Guerrilla Marketing is a way of performing marketing activities in a non-conventional, yet creative way, by businesses which are on a very low promotional budget.
What is Guerilla Marketing?
Guerrilla Marketing focuses on using unconventional, nontraditional and unruly methods of promotion to achieve marketing objectives.
These nonstandard ways of promoting a product in a creative, and very often shocking way, shall help the firm to achieve conventional promotion goals while spending as little money as possible.
The main aim of Guerilla Marketing is to create a buzz or craze for the product to create maximum exposure for a product.
Where does Guerilla Marketing come from?
Guerrilla Marketing was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in 1984 who claimed that a business organization should not simply invest only money into promotion.
Firms should focus instead on spending time, energy and imagination to create memorable promotional campaigns.
How does Guerilla Marketing work?
Guerrilla Marketing aims to catch attention of consumers in public places, or even ambush them unexpectedly, through unusual techniques. Typically, Guerrilla Marketing campaigns – designed to make the target customers unaware that they are even being targeted – are often displayed in public.
Guerrilla Marketing mainly focuses on attracting attention and creating a good memorable impression on the consumers.
Nevertheless, while on a relatively low promotion expenditure budget, the many of the tactics used by guerrilla marketers – investing energy instead of money to – can achieve big results.
That is why Guerrilla Marketing is favored by start-ups and small businesses since they cannot afford to pay for expensive mainstream Above-The-Line (ATL) promotional methods such as television or newspaper advertising.
Although Guerrilla Marketing is more suitable for smaller businesses, large companies such as Nike or IKEA have been increasingly using it to achieve big results while spending little cash.
Examples of Guerilla Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing is all about creating the buzz.
Most common examples of Guerrilla Marketing include placing different signs or stickers related to the business in public places such as building, sidewalks, motor vehicles, etc.
Specifically, adding something to a statue in the park, placing oversized replicas of a typically small object in front of the shop, designing funny carry bags with the name of the business, putting objects resembling company products on the streets, etc.
Case study of Guerilla Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing – The Arctic Monkeys Formed in 2002 in Sheffield, The Arctic Monkeys are Alex Turner, James Cook, Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders. Their story thus far has been one of Do-It-Yourself (DIY) success using word of mouth and the Internet to build up a faithful following first in Sheffield, then all across the UK. The release of their early demos free through the web allowed fans to download a full set's worth of songs before going to see them (...) a practice which afforded the band the kind of sing-a-long gig that only established bands can hope for. Consequently, Arctic Monkeys gigs were extremely popular and sold out quickly. They played small venues, so tickets were difficult to come by, thus encouraging fans to talk about them. The Arctics were dominating the local Sheffield music scene, and their fans were dedicated. In late 2004 a demo of ’I Bet You Look Good on the Dancefloor’ found its way into the hands of influential DJ Zane Lowe, immediately making its mark on his evening BBC Radio 1 show and generating considerable interest from record companies. Domino Records, a small label, signed them after a scramble. Meanwhile the Arctic Monkeys released an extremely limited EP entitled ’Five Minutes with the Arctic Monkeys’ which showcased another track ’Fake Tales of San Francisco and the lyrical talents of Turner with such lines as ’I'd love to tell you all my problem/You’re not from New York City, you're from Rotherham’ and ’Yeah but his bird thinks it's amazing, though/So all that's left/Is the proof that love's not only blind but deaf’. Their debut single proper for Domino made history in October 2005 when a re-recorded version of ’I Bet You Look’ raced straight into the UK charts at number one. This represented a victory for music over the music industry – where the song was mightier than the promotion, where there was no need for multi-formats, ring tones or round-the-clock play on radio and MTV. Yes, finally it looked like the tide was going to turn and talent, not celebrity, would be the main ingredient of a number one single. Then the hopes of everyone were dashed when the Monkeys were knocked off the top perch by Westlife. The Arctic Monkeys’ debut album will be released on January, 23rd. It is a guaranteed success because of the band’s marketing strategy. All the songs are well known by fans, and they are a national, if not international success. It is a classic example of successful, small scale and non-traditional marketing. Of course, they have a brilliant product! Postcript The Arctic Monkeys debut CD was released on January 23rd. Two days later demand was so great that Domino records had to press more copies. Within 5 days it had broken records as the fastest selling debut album in UK chart History. Type Arctic Monkeys into any search engine and you will see the amount of media interest generated by the band. The band’s own website is also worth visiting.
Why is Guerilla Marketing effective?
Successful Guerilla Marketing promotion relies on the creativity and imagination of marketers. It is because Guerrilla Marketing is mainly based on appealing to human psychology rather than inferences or repetition of mass media ads.
That is why the most effective Guerrilla Marketing strategies in the world are very simple yet inexpensive. But, they are able to target very specific market segments with remarkable results giving a firm the competitive edge that it seeks.
Advantages of Guerilla Marketing
- Low in cost and risk. As a promotional strategy, Guerilla Marketing is a very budget-friendly option. Therefore highly suitable for smaller businesses that operate on a tight budget and cannot afford above-the-line promotion.
- Appeals to more than just customers. Guerilla Marketing helps to engage in networking with not only customers, but also with other stakeholders such as the local community, suppliers and partners. Advances in modern technology have made Guerrilla Marketing more accessible. Hence, some Guerrilla Marketing campaigns have the ability to have a wider reach depending on how viral the campaign becomes.
Disadvantages of Guerilla Marketing
- Highly unpredictable. A success of any Guerilla Marketing is difficult to quantify. It relies highly on market research while its unpredictability comes from difficultly to track and collect data for. It may not be possible for marketers to collect metrics to gauge whether the campaign is successful.
- More risk of failure. Sometimes Guerilla Marketing campaigns may be seen as a turn off by some individuals who feel bothered in public that is why prefer not to receive such marketing. Therefore, some consumers are put at-risk of being adversely impacted leading to less successful endeavors.
In short, Guerilla Marketing means the use of unconventional, surprise, and memorable interactions in order to promote a product. It is generally used by smaller businesses which have a smaller budget available for promotions.
In practice, it uses smaller teams of promoters in a specific area, rather than through mass media campaigns or involving the use of traditional forms of media.
