Everything you need to know about Guerrilla marketing

What is one marketing technique that most of the top brands use and yet sounds illegal? Of course, it is guerrilla marketing. Now, before you paint a picture of a gorilla in a suit pounding his chest in an advertisement, let’s clear the air first!

What is guerrilla marketing?

It is a marketing strategy to bring awareness and publicize a brand in a very unconventional method. Generally, they create an element of shock or surprise to the viewers.

The term was created in the 1980s. But the marketing techniques back then were only plain. The current ever-growing digital world offers so many options to explore!

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How does it attract attention?

As mentioned earlier, guerrilla marketing brings an element of surprise – the public is usually taken aback by the creativity and quirkiness that they can’t stop thinking about the brand. Eventually, turning a good portion of the viewers into quality clients!

They are more B2C advertisements than B2B. Hence, they are more provocative and interactive in nature. It is very cost-effective – given the digital age we’re living in – an ad placement at the right time will make your brand go viral. And repeat it twice – people will start remembering you and expect more!

Are there different types of these strategies?

Absolutely! There can be thousands of them – but you should be careful of the laws and not get into any unattractive lawsuits. 

Here are some of the types of guerrilla marketing,

Experiential Marketing

As the word itself suggests, this marketing technique is about viewer engagement. Here the target audience gets to create memorable experiences with the interactions with things that symbolize the brand.

For example, GoPro’s Instagram page includes only the content created by its users. They aren’t spending to create new content – instead, they collect all the videos their users send and make content out of it. So, next time you see an extreme sport with a POV – you know it is GoPro!

Ambient Marketing

It is the most popular means of marketing and involves less risk. Ambient marketing is about placing unexpected objects in an unpredictable place. People will flock to the location because they find it surprising and amusing to see a creative way of marketing. 

Adele album’s marketing campaign was cryptic and also jaw-dropping. Her album, named 30, was projected on many of the world’s most famous monuments! It made the internet world go nuts with curiosity until they revealed what it really was about!

Ambush Marketing

It is risky to use this technique, and you should know what you are doing before getting any backlashes. Ambush marketing is about interrupting an event sponsored by one of your competitors. It is also about dissing the competitor’s brand in your advertisements.

We usually see such kinds in ads for luxury cars. Audi vs BMW, Mercedes vs Jaguar, and other combinations of the same brands. But the recent one that went viral was Burger King’s ad in a movie theatre. The theatre premiered a famous horror movie – IT. At the end of it, Burger King projected a message saying, “The moral is – never trust a clown”. It is a hilarious and indirect jab at McDonald’s!

Final thoughts | Guerrilla Marketing

Now you’re thinking of all the quirky ads you’ve seen before, don’t you?

Hope these examples have inspired you enough to think out of the box for your next marketing campaign!

FAQs | Guerrilla Marketing