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Guerrilla marketing may be shown using more than a dozen case studies, which will assist you to gain a better grasp of the concept. An increasing number of firms across the world have used this marketing approach in order to fulfill their objectives of presenting their goods to the market. Here are some examples of guerilla marketing that are worth mentioning.
What is Guerrilla Marketing?
When it comes to marketing, guerrilla marketing is a cost-effective technique that employs unusual and innovative strategies to get awareness for a product or company.
When done right, it may help you generate buzz, increase brand recognition, and even tell a narrative without having to spend a lot of money on sponsored advertisements, out-of-home placements, or advertisements in big magazines. Increase the effect of your event by grabbing the attention of the public at little or no expense to yourself or your organization. Furthermore, your firm can produce the word-of-mouth promotion it needs in the short term while also developing the user-generated content it requires in the long run.
Because they are frequently cost-efficient, the guerilla marketing examples shown here demonstrate that any firm may be an innovative and effective while without breaking the bank.
Seventy-five percent of content marketers feel that live shows are the most successful component of any marketing campaign. These examples of successful live guerilla marketing events may perhaps serve as inspiration for some of your own.
A word of caution, guerilla marketing appears to be simple. Effectiveness, on the other hand, necessitates imagination and expertise.
It is possible for an ill-conceived event to go horribly wrong, as seen by some of the guerilla marketing instances below. Putting together a marketing strategy for an event in advance will pay dividends in the long term. First, before we get into the specifics of the instances, let’s go through some of the reasons why you may need to incorporate guerilla marketing into your next major campaign.
Types of Guerrilla Marketing
Outdoor Guerrilla Marketing; is a form of marketing that takes place in public places. Adds something to established urban surroundings, such as affixing a detachable object to a monument or displaying temporary art on sidewalks and streets, without altering the environment.
Indoor Guerilla marketing; is similar to outdoor guerrilla marketing, except that it takes occurs in interior venues such as railway stations, stores, and university campuses.
Guerilla Marketing via Ambush at an Event; Making use of the crowd during a live event — such as a concert or a sporting event — to advertise a service or product in a conspicuous fashion, generally without the consent of the event’s sponsors.
Experiential Guerilla Marketing; All of the above, but carried out in such a way that the general public is required to connect with the brand.
Examples of Successful Guerilla Marketing Campaigns
While we understand that the concept of guerilla marketing might be difficult to grasp without context, let’s have a look at how it’s been used by a few other companies.
Burger King’s #ScaryClownNight
Burger King has a long history of taking the spotlight away from McDonald’s events, and the Halloween festivities in 2017 were no exception to this rule.
If customers attended any of the participating retailers during their #ScaryClownNight, they would receive a free whopper for being one of the first 500 individuals dressed as a clown. For the occasion, Burger King’s tagline was “Come dressed as a clown, eat like a king.”
This guerilla marketing strategy also happened to coincide with the premiere of the film IT, which was a remake of the popular television show American Horror Story, in which a clown sect was shown as one of the primary elements of the plot. Burger King, on the other hand, took advantage of the horror film’s debut to advance their ambitions. “The lesson of the story is: never trust a clown… Burger King” said a Burger King advertisement that played at the film’s debut.
Why it was successful
- Burger King capitalized on the excitement around the film’s debut, making it simple for their promotion to become viral in tandem with the film.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: moderate
Red Bull’s Stratos
Red Bull is always linked with high stakes and even higher gains, and nothing has ever emphasized this more than leaping out of a balloon at a speed of 833.9mph (1,342km/h) while traveling at 128.100 feet above sea level.
A professional skydiver from Austria named Felix Baumgartner achieved this feat in 2012, shattering a plethora of world records in the process.
An excellent way to establish your company as the most adventurous, thrill-seeking enterprise that has ever existed on the face of the planet. – The video of Felix’s leap has received more than 23 million views and is recognized as one of the most spectacular acts in the history of freefall stunts.
This Red Bull event exemplifies the best of immersive and creative marketing at its finest. There are virtually no boundaries to what a company may do to increase their impact and reach on social media, as well as to attract more attention to their brand.
Why it was successful
- It was daring, it was gorgeous, and it was absolutely out of this world! Make no apprehensions about taking your marketing concepts to the next level. Experiential marketing, in its optimal form, makes a lasting impact on your clients. Don’t be afraid to implement your innovative marketing concepts.
- The audience first, product second: if you pay close attention, you will notice that Red Bull rarely promotes their product explicitly. They are promoting their brand by refraining from being aggressive. Their main goal is on the happiness of the audience, and it is these same individuals who will associate their own satisfaction with Red Bull.
- Place yourself in the same environment as your target audience: as previously stated, identify your target audience and learn where they prefer to hang out or be. By sponsoring events such as the Coachella music festival, your company will be in the best possible position to reach your target demographic.
- One step at a time: as you read this, Red Bull began providing free samples of their product to those who had a restricted budget to give away. They didn’t start off by publicizing major events right away. Recognize what you can do and what you are unable to do. Expect the finest results, but be prepared to accept less than ideal outcomes as well! It took a long time for this company to develop into what they are now.
Time and budget used: huge
Marketing Influence: massive
Volkswagen’s Piano Staircase
Volkswagen, the automobile manufacturer, has been known to extend the reach of its brand far beyond the confines of the automotive sector.
In this guerilla marketing case study, the authors developed a notion known as “the fun hypothesis.” It was motivated by the idea of shifting people’s typical behavior patterns and motivating them to do something out of the usual that this notion was born.
In order to do this, the Volkswagen group designed a piano staircase that leads into and out of a subway station. In addition to being adjacent to an escalator, the staircase was designed to encourage people to walk up and down it instead of utilizing the escalator, which was meant to disrupt commuters’ routines of taking the escalator.
The musical staircase resulted in a 66 percent increase in the number of people who used the stairwell.
On the surface, you might be perplexed as to why Volkswagen chose to adopt this strategy; it doesn’t appear to be typical of a vehicle manufacturer. However, the reason why this experiential marketing technique is so effective is that it appeals to people’s emotions. In this situation, it is their desire to have a good time.
Being able to associate your brand with emotion like this may be quite advantageous. It helps to strengthen ties with consumers that are long-term and extremely loyal.
Why it was successful
- Guerrilla marketing ideas don’t necessarily have to be related to your company’s product or service; they might be more general in nature. As long as the plan results in a favorable representation of your company, it is well worth your time and effort.
Time and budget used: huge
Marketing Influence: massive
Kit Kat’s Take A Break Challenge
In the history of Kit Kat, the company has focused on encouraging customers to take a break. I’m sure you’ve heard the well-patented slogan “Take A Break, Have a Kit Kat” by now. Kit Kat chose to take its promotion to the streets in order to capitalize on this well-known tagline and celebrate the introduction of the “Android Kit Kat” by putting up a one-of-a-kind bench challenge.
Kit Kat’s team did this by distributing eye-catching outdoor advertisements in numerous areas across Amsterdam and Utrecht. The advertisements urged people to take a rest on a one-person bench that was attached to large Kit Kat signage. If you happen to be the lucky one who happens to be taking a break at the perfect time, you’ll be entered to win a new Nexus 7 tablet.
The campaign was a resounding success, as the results demonstrate. After missing out on the opportunity to be the first to claim a seat, would-be “break takers” offered participants money in exchange for taking their place; cafe owners and good samaritans decided to bring coffee, and a large crowd showed up to watch a moped delivery guy deliver a well-deserved Nexus 7 tablet.
Why it was successful
- To differentiate yourself from the competition, you must come up with unique and original ideas that don’t cost a fortune to implement. A very low-cost marketing campaign by Kit Kat gained widespread notice from the public and resulted in a significant increase in the company’s social media involvement.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: medium
Coca-Cola’s Coming Together Campaign
Coca-Cola is unquestionably the most famous of all guerilla marketing case studies. To guarantee the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns, they have collaborated with FIFA, the World Cup, and the Olympic games; they have used customer details on their labeling to entice purchases; and they have even written catchy tunes, such as their song “Hilltop,” to ensure the success of their campaigns.
The company’s brutally honest and incredibly startling acknowledgment that its goods have contributed to the health decline of several Americans, however, is the most stunning of them all.
They stated in a series of commercials that they were “…using our marketing experience and scale to educate consumers about the significance of making educated decisions and maintaining a healthy balance between calories inside and calories outside.” Furthermore, “We’re also informing people about what we’re doing to encourage them to lead active, healthy lifestyles…”
A message from a corporation like Coca-Cola isn’t precisely what you’d expect to hear from. But, hey, if for no other reason, it surely caught people’s attention and the attention of the media. Critics from publications such as USAToday, the Economist, and Food Politics have all published articles and spoken out about the campaign.
After all, you know what they say: any publicity is good publicity. And, from Coca-point Cola’s view, any chatter is good buzz promotion for the company.
Why it was successful
- This guerilla marketing strategy was certainly out of the ordinary, and it was, for the most part, the polar opposite of what most people would have expected from Coca-Cola. But this is the genius of the campaign: it got the media and people talking, it propagated the company’s new look approach, and it’s the quintessential example of viral marketing.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: high
Bounty’s Giant Popsicle
Bounty discovered a novel approach to market its product and the solution it provides by placing life-sized “messes” across the streets of New York — a big, knocked-over coffee cup along with a gigantic melting popsicle, for example — and doing it with the least amount of words possible.
“Wouldn’t a succinct billboard advertisement achieve the same thing?” you may wonder. No, not in the traditional sense. As a culture, we’re beginning to look for any conceivable method to exclude advertisements from our lives. That’s why we appreciate features such as DVRs and ad-free alternatives on streaming sites such as Hulu and YouTube, among other things. This campaign, in contrast to an advertisement, is more difficult to dismiss. Suppose you were driving to work and came across a thawing popsicle the size of your mattress. Would you stop to take a closer look? Of course not. We’d do it.
Why it was successful
- Identify the most significant challenge that your service or product solves for customers. Then devise an innovative manner of presenting it to the general audience — preferably without using any words at all.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: low
Deadpool’s Tinder Profile
Some Tinder fans were taken aback when they saw that none other than marvel comic anti-hero and celebrity Deadpool had shown on their Tinder. Deadpool breached the fourth wall and interacted with potential moviegoers ahead of the film’s Valentine’s Day release by posting “cheeky” photos and humorous profile material on social media.
After matching with the character on Tinder by “swiping right,” the Tinder user was sent an email with a link to buy the tickets.
While Tinder isn’t the most effective way to build awareness screenshots of this joke immediately spread throughout social media, getting a disproportionate amount of attention.
Why it was successful
- It is not irritating to participate in promotions that employ “interruptive” methods if the results are an unexpected joy.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: medium
Childish Gambino’s Ice Cream Pop-Up
Have you ever witnessed firsthand how effective free food can be as a motivator? Make it into a sweet treat, and you’ve got yourself a winning combo on your hands!
This is most certainly what Childish Gambino had in mind when he held the “Summertime Starts Here” pop-up events, where free ice cream was distributed. As people stood in line for some wonderful ice cream in the sweltering heat, Gambino’s two songs played over the loudspeakers.
It was a fantastic opportunity to introduce fans to his EP, Summertime Pack, in a casual setting.
Why it was successful
- Sometimes it is necessary to entice an audience with incentives in order to gain their attention.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: medium
The GRAMMYs Singing Posters
Given that it was not accomplished “in real life,” this one wouldn’t be totally fair. But, how awesome would it be if it were true? The GRAMMYS music awards program developed a video to promote the candidates for its Album Of The Year award, in which it demonstrated what would happen if billboards for the nominated musicians just began singing.
It can seem difficult to carry out such a task. But it is doable. But consider this: what if you had the ability to make musical banners for your company? Another difference between a billboard display and a paper advertisement is that when we walk past a wall of paper adverts in a city like New York City, we do not even anticipate them to start moving. Although this is a novel concept, we will acknowledge that it is not very cost-effective due to the fact that it may take some technological labor to bring to completion. In contrast, even one moving or digital picture amid thousands of static images — placed in an unexpected location, such as a brick wall — would throw people off guard and draw their attention. “It’s all about the timing,” says the author.
Why it was successful
- Consider the items that your target audience could pass by on a daily basis — and enable them do something that is both surprising and engaging at the same time.
Time and budget used: medium
Marketing Influence: low
Frontline’s Interactive Floor Ad
I’ll confess that I was taken in by this photograph when I first discovered it. “Someone, please get that dog away from those insects!” says someone. I was racing through my thoughts. Then I understood that the dog and the insects weren’t real and that I had been deceived. It was a photograph in the first case, and it was genuine persons in the second.
This is due to the fact that Frontline, the manufacturers of parasite and tick control medicines for pets, we’re able to cover the whole first floor of this big, public area with a giant image of their product. The brand understood that a large number of people would pass through that area on a daily basis and that a significant number of people would indeed view it from the building’s higher floors, thereby generating the illusion of the dog and the bug. It’s difficult to overlook — and even more difficult not to look twice.
Another way in which this campaign differs from traditional marketing is that it is not limited to simply posting a single message anywhere it is likely to be disregarded. It results in a type of unintentional human contact that serves to remind the observer what the product performs.
Why it was successful
- Investigate the ways in which individuals can unintentionally connect with your marketing messages. Even if your service or product does not directly solve a problem such as, for example, bug control, there are methods to include people in the campaign.
Time and budget used: medium
Marketing Influence: very high
Spotify’s Cosmic Playlists
Spotify has utilized its music-streaming platform to generate awareness for its branding a number of times this year, including during the Grammy Awards. The year-end wrap-up for each user, and the Discover Weekly feature, which offers customized music based on the users’ listening habits, are two examples of services that have become yearly staples.
In February 2019, the business debuted their newest guerilla content: horoscope-based playlists for users to enjoy. Spotify collaborated with astronomer Chani Nicholas to develop Cosmic Playlists for listeners in the United States. The playlists are selected by Nicholas’ astronomical readings and are intended to mirror the topic of each sign at the time of the reading.
The playlists, like the majority of the streaming services’ efforts, were widely covered by the media in a variety of ways. This type of digital event promotion may even inspire you to launch your own viral marketing initiatives.
Why it was successful
- Every time a plan is implemented, it is not required to be new. Feel free to draw on and adapt your previous successes in order to achieve a similar result this time around.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: very high
GoldToe Dresses New York City in Undershirts and Underwear
In 2010, the GoldToe dressed up iconic New York City sculptures in t-shirts and underpants to commemorate the introduction of its latest shirts and underwear. Despite the fact that the event occurred at the New York Fashion Week, the guerilla marketing campaign was not limited to the Fashion District. But it was the iconic Wall Street Bull, wrapped in a comically enormous pair of tighty whities, that caught the public’s attention as the most striking example.
Why it was successful
- Make no apprehensions about being amusing – especially when it involves changing the perception of related emblems and pictures in a humorous manner.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: very high
Fiji Water’s Fiji Girl at the Oscars
One guerrilla marketing strategy that may be used to draw attention in a subtle way is strategic product placement. At the 2019 Golden Globes, for example, Fiji Water had a presence in the form of models who donned blue and delivered platters of water for thirsty attendees.
However, the story did not finish there. One model, Kelleth Cuthbert, strategically placed herself in the background of photoshoots, effectively photobombing high-profile celebrities and other models in the process.
When the images began to circulate on social networks, people began to see her as a common denominator, coining the term #FijiGirl to describe her. After everything was said and done, she emerged as one of the evening’s most memorable characters, winning over admirers and attracting attention to the Fiji Water brand.
Why it was successful
- The most significant finding is that your business does not have to be the focal point of an event in order to stand out.
Time and budget used: medium
Marketing Influence: medium
UNICEF’s Dirty Water Vending Machines
I’m just as guilty as the next person of squandering cash on bottled water. I’m not making any excuses. I have one that is reusable. Despite the fact that my office provides purified water from a machine rather than a typical cooler, it continues to be a terrible habit.
That’s why the guerilla marketing campaign launched by the aid organization UNICEF struck a chord with me in particular. This article asked, “What if those bottles of water you squander money on were filled with unclean water?” It was a thought-provoking topic. Using it as a platform, served to remind the affluent masses of the fact that in far too many places of the world, whole communities lack access to safe drinking water.
UNICEF advised that instead of squandering the funds on bottled water, the funds should instead be directed into initiatives to deliver safe water to these communities. It accomplished this by erecting improvised machines that sold bottled filthy water, with each button denoting an illness caused by a lack of safe drinking water on the label.
Why it was successful
- Even in the not-for-profit industry, guerrilla marketing has shown to be effective. While frightening and depressing pictures can be an effective method of expressing your purpose, there are other ways to transmit it that are less confrontational and more engaged with the audience, such as building an interactive website.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: high
BBC’s Dracula Billboard
The image that comes to me when I think of Dracula is the final evil that is linked with everything that goes creeping in the night. The BBC intended to leverage this sentiment in order to advertise their Dracula television program.
In the daylight, their billboard was meant to be simple and straightforward, with red lettering on a white backdrop and a few bloodied stakes for emphasis. The billboard, on the other hand, altered dramatically with the passage of time, much like its topic.
It was really planned that the stakes be carefully positioned in order to cast a shadow of Dracula.
Ultimately, the installation was published in Adweek and gained some viral popularity as a result of its innovative design and expert implementation.
Why it was successful
- When it comes to your promotional materials, think beyond the box. This time, the use of light and shadow was sufficient to communicate the message and attract attention.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: high
Greene King’s Candid Videos
As a result of concerns that small, community institutions — particularly the pub — would be overrun by huge corporate shops, the pub and brewing firm Greene King began a campaign to emphasize exactly how essential these tiny, neighborhood enterprises are. Furthermore, the information was nearly exclusively generated by people who are most familiar with the situation: pub operators, bartenders, and guests of the establishment.
These people were handed cameras so that they could record film of the most significant occasions and gatherings that they had encountered at these local pubs — everything from weddings to funeral receptions to birthday parties and everything in between. These films were posted on Greene King’s YouTube channel, where he asked the question, “Where would we enjoy these experiences if we didn’t have these neighborhood gathering places?”
Why it was successful
- When it comes to guerrilla marketing, it’s perfectly OK to get a little emotional. Consider the feelings that your product or service will elicit. Then, ask your audience to contribute to the creation of content that revolves around what your company means to them.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: high
Domino’s Paving for Pizza
Everyone despises receiving a pizza delivery in which the contents are strewn all over the room and the cheese is glued to the box’s dome. All too frequently, though, this is exactly what happens. Fortunately, in 2018, Domino’s was able to determine the root of the problem, which wasn’t poor driving.
As an alternative, the pizza company pinned the blame on America’s infrastructure, namely a large number of potholes on the streets. As a result, the Paving for Pizza promotion was launched.
Why it was successful
- Nothing wins the admiration of the general people quite like solving a common problem.
Time and budget used: low
Marketing Influence: low
Conclusion
Make certain that you have completed all of your preliminary research before beginning your guerrilla marketing campaign.
Examine your rivals’ advertising history, their promises, and their guerrilla marketing strategies.
Once you’ve done that, sketch out your strategy based on your brand’s principles and where you need your company to go in the foreseeable future, as well as your competitors.
Now, marketing cadet, you’re ready to lead the charge in a (brand) uprising!
The class has been dismissed!
