What Is Guerrilla Marketing? 7 Examples to Inspire Your Brand
Despite the sound of the word “Guerilla” – it isn’t some sort of combative communication. In fact, it’s an ingredient of inbound marketing that boosts brand awareness among large audiences. And it’s best understood through observation rather than an explanation. Therefore, we are going to approach its best practices.
But first, what’s Guerrilla Marketing?
Ever heard of “guerilla warfare”, because that’s where “guerrilla marketing,” got its name? This is because guerilla marketing relies on elements of surprise, such as ambushes, sabotage, and raids.
It involves the creation of highly unconventional campaigns that catch people unexpectedly in the course of their daily routines. One of the aspects of guerilla marketing is its budget-friendliness. It doesn’t have to be expensive. It involves repurposing some segments and expanding on each of them. It’s an investment of time, not money, per se.
Types of Guerrilla Marketing
These are the types of guerilla marketing:
- Outdoor Guerrilla Marketing
This outdoor type of guerrilla marking seeks to add pre-existing urban environments, like statues or installing artwork on streets, for example.
- Indoor Guerilla Marketing
This takes place indoors, unlike outdoor marketing
- Event Ambush Guerilla Marketing
This involves promoting a product to an audience in a progressing event, usually without permission to do so.
- Experiential Guerilla Marketing
It involves all of the above, only that the audience interacts with the product.
Guerrilla Marketing Examples to Inspire Your Brand
Still, confused? Well, relax. Here are guerilla marketing examples executed by a few other brands.
Bounty
The brand found a way to advertise its brand in minimal words, “I. Spill. Everything. Coffee? Check. Olive oil? You got it. Generally, I am simply a mess and like to have paper towels nearby at all times.”
But wouldn’t a billboard realize the same results? You might ask. But not at all. Culturally, we are eradicating Ads from our lives, and this campaign isn’t easy to ignore. The key is to identify the problem your brand solves and find unconventional ways to relay that to your audience.
The Grammys
Unfortunately, this wasn’t pulled off “in real life. Grammy Music awards created a video show to unveil what would happen if posters for the nominee artists just started singing. The technique involves figuring out what the audience might pass by every day and makes those things achieve something unexpected and interactive.
Frontline
This is really amazing! “Someone, get that dog away from those flies!” That’s how Frontline, the makers of flea and tick prevention products for dogs, filled a huge public space with this image. The campaign, tactically, is not just plastering a single message but creating a sense of accidental human interaction that unveils what the product achieves.
Burger King
This is a catchy story of a break-up. One Instagram user dropped a comment sharing a story of his girl buying food from Burger King. However, the only challenge was that the girlfriend was nowhere near Burger King. But who was he referring to? The post attracted massive reactions with many comments.
After interacting with the post, people speculated that Burger King might have staged the exchange. What a tactic to throw a brand into the zeitgeist! Some people may have been well aware of the brand, but they unexpectedly found themselves discussing it publicly! While this doesn’t advocate for lying, be sure to get creative and get people talking.
UNICEF
The relief organization UNICEF once asked, “What if those bottles of water you waste money on were filled with dirty water?” The post reminded the public that not everybody in the world has access to clean water. This means that guerilla marketing still works well for the not-for-profit sector. The trick is to create not scary, saddening images but less in your face and interactive for your audience.
GoldToe
When the GoldToe brand needed a way to tease and promote the launch of its new undergarments, it placed these new items of clothing on statues across New York. The briefs we made on leftover fabrics make it more affordable. Sometimes, it’s the silliest ideas that work magic!
Greene King
When Greene King feared less established pubs would start to be overtaken by large corporate retail, it launched a campaign to unveil the significance of these small businesses. They took a video of the most remarkable moments and gatherings they’ve experienced at the pubs, which were then shared on Greene King’s YouTube.
The content read, “Without these neighborhood meeting places, where would we share these moments?”Think about the emotions evoked by the content! Masses streamed in to appreciate such places, hence supporting small pubs in the neighborhood.
Guerrillas in the Wild
Do you see sense in guerilla marketing now? We hope that these examples really inspire you, especially if you are promoting small brands. Be creative as much as possible, and catch people right where they are. Then insert your brand there and invite them to participate!
