Guerrilla marketing is all about getting attention for your business in creative, unusual ways.
The term ‘guerrilla warfare’ refers to the tactic of military groups setting up raids, sabotages, and ambushes, hence where the term for marketing comes from.
Throughout the year, every day, every moment, we are bombarded with information and promotions by various companies.
Everyone is fighting for the moment of our attention and we are more and more resistant to various marketing activities.
But, what will make a company stand out in the sea of marketing messages?
Today, we’ll share some top tips and examples of guerrilla marketing in action.
So whether you’re looking to generate buzz for your business or simply want to try something new, read on for some inspiration!
In this blog you can read about:
- What is guerrilla marketing?
- Is it legal?
- Types of guerrilla marketing
- Which companies use guerrilla marketing and why?
- 7 most popular strategies
- Tips on making a successful campaign
- Great examples
- Tactics you should use in 2022
- Guerrilla marketing online
Let’s dive in!
What is guerrilla marketing?
Simply, guerrilla marketing is a strategy that uses unconventional solutions and a surprise factor to attract the attention of the audience and, thus, promotes a product, service, or idea.
Although difficult to define accurately, it represents any type of unconventional promotion, usually evoking unique and memorable reactions or interactions with viewers.
On the other hand, guerrilla marketing is creative, exciting, lively, energetic, surprising, accessible, breaking the rules, seeking attention, efficient, viral…
This marketing strategy has two important goals:
- Causing emotion in the audience
- Making the audience remember a product, service, or idea
In addition, for guerrilla marketing, you need three things the most: energy, time, and imagination.
Main characteristics of guerrilla marketing
Guerrilla marketing differs significantly from other marketing strategies and its characteristics are:
1. It’s not expensive
This strategy is mostly based on creativity and imagination, so you don’t need huge budgets to succeed.
2. It is focused on the size of the audience
It strives to reach as many people as possible. Actually, this campaign reaches two groups of people.
The first are those who are in direct contact with the campaign itself (they came across a marketing guerrilla message), and the second group is people who hear about this campaign from the first group.
Often these campaigns also go viral because of their creativity.
Viral marketing is a kind of amplifier of the message of guerrilla marketing.
3. It uses a surprise factor
Often the audience is surprised by the message, so they remember the message better.
This form of marketing is ideal for those who have just started their business and want to build their brand, but cannot afford to spend tons of money on ads.
Of course, if you have a larger budget, it won’t hurt to learn a little more about this form of marketing, because it can be useful for all sorts of businesses.
On the other hand, when it comes to guerrilla marketing, it is important to think outside of the box. You will need to find a way to attract the attention of your target audience.
This type of marketing used to be used only in the real world, the streets, and different places, but today we have the Internet.
Through it, we can reach our target audience more easily and very effectively.
Is guerrilla marketing legal?
Guerrilla marketing is generally legal, but you need to be careful of a few things.
Due to the nature of guerrilla marketing, the purpose of an advertising campaign must be clear to avoid being misunderstood by your audience.
You should keep the following things in mind:
First, campaigns, because they have not been tested before, can be criticized. You need to be very careful about all the meanings of your campaign and what feelings it will arouse in different groups of people.
Second, you will often need permits. As these campaigns are most often implemented in public areas, you will need permits from the institution responsible for that public area.
If you decide to skip seeking permission, you are going beyond the legal framework and may be the subject of a lawsuit.
And finally, you need to take responsibility for what you do.
Given all the previously mentioned characteristics of guerrilla marketing, the whole philosophy of this approach implies walking on thin ice.
With the desire to provoke as much publicity as possible, it often happens that companies make extremely dangerous moves.
Guerrilla marketing is considered illegal when a brand tries to capitalize on an intellectual property that they have not paid to be a part of, you need to know what to do, where to do it, and what you want from it.
Types of guerrilla marketing
Whatever the approach, the goal of guerrilla marketing is always to generate buzz and awareness for your brand. Here are some types of guerrilla marketing:
- Ambient marketing
- Marketing ambush
- Hidden marketing
- Viral / buzz marketing
- Street Marketing
Ambient marketing – Suprise the audience
Ambient guerrilla marketing uses an environment that already exists. Advertisements are placed in certain places or objects where they are not otherwise placed.
The goal of this type of marketing is to surprise the audience.
For example, using a bus stop for advertising is a common form of marketing, but using a seat at a stop as part of advertising is something innovative and different.
The first characteristic of ambient marketing is its unusual placement of an ad, which in itself attracts attention.
We can say that those campaigns use the environment wisely and create a “wow” factor.
Another important item of this marketing is execution. Will what is imagined create a planned impact on the audience and the desired reaction of the audience?
The advantages of ambient marketing are:
- Attracts attention
- Easy to remember
- Low price
- It can go viral – people want to share interesting experiences with friends, most often using social networks
- Reaching a wider audience – such advertisements are often placed in places where a large number of people pass, thus reaching a wide variety of audiences
Marketing ambush – Event promotion
This type of marketing uses events for promotion but the company being promoted is not tied to the event itself.
Marketing ambushes can be conducted by companies that are not official sponsors of an event. Their marketing activities create an image to the public as if they are part of that event.
In addition, it is often on the verge of legal, so you should be especially careful with this type of marketing.
Hidden marketing – Interest potential customers
This kind of message is exposing the audience to a marketing campaign without their knowledge that it is a marketing campaign.
The goal is not to create a sale, but to create a certain feeling and excitement as well as interest in a certain product, service, or idea.
Hidden marketing campaigns can be used by both smaller and larger companies, but they are much better for large companies, with large budgets.
The reason is that this message is only one component of the whole campaign, it only serves to interest potential customers and users.
For instance, it can be hidden advertising from bloggers, influencers, and other famous people giving product reviews or running challenges on TikTok and other social media platforms.
Product reviews, discussions on social networks and forums as well as comments on feature and promotional articles are examples of hidden marketing.
Viral/Buzz marketing – Word of mouth
This type of guerrilla marketing is specially created to encourage the further transmission of the marketing message.
It is based on the use of enhanced and organic communication between people, in the form of buzz around a product, service, or idea.
The person who came across the marketing campaign passes on their experiences and impressions in communication with others (“word of mouth”) or through social networks (“word of mouse”).
Street Marketing – Outdoor marketing
Street marketing is a recent term for the type of outdoor guerrilla marketing.
It refers to all marketing actions that take place outdoors, introducing street elements into the game.
Some of the most successful street guerrilla marketing campaigns use street art for their brand. A typical example is the guerrilla marketing campaign created by McDonald’s.
Which companies use guerrilla marketing and why?
Guerrilla marketing is perfect for small or medium-sized businesses to present their products or services to their consumers without investing much money.
Successful and well-designed marketing is the basis for achieving business success.
If a company wants to become visible in the market, it is necessary to present itself to the general public.
In addition, guerrilla marketing has enabled small and medium businesses to focus on their marketing program and creativity with limited resources.
On the other hand, the financial power that large companies have allows them to invest huge funds in marketing activities.
It also leaves them enough space to launch a completely new marketing campaign if it turns out that the previous campaign did not give the desired results.
Today, we know those big companies like Coca-Cola, Burger King, and Red Bull also run great guerrilla marketing campaigns because their goal is to convince consumers as credibly as possible of their advertising, without using the press, radio, and TV as traditional types of advertising.
Therefore, we can say with certainty that guerrilla marketing is used with small and medium budgets, as well as with large but for different purposes.
7 most popular guerrilla marketing strategies
Small companies with a limited budget are the ones that use this type of marketing the most.
The point is to be direct and easy to understand. Since small businesses have small budgets, sometimes the only option is to think outside the box.
Some examples of guerrilla marketing strategies whose implementation should be simple but creative enough to catch someone’s attention are:
- Graffiti
- Projected video
- Audience participation
- Mascots
- Advertising using a means of transport
- Taking advantage of interesting packaging, labels
1. Graffiti is a well-known method
They are artistic but cheap, you only need spray paint cans.
Graffiti is a convenient form of guerrilla marketing, innovative, clean for the environment, and popular in recent years.
Guerrilla or pure graffiti is similar to normal graffiti, but with a big difference – clean surfaces of the city are not damaged, and the unappealing ones are made to look better.
2. Projected video – Responsive mini ad
Guerrilla marketing has the power to go viral instantly. The video has the same characteristics.
Video production itself can be very cheap, as long as the brand’s message is conveyed in a creative way.
Think of it as a responsive mini-ad. It is more interesting than a billboard and can cover larger areas.
The company projects its message (as a video). The higher the position of the projection, the more people will see it. But it has to be a visual message that will make people stop and take a look.
3. Audience participation
User-generated content can be very surprising and different from what a marketing team would create.
An Instagram photo contest, which requires customers to take short videos or share stories, can be an amazing guerrilla technique.
4. Location filters
Geo-fencing is an innovative new way for brands to engage with customers by using their smartphone’s GPS. It offers exclusive content or experiences if you’re in the target location.
A perfect example is Snapchat’s Custom Geofilters which are a great way to create location-based marketing campaigns on the platform. The cost of uploading your own filter is also low, under $10 in some cases.
These custom filters give you an opportunity to make impressions on users in a specific area or at an event as they swipe through filters when creating a snap.
They might even apply those filters and share them with their followers if they’re fun or relevant enough.
5. Mascots are always cool
People love them and love to take pictures with them. Research has shown that this is in fact one of the most popular guerrilla strategies.
Put the mascot on the line when planning an event or capture it on social media. Definitely an interesting way of marketing.
6. Advertise using a means of transport
A creative striking image or logo on your personal delivery vehicle can have a strong impact on passers-by who have seen the advertisement.
Take advantage of interesting packaging, labels, or flyers – it doesn’t matter which of these tactics you choose, it’s important that your message is conveyed to potential users.
7. Sticker Marketing
As stickers are an inexpensive way to get your brand out there, it’s not surprising that people have started using their laptops and video game consoles as a canvas for showing off the brands they love.
Whether you’re giving away these promo items at events or sticking them on all over town – stickers will be sure to keep everyone acquainted with who has got what right now.
Tips on making a successful guerrilla marketing campaign
Guerrilla means something more. Guerrilla marketing uses the usual means of communication in an unusual way!
Real guerrillas do not hesitate to use everything they can to convey their message and evoke unforgettable emotions.
This type of communication is carefully prepared, and messages are created to be effective, but also to do their job, to sell a product.
In order for a guerrilla marketing campaign to be successful, it is necessary, among other things it has to be:
- Clever
- Dynamic
- Memorable
- Effective
- Endearing
Make it clever
It is important to know what you want to say, not just how you are going to say it.
The essence of your message is what matters the most, not the witty way you will convey that message. So, make it clever, it will be memorable for sure.
Make it dynamic
Break the usual way of communication, not the law!
Individuals think that guerrilla marketing is spraying a web address on the walls. It’s not guerrilla marketing, it’s just vandalism. Be mysterious, not rude, and make it dynamic.
Make it memorable
Be better, not just different. Don’t get into a guerrilla campaign just because you think it’s interesting.
If you don’t have an idea that is guerrilla in itself, don’t start a campaign. The idea is to be better than others in a different way, not just to be different.
Make it effective
Your guerrilla campaign should not be a joke circulating in the city. It must sell a particular product or service. If it does not achieve that effect, then it is not marketing.
Then it’s just a good gag you pay for.
Make it endearing
People love all things free, which is why some of the most engaging guerrilla campaigns are tied to free giveaways.
Great guerrilla marketing examples
This type of marketing revolves around creativity, so if you’re a creative person, you can achieve a lot for not a lot of money.
And the amazing 13 guerrilla marketing examples that we have selected for you are the following:
- The Sopranos
- ModCloth’s
- McDonald’s
- Kit Kat
- Ikea
- NIKE
- Snapchat
- UNICEF
- Coca-Cola
- GoldToe bull stunt
- Mr. Proper
- Dracula
- Jeep
The Sopranos
Even the ones that have millions use guerrilla marketing.
Several cabs roamed the streets of New York with realistic plastic arms coming out of the trunk. Is there a better way of promoting a show about a mafia family?
Next to the arm was a black sticker that said ‘Sopranos’ in red letters and ‘only on HBO’ in white letters, as effective as the arms and very easy to notice.
There’s no way that anyone who’s seen it was left completely indifferent, and the chance of people going home and looking the show up is very high.
So, this is one of the outstanding guerrilla marketing examples.
ModCloth’s
This blogger reached a huge audience using guerrilla marketing.
She wrote about a number of things, but in one moment she came up with naming her dresses after famous influencers.
Related: How to attract customers online
Every time she created a new dress, she would name it after an influencer.
This way, those bloggers would include her in their posts and make their audience familiar with her designs and brand. She gained publicity faster than most people who were in the industry for years.
But she didn’t stop there.
She created the campaign ‘Reflect Your Style’, where she invited bloggers to create their own designs that reflected their moods. And this is just another good guerrilla marketing example that can inspire.
McDonald’s
One of the common places to create guerrilla marketing campaigns is zebra crossing.
The lines painted on the ground give you a lot to play with if you have the necessary creativity. McDonald’s used it in a way that the lines are French fries coming out of a hamburger pack.
Apart from being part of the actual zebra crossing, which still has the same function, the image represents one of the products.
Using a striking element helps the message to better suit the potential client.
The more people see the ad, the better the campaign.
Kit Kat
KitKat used benches in the shape of chocolate bars and thus caught its customers’ attention with the unusual environment.
The candy brand uses the famous design of its products, in the form of bars, including the famous red paper.
Ikea
Ikea went a step further and decorated public spaces with lamps, tables, and rugs, promoting the comfort of its products.
This example shows one of the great opportunities of guerrilla marketing in the middle of the street and brings their products closer to the users.
In this case, not only are the people surprised when they see customized space but are also exposed to certain brand products.
NIKE
NIKE is known for its attitude and slogan “Just do it”. So it’s no wonder they used the bench as a label for the company’s motto.
They even went a step further and placed an advertisement in the form of a yellow ramp in the subway, on the escalator.
I think most of us will agree that it underlines the benefit perfectly, right?
We are sure that the one who came across these escalators was reminded of the brand’s motto and was “forced” to go up the stairs, exercising a bit.
Snapchat
It has not been easy to penetrate the digital world, which is dominated by social media giants like Facebook.
Snapchat had to make some noise, to open the door somehow.
So they created a giant billboard that had nothing but their logo. And since no one knew what this logo represented and what it was about, Snapchat’s competitors didn’t know what was coming, but that’s why this led to thousands of people googling the brand.
And so today Snapchat is one of the most popular social media platforms for younger audiences.
UNICEF
In the most advanced country in the world, people take it for granted that tap water is hygienic and suitable for consumption.
However, at least 50% of the world’s population does not have access to drinking water.
To emphasize this fact, UNICEF has set up automatic vending machines around New York in eight flavors – cholera, malaria, typhus, dengue, yellow fever, salmonella, dysentery, and hepatitis.
Of course, it served a purpose, and UNICEF was overwhelmed with donations, which says this is another guerrilla marketing example.
Coca-Cola
Coke wanted to do something spectacular. They set up a vending machine for Coca-Cola in the cafeteria of St Johns University in New York.
Five secret cameras recorded the reaction of the cheerful students when, in addition to Coca-Cola, they also received what they did not expect – from sunglasses to flowers and pizza.
The edited video was posted on YouTube and collected millions of hits in a few days, and the ad received many awards and praise.
GoldToe bull stunt
Overnight, the creators of the underwear brand GoldToe put a large pair of underwear on the statue of a bull on Wall Street.
Many people took pictures with it and there’s no doubt they posted them on their social media, giving GoldToe even more publicity.
Mr. Clean
Painting a bright, white stripe across the crosswalk is a great way to advertise their company.
The logo at the bottom of this stripe makes it very clear that Mr. Clean cleans better than anyone else, even in tough situations like dirty crosswalks.
BBC’s Horror Story – Dracula
This is one of the most creative guerrilla marketing examples.
To help build up hype and anticipation for the show, BBC Creative founded two amazingly chilling billboards in London and Birmingham.
These billboards had bloody stakes attached to them, seemingly placed at random, until you see them lit up during the night.
These bloody stakes were actually positioned to help create a striking silhouette of the iconic horror villain, complete with sharp fangs. And guess what, people loved it!
Jeep
Jeep’s example of guerrilla marketing is the ‘Outdoor Parking’ campaign.
They drew mock parking spots along city steps, planting boxes and uneven street surfaces, using simple street paint.
In this way, Jeep advertised the expert handling and city maneuverability of their vehicles, and the creative campaign helped park a positive view of Jeep in consumers’ minds.
Guerrilla marketing tactics you should use in 2022
With the right approach, retailers can launch brand visibility into the stratosphere. But in some way, with everything we’ve said so far, it’s not a trick.
So, let’s look at the world of guerrilla marketing and the 4 stunts that still work wonders for brands in 2022. These are the tactics you should use this year:
- Samsung campaign
- TikTok Challenges
- Johnnie Walker campaign
- Twitter campaign
Samsung campaign
The rivalry between Apple and Samsung has lasted for years, and it is generally known to everyone.
Back in 2011 in Sidney, Samsung set up a pop-up store at the adjoining entrance with the Apple store. While Apple fans were waiting to grab a new $700 iPhone, Samsung sold its Galaxy SII for $1.50.
Samsung’s tactics paid off; many have walked away with a brand new – and MUCH cheaper – Galaxy SII.
Learning from this example, we suggest that in 2022 the main tactic is to use guerrilla marketing from an ambush, similar to this one from Samsung.
TikTok Challenges
The most downloaded app worldwide for May 2020 is TikTok.
The short-form video app has proved to be an ideal platform for guerrilla marketing campaigns, due to its low barriers to entry and highly engaged user base.
The campaigns can be viral, resulting in millions of views and widespread brand awareness. Thanks to its effectiveness, TikTok is quickly becoming one of the most popular platforms for marketing campaigns.
Johnnie Walker campaign
With the help of the Scottish whiskey brand Johnnie Walker, Harris Tweed Hebrides created a line of Harris Tweed fabrics in the shape of whiskey for sale.
Guerrilla marketing tricks enabled both brands to create subconscious and inherent brand recognition. This means when consumers take a sip of Johnnie Walker, they are reminded of Harris Tweed Hebrides and vice versa.
Research shows that brands are better at attracting more customers when they connect with their senses. Why not try it out this year?
Twitter campaign
Twitter aimed to take advantage of the team’s success by promoting women’s soccer in the U.S. when the women’s national soccer team won its fourth World Cup.
The #StartWithThem social media platform campaign has raised brand awareness and support for women’s sports.
Launching a three-day street marketing tour in New York, Twitter turned the branded food truck into an interactive experience with free food and prizes.
Guerrilla marketing tricks that use engaged ambassadors and offer free gifts are always a good rule of thumb when attracting potential customers.
Guerrilla marketing online
We’ve already mentioned that this kind of marketing doesn’t have to be used only in the streets and such.
In addition, we also have the Internet, and through it, guerrilla marketing is much easier, but only if it’s done the right way.
For starters, we need to find a group of people who will be really interested in our product, which might be the hardest step.
For example, if we’re selling t-shirts and our target audience is students that like funny t-shirts, we can gift a shirt to a waiter who works in a café that students usually visit, give one to an influencer that students are following, or post in Facebook groups or student forums.
The next step is marketing a product. In the example with the waiter, that is what we pretty much did.
The options are numerous: we can go to a Facebook group and make a post where we’re asking about where we can find such a t-shirt and then ask a friend who is in the group to respond with a link to our shirt.
People will be interested and look it up. But don’t do it multiple times in the same group, because people might realize what you’re doing.
There’s another, much simpler, option. You can simply go into a group, and make a post telling people who you are and what you’re selling.
In the beginning, this might not be immediately effective, but it is the more honorable approach.
Conclusion
As you can see in these examples, guerrilla marketing can be extremely effective.
Images of these examples are all over the internet, which only confirms their effectiveness, with hundreds of people posting and sharing their images of these unique and clever marketing ideas.
Selling a product shouldn’t be the only thing we have in mind when we’re doing an ad campaign or marketing.
Sometimes it can be brand awareness or getting familiar with a brand. If you’ve just started your business and people aren’t very familiar with it, this way of thinking can help you a lot.
Finally, guerrilla marketing can be a good option, but it should be done wisely.
Very often, these ways of advertising are punishable and contrary to the law, so it is very important to find a balance between attracting attention and good promotion!
We hope that this article has inspired you so you can come up with your own amazing and eye-catching guerrilla marketing idea.
Thank you for reading!
