Few marketing campaigns are as creative, interesting or compelling at storytelling as Guerilla Marketing Campaigns.
Although Jay Levinson coined the phrase Guerilla marketing over 30 years ago, it’s only over the past few years that the term has entered the public consciousness becoming a standard in the marketing world. With brands constantly looking for new ways of reaching potential customers via innovative and unusual means, this style of marketing continues to grow in popularity.
Guerilla stunts or campaigns effectively cut through consumer lethargy brought on by decades of advertising over saturation. Modern consumers are constantly bombarded by excessive or repetitive strategies.
Competing messages are everywhere- product placement, advertisements, digital broadcast, affiliate marketing…Guerilla marketing disrupts these conventional strategies. Bold and attention-grabbing, they pull the consumer into a unique and engaging experience.They pop-up for a short time, cause a stir without announcement, and leave the consumer with a positive feeling towards the brand or cause that will last.
Blurred Lines – When is a Guerilla a PR Stunt?
The lines are blurred between different approaches to experientials, but there is a subtle difference between PR stunts and guerrilla marketing.
“PR Stunts are designed to attract the public’s attention and help build publicity, whilst Guerrilla Marketing is designed to ambush and surprise people when they least expect it, at a more personal and memorable level.” HotCow
Modern consumers respond strongly to Guerilla marketing campaigns. They are pulled into its fun or engaging nature in a way that feels totally separate from conventional advertising.
Guerilla Style
If it’s
- Risque
- Highly visible
- Attention-grabbing
- Energetic
- Imaginative
- Memorable
- Requires mass participation
- Unexpected
- Unconventional…then it’s probably guerilla!
Guerilla Budget
What distinguishes guerrilla marketing from public stunts is cost-effectiveness. Guerrilla marketing doesn’t need big budgets, with the right creative powers behind the scenes it is utilitarian, not extravagant. This style of marketing is highly creative as it relys on time, energy and imagination rather than big budgets.
Bounty – ‘Makes small work of big spills,’ the paper towel company installed life-sized messes throughout the streets of New York; a giant, knocked over coffee cup and a gigantic melting icepop.
Kitkat – The chocolate brand created a giant kitkat bench, reinforcing the brand message of taking a break by inviting people to sit and relax on the bench.
Pokémon Go – One of the largest and most successful brand pushes of 2016, Pokémon Go, a free augmented reality app, gets people out walking and searching for Pokémon characters in their real world surroundings.
Top Four Guerilla Marketing Tips
Take advantage of existing resources, use tech creatively and recruite the best brand ambassadors around. Make sure the right message is delivered by the right people.
1. Do something unexpected.
This is the number one criteria. If it’s predictable it’s not guerilla. Catching consumers off guard is one of the best ways to grab their attention. Creativity is key.
2. Hire the Best Brand Ambassadors.
Relying on a live event to get the message across it’s essential your brand ambassadors are up to scratch. They are vital to a campaign. Use an exceptional agency who truly understands, such as Experience Engine, who believe:
“experiences come first. Every time. The role of a ‘Brand Ambassador’ has never been more prevalent, as brands look to differentiate and communicate their brand messages.”
3. Social Media Strategy
Use social media to your advantage and go viral. It takes creativity to get the buzz going on social networks, so don’t overlook this essential piece of the puzzle.
4. Fail to Plan, Plan to Fail.
The scheduling and management of a guerilla campaign is essential. Using a crew management app like liveforce allows agencies, planners and organisers to streamline the process on the move.
Further reading about guerillaa marketing? check out this post here: https://www.dontpaniclondon.com/what-is-guerrilla-advertising/
Liveforce can help make your Guerilla campaign a success, try a demo today.
