In the dominance of the digital marketing era, traditional marketing is becoming irrelevant now more than ever. Why shouldn’t it be, right? You can advertise your products for specific target audiences through digital marketing tactics, which were never possible in traditional marketing. 

But, here is the thing, according to some recent studies, because of digital marketing, we see at least thousands of ads within a day, so within this crowded field, how can a brand grasp its audience’s attention to convey its message effectively? Here comes the Guerilla marketing method. Therefore, this method can also become an internet sensation if a brand can utilize this within a persuasive approach.

What is Guerilla Marketing?

When you hear the term “guerilla,” it evokes visions in your mind that this word must be related to the uprising battlefield missions. Now, when you put it next to the term”marketing,” you might get confused over this, right? 

Well, Guerrilla marketing isn’t an aggressive mode of communication. It’s an unusual sort of marketing in that it boosts brand recognition among big audiences without interfering with their lives. It’s a marketing strategy where a brand promotes a product or service through surprise, unusual interactions by utilizing street elements, unconventional locations, etc. 

Here are the 5 examples of guerilla marketing to inspire your brand.

5 Examples to Inspire Your Brand

Ambient Marketing

Source: brogan.com

As you can see, Frontline has purchased an entire floor of a shopping mall. Visitors can lean on the floor and watch the large dogs from the second floor, where it seems at first glance, the dog is scratching its ear. The motto of the tactic was “Get them off your dog,” and people walking along the floor from the second floor resemble small beetles and fleas. Customers are more likely to look at it twice because of its unique approach, which businesses want. This type of marketing is known as ambient marketing, which is a subset of guerilla marketing. Ambient advertising is a strategy of marketing that depends on volunteers, creativity, and imagination rather than great marketing resources. Brands frequently position adverts in unusual locations to raise brand recognition among their target customers in a unique way. Even with this one-of-a-kind method, a brand can easily convey their product’s value proposition message to their target consumers, which is why it’s so powerful.

Experiential Marketing

Experiential marketing, also known as participatory marketing, is a marketing strategy that profoundly engages customers within a product. In a nutshell, experiential marketing is about letting consumers buy a brand’s product or service and experience it for themselves. Now, let’s get back to 2017 where Coca-cola took the initiative to launch their voice-activated dispensary experiential marketing campaign in Australia. For a limited time, through this voice recognition technology, the panel invited passersby to say ‘yes’ to the microphone, which triggered the dispensary to deliver a cold bottle of Coke’s new “sugar-free” product.

Source: alanklein.co.uk

Street Marketing

Street Marketing is a recent term for outdoor guerrilla marketing. This applies to all outdoor marketing activities involving street elements. Some of the most successful street marketing campaigns use street art to make a statement.

Source: Emanuele Mazzoni, behance.net

For instance: Macdonald’s applied this captivating marketing approach during Switzerland’s most significant public event, Zurichfest, faced competition from independent food stalls. As a consequence, they required something to draw the attention of the tourists and. So, in front of their stores, they utilize the pedestrian crossings by making them one of the most memorable street art campaigns ever for the brand. 

Wild posting

Now, moving on to let’s talk about the wild posting advertising. A Guerilla marketing strategy to promote an event, new service, product, or brand using a series of posters on the street board. This method is also defined as the subsegment of street marketing. In 2020, BBC original miniseries Dracula took this crazy posting marketing gimmick even one step further by adopting this memorable billboard campaign to create hype and anticipation for the show. Eventually, this eye-catching Guerrilla Marketing approach succeeded in attracting more viewers to the show, with the three-episode miniseries attracting over 17.79 million viewers in total!

Source: adweek.com

Ambush Marketing

According to Wordstream Blog, Ambush marketing, also known as coat-tail marketing or predatory ambushing, is the technique that a brand approaches to attack their associate rivalries campaign to generate exposure in a significant way. This tactic is recognized as one of the most successful and proved as an effective marketing gimmick. Many well-established brands use this technique pretty often, such as Coca-cola and Pepsi, Nike and Adidas, Mcdonald’s and Burger King, and so on. The most recent example of ambush marketing is Apple and Samsung’s classic brand battle, in which Samsung went against Apple in Germany by giving out a complimentary polishing cloth. Apple’s new Polishing Cloth has taken the globe by storm, and Samsung, as expected, is close behind with its offering. However, while Apple’s Cleaning Cloth costs $19, Samsung mocks Apple’s premium product by giving out free polishing cloths to customers, and guess what? This subject is currently the talk of the town, with both businesses getting social media attention once again. 

Source: Android Authority, twitter

Is It Cost-effective?

Now the question remains, is it affordable for small businesses? Yes, Guerilla marketing may appear fancy in the grand scheme of marketing methods, but it’s relatively reasonable and doesn’t have to be exceptionally costly. It’s critical to invest in the individuals who will put the ideas into action to ensure that the end output is high-quality and appealing. You should also evaluate the finest locations, the individuals you want to attract, and how your brand can fit into this environment. Your inventiveness and capability to put your imagination into action are the most crucial investments you’ll make. Guerilla marketing repurposes the current environment, so your company has a lot of room to be inventive. 

So, if you are interested in promoting a small business, I hope you find inspiration through these examples. You may reach out to individuals where they are and introduce your business to them. Don’t be scared to get the material for these initiatives from the audience—crowdsourcing aids in the budget-friendly, inbound nature of guerilla marketing. Costs are kept under control by using innovative ways to do your task.