Have You Ever Heard Of The Word “Guerilla”?
Not a fictional character of Gorilla or guerilla magic. But exactly it isn’t. Let me recall my college days, I remember watching flash mobs for whatever reason could be; whether for awareness or giving surprises to loved ones.
It never came up to my mind, that flash mobs are a kind of marketing. In general, guerillas are a member who is not part of the official military group and make a surprise attack on the enemy. Combining the word guerilla marketing is a kind of advertising which target the users often in an unusual way.
Guerilla Marketing
- Guerilla marketing is a form of advertising and promoting (products/services) using unconventional methods to make surprise, wonder, or shock. This kind of marketing involves minimum budget and creativity to grab the attention of the public which are done on the streets, shopping centres, park, or beaches.
- The term was created by Jay Conrad in 1984 in his book ‘Guerilla Advertising. His idea is to create high-impact and memorable experiences for the brand to the audience.
- It's a great strategy for creating brand awareness, and brand loyalty. It was used by small enterprises that could not compete with the budget size and marketing campaign of the large companies, now it has been widely used by these companies also.
Types of Guerilla Marketing
There are many types of guerilla marketing, depending on the budget size, and innovation you can select to try any one of these marketing.
Viral marketing is a technique that encourages audiences to generate the message of the product/service on social media platforms. It is considered viral when it is shared by the public at large rather than the target audience. It is referred to as word of mouth, creating a buzz that captures people's attention in a way that makes them talk about it.
- It may be in the form of video clips, messages, images, etc. which is carried out on social media platforms ( youtube, Twitter, Facebook ).
Have you heard of this song?
It's like being on the cloud in nine!
- An example of this marketing is the song “why this Kolaveri di” released in 2012 in the Tamil movie ‘3’ which was released on youtube and spread like fire to the world on social media. Every age of people hummed and danced to the tunes of the song. This campaign was successful where the song was hit and the actors got fame right away.
It is a way of placing visual and interactive advertisements in unusual locations where you would not expect to see an advertisement. This makes you wonder for what purpose the advertisement is in the particular location. It includes placing stickers on buses, and large displays in public areas. It creates a memorable experience by viewing the ad which will be remembered.
- An example of this marketing is The Fitness Company created heavyweights in the subway trains of New York city which shows the person holding safety handlebars lifting the heavyweights.
This kind of marketing promotes products/services in an existing event such as a concert or sporting event without permission. This makes the audience surprised who is an attendee in the event.
- For example, Nike advertised its product at the 2010 FIFA world cup through tv commercials and football players to win its competitor Adidas who is the official sponsor.
It is a marketing strategy that targets the smaller group audience to promote the products/services with the hope that they share it among their peers. The success or failure of this marketing depends on the people. It is similar to viral marketing as they increase brand awareness by word of mouth.
- Example of grassroots marketing; Assume you are running a restaurant, you want to showcase your products in an exhibition and give out a sample of your products to potential customers to promote it and give the feel of your service.
It is a strategy where the audience involves in the brand marketing campaigns and is referred to as live or event marketing. It engages customers with face-to-face events to showcase or the grand opening of the product or service.
- E.g coca-cola placed a happiness vending machine on valentine’s day where couples need to show their love when they pass by the machines and can grab a set of coca-cola can which was creative and won people's heart on the brand.
This social media company wants to create its name and create a buzz in the market by making people wonder about it. It started a campaign by placing its logo on billboards with a white blob on a yellow background and people had curious to know the brand. This made Snapchat increase its followers.
To launch the underwear and T-shirts, they dressed statues in New York. it gained the attention of the people unusually but they started clicking and posting pictures on social media which was successful and the brand spread all over.
3) Lipton
Heard of the tea-mometer?
You must have heard of thermometer but this tea-mometer is used by Lipton and installed as a vending machine on UCT Campus in 2013. This machine had touch screen technology which calculates the body temperature of the people and gives them a free ice tea. It gained a lot of attention and people posted it on social media.
They used the strategy to show the effectiveness of their product by placing the flashlight posters in the headlight of the bus and Duracell batteries in autos or buses. This brand installed a bus stop in winter that provides warm temperatures while waiting for the bus. People had to join their hands with the person who are next to them to turn the heater.
This type of marketing can be successful if it is designed and executed properly while the brands use this to make themselves recognizable among the public. As this kind of marketing is budget-friendly, you need to think out of the box and grab the attention of your audience.
If your brand wants to stand out in the crowd, then make use of this marketing strategy creatively.
Written By: Nivetha
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