very competitive to follow through.