We begin to introduce what is meant by “Guerrilla” in the field of marketing with a phrase from Jay Conrad Levinson‘s book, which reflects the right line with which to design an innovative promotional strategy:
“Marketing is a war in which the enemy is the competition and the consumer a land of conquest.”
But what is meant by Guerrilla Marketing? Guerrilla Marketing is the new frontier of communication that has declared war on the old promotional methods created with unconventional, often low-investment weapons and fleeting attacks. This kind of promotional strategy exploits “aggressive” communication methods with the goal of surprising a potential customer and leaving a lasting memory in his or her mind. What needs to be focused on, is not only product or service, but the idea itself to be conveyed so that it succeeds in “displacing” the consumer and attracting his visual attention. The ultimate goal, then, is to get people talking about you; the more ingenious you are, the more successful you will be in your intent. Logically, everything revolves around the creation of an appropriate teaser, an image, film or slogan, which “piques” the user’s curiosity without revealing everything, leaving him or her the privilege of discovering the meaning. So, to plan a guerrilla marketing campaign, five factors must be taken into account simultaneously:
- Intensify direct action. It is in action in the field that you clearly convey the message you want to communicate;
- the need to make direct action such a striking event as to generate a spontaneous word-of-mouth effect;
- the real investment is based on time, energy and imagination not on the budget to invest;
- knowing how to combine different marketing strategies;
- Don’t choose an overly eccentric teaser that risks alienating users.
Creating a marketing campaign with a strong visual and emotional impact is no small task; unfortunately, disastrous failure can lurk around the corner. To neglect any of these aspects would be to penalize the marketing campaign, making it ineffective.
How to recognize a Guerrilla Marketing campaign?
Advertising is not only what appears in newspapers and television, but sometimes, without realizing it, we are catapulted into advertising events through provocative sponsors that stimulate our minds. This modus operandi is pure strategy that integrates corporate image with the staging of pseudo-events, with the aim of self-replicating in the minds of potential consumers. But extraordinariness is not reduced to the single event. How to spread it? There is no better medium than street billboards and the Web. In fact, unconventional, capillary-structured marketing must have viral propagation through quick, targeted operations supported by images and videos; the Web lends itself perfectly to this purpose, just do it intelligently, taking advantage of low information costs. It all takes place in a matter of days or weeks, and what was previously a simple word of mouth becomes something static and concrete, giving rise to a group of people who continue to show interest in the initial teaser.
Why do guerrilla marketing?
The decision to intensify its campaign with a more aggressive marketing strategy was dictated by the desire to strengthen the complicity with the public by placing creative and surprising elements alongside tradition.
Examples of a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign
To keep our advertising creativity always exercised, here are some examples of Guerrilla Marketing campaigns conducted by two of the world’s biggest brands-McDonalds and Nivea. How can they go unnoticed?
The CocaCola brand has always been a spokesman for innovation and originality, in fact, here is a beautiful case of Guerrilla Marketing: by correctly performing the steps on the screen, as a prize, you can receive Coca Cola bottles. As a sequel to their famous Happiness Machine, which generated more than 3 million views, Coca-Cola kicked off “Happiness Truck,” a campaign designed to share personalized cans and bottles with friends.
Can we say that maybe it is time to invade the buildings, streets, squares, and skies of your cities to create wonderful messages? We leave the answer to you but it is time to be more lighthearted, make people smile, surprise and intrigue because, in front of the shelf, that whimsical moment will make you be there and smile in your choice.