Guerrilla Marketing

CONTEMPORARY ISSUE ON SEMINAR

A STUDY ON
Guerrilla Marketing
Reaching the Cust!er in an Untra"itinal #a$
Session: 200911
Presente" at
M.B.A. degree program
Session: 2011-2013
Presente" at
Submitted By: - Submitted To:-
Chetna Sharma FMS, MA!T
MBA Sem" #A$%&
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Guerrilla Marketing
Acknowledgement
The beatitude, bliss and euphoria that accompany successful completion of
any task would not be complete without the expression of appreciation of
simple irtues to the people who made it possible. !o, with reerence,
eneration honor " acknowledge all those whose guidance and
encouragement has made successful in winding up this.
" take this opportunity to thank Mrs. Anubha #ulsherstha for his support
and encouragement which helped me in the completion of this report.
" extend my gratitude and thankfulness to other $aculty of Maharshi Arind
"nst. %f &ngg. ' Technology. (ast but not the least ")m also grateful to my
parents for proiding me the continuous support to motiate me to
successfully complete my report.
'ate: Submitted By:
Chetna Sharma
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Guerrilla Marketing
Preface
The underlying aim of the seminar on contemporary issue as an integral part
of M.B.A programme is to gie presentation by the students on the issue.
The topic of my seminar is %Guerrilla Marketing Reaching the cust!er
in an untra"itinal &a$' and contains introduction of Guerrilla marketing,
principles and history of Guerrilla Marketing, types of Guerrilla marketing,
My report has also contains the phenomena of Guerrilla Marketing, ' its
future prospectie.

+,&T-A !,A.MA
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Guerrilla Marketing
Executive Summary
My topic contains the arious issues in Guerrilla marketing related to
arious key players of adertising . "t includes the introduction of Guerrilla
marketing. "t as an unconentional system of promotions that relies on time,
energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget. "t is intended to
get maximum results from minimal resources. 0eople get borred with the
traditional promotions tool so pay less attention to them.
"n 1123, one could reach 456 of a mainstream target audience with three T7
adertisement spots. By *55*, 1*8 spots were re9uired to achiee the same
reach :Bianco, *55;< and in *551. *2* spots were re9uired to achiee the
same reach. "t is useful for small business as it re9uired low budget but now
big business houses are also using it.
"t is has proen its ersatility as a social medium and money=making
adertising tool.
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Guerrilla Marketing
Ta(le ) Cntents
S*N* Particulars Page
N*
1 +ackgrun" 1
* Guerrilla !arketing an Intr"uctin /
/ Princi,les ) Guerrilla !arketing ;
; The -istr$ ) Guerrilla !arketing 3
3 Ma.r cr,ratins g )r Guerrilla !arketing 8
2 Guerrilla !arketing /0s 1iral !arketing 11
8 Marketing )r Scial cause 1/
4 Di))erent t$,es ) Guerrilla !arketing 13
1 Phen!ena ) Guerrilla !arketing 14
15 A"/antages ) Guerrilla !arketing *4
11 Disa"/antages ) Guerrilla !arketing *1
1* En" "iscussin /1
1/ Cnclusin //
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Guerrilla Marketing
+ackgrun"
>hen you are walking to school or driing for work you meet numerous of
different posters and billboards along the way. Marketing and adertising is all around us
and one is under constant influence by different kind of messages. "n 1123, one could
reach 456 of a mainstream target audience with three T7 adertisement spots. By *55*,
1*8 spots were re9uired to achiee the same reach :Bianco, *55;< and in *551. *2* spots
were re9uired to achiee the same reach. Although, the interesting part is how much
attention do commercials and adertisements receie from the potential consumer? The
mainstream marketing approaches, such as T7 commercials and print adertisements are
getting old and these traditional methods are inefficient without support from more
unconentional methods. Griffin :*55*< argues that people are getting tired of the same
old messages and there is a need for innoation in order to reach new grounds. The
customer is easily bored with unadenturous way of marketing :Griffin, *55*<.
$rom a company)s point of iew, marketing and especially adertising is
important for sales, though a company is paying for media space and want to reach as
many potential buyers as possible. ,ence by using mass marketing the waste is often big,
organi@ations send countless of messages out to the erroneous group :Twitchell, 1112<.
Therefore, the need for more of an efficient method is current, to reach the right customer
through the marketing campaign without getting lost in the clutter. $urthermore,
according to (einson :1114< there is a call for more efficient methods, more innoating
and effectie, not as costly and hae a higher focus on smaller demographic areas and
targeted segments.
The !wedish "nstitute for +ommercials and Media !tatistics :".M=media<
presents statistics that inestment in daily newspapers has decreased 86 during the latest
years. +ompare this to the inestment that !wedish organi@ations endow in the
adertisement place on the internet, which has increased */6 :".M=media<. The authors
beliee that the internet could be a more cost=effectie method in comparison to ads in
daily newspapers, also knowing that through internet one could reach the target group in
a more direct way. Marketing is also a 9uestion about financial means, since one has to
inest money in order to use the traditional marketing approaches.
The customer often block the established channels usedA people tend to put out
signs on their postboxes declining mass adertisement through mail, when purchasing a
new B7B player it may be able to cut out commercial breaks. >ith the aim of getting
through the clutter in the market, one has to choose a different kind of route and focus
more innoation and creatiity. Therefore, one shall find new ways and channels to reach
the market. An interesting form of marketing is when exposing customers to messages in
an unconentional way, for example hire actors to isuali@e a need for a product in a
store.
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Guerrilla Marketing
The use of the unconentional marketing approaches was something that
preiously associated with small business firms due to their limited budgetA they had to
find new ways. -owadays, when the competition is harsh, the trend goes towards that
large adertisers also hae adopted the approach. !ince the positie aspects are more
isible and the need for finding new ways of reaching the customer has increased :Belch
' Belch, *55;<. %ne of these approaches is known as Guerrilla marketing, as one could
heed from the name the marketing approach could be experienced as controersial, since
the name could be associated with warfare tactics, thus one should not associate it with a
bloody battleground, more of a strategy that one uses in order to con9uer a market
through a well planned approach in a smaller scale. +ompanies use warfare to fight on
the battleground of today, the consumer)s mind C where words and pictures are the
weapons used and where the +&% of eery company acts as a general :Garsombke,
1148<.Guerrilla marketing, a marketing approach that stimulates to usemore alternatie
methods in order to win the war of the consumers) minds :(einson,1114<.
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Guerrilla Marketing
GUERRI22A MAR3ETING4AN
INTRODUCTION
The concept of Guerrilla marketing was inented as an unconentional system of
promotions that relies on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing
budget. Typically, Guerrilla marketing campaigns are unexpected and unconentionalA
potentially interactieA
D1E and consumers are targeted in unexpected places.
D*E The obFectie of Guerrilla marketing is to create a uni9ue, engaging and thought=
prooking concept to generate bu@@, and conse9uently turn iral.
The term was coined and defined by Gay +onrad (einson in his book Guerrilla
Marketing. The term has since entered the popular ocabulary and marketing textbooks.
Guerrilla marketing inoles unusual approaches such as intercept encounters in public
places, street gie a ways of products, 0. stunts, any unconentional marketing intended
to get maximum results from minimal resources. More innoatie approaches to Guerrilla
marketing now utili@e cutting edge mobile digital technologies to really engage the
consumer and create a memorable brand experience.
(einsonHs books include hundreds of IGuerrilla marketing weaponsI, but they
also encourage Guerrilla marketers to be creatie and deise their own unconentional
methods of promotion. Guerrilla marketers use all of their contacts, both professional and
personal, and examine their company and its products, looking for sources of publicity.
Many forms of publicity can be ery inexpensie, while others are free.
(einson says that when implementing Guerrilla marketing tactics, small si@e is
actually an adantage instead of a disadantage. !mall organi@ations and entrepreneurs
are able to obtain publicity more easily than large companies as they are closer to their
customers and considerably more agile.
Jet ultimately, according to (einson, the Guerrilla marketer must Idelier the
goodsI. "n The Guerrilla Marketing ,andbook, he statesK I"n order to sell a product or a
serice, a company must establish a relationship with the customer. "t must build trust and
support. "t must understand the customerHs needs, and it must proide a product that
deliers the promised benefits.I
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Guerrilla Marketing
Princi,les ) Guerrilla !arketing
(einson identifies the following principles as the foundation of Guerrilla
marketingK
L Guerrilla Marketing is specifically geared for the small business and entrepreneur.
L "t should be based on human psychology rather than experience, Fudgment, and
guesswork.
L "nstead of money, the primary inestments of marketing should be time, energy, and
imagination.
L The primary statistic to measure your business is the amount of profits, not sales.
L The marketer should also concentrate on how many new relationships are made each
month.
L +reate a standard of excellence with an acute focus instead of trying to diersify by
offering too many dierse products and serices.
L "nstead of concentrating on getting new customers, aim for more referrals, more
transactions with existing customers, and larger transactions.
L $orget about the competition and concentrate more on cooperating with other
businesses.
L Guerrilla Marketers should use a combination of marketing methods for a campaign.
L Mse current technology as a tool to build your business.
L Messages are aimed at indiiduals or small groups, the smaller the better.
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Guerrilla Marketing
L $ocuses on gaining the consent of the indiidual to send them more information rather
than trying to make the sale.
The -istr$ ) Guerrilla Marketing
&eryone loes a story about the little guy who takes on the
bigger, more heaily armed opponent and wins. >hen the little guy uses unconentional
tactics and surprises the opponent, it)s called Guerrilla warfare. >hen some starry=eyed
startup shocks the world with an underground marketing campaign that costs nothing but
causes shockwaes for months, it)s called Guerrilla marketing.
>e hear the term NGuerrilla marketingO eerywhere these days. "t)s used to describe all
sorts of marketing campaigns, from some scantily clad bottoms bearing the name of a
business to the ill=fated +artoon -etwork (ite=Brite stunt in Boston.
This iconic and often controersial form of adertising didn)t come into popular
existence until the late 1185s. Before that time, adertising was mostly about big budgets,
big exposure, and catchy Fingles. Adertisers were all about the profits and bringing in
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Guerrilla Marketing
new customers by the truckload. Gust like Barren on Bewitched, the ad men of the first
half of the *5th century gae themseles ulcers worrying about how to make that
Thompson)s Toothpaste or !mith)s !ocks campaign one that they could retire on.
$rom the beginning of the *5th century until the 11;5s or 35s, the main goal of
adertisements seemed to be to educate the target audience rather than entertain or
engage them. Ads centered on telling the consumer something that they didn)t know
before. $rom posters on public fences to newspaper ads to radio and, later, teleision
spots, adertisers assumed that the consumer needed to be taught. This resulted in
hilarious :and dangerous< campaigns like the Nsmoking will make you thinO one, or the
infamous (ysol douche ads.
%er time, though, adertisers noticed that their adertising techni9ues were
getting less effectie. +onsumers could spot a pitch and were too Faded to fall for
adertising the way they had a generation before. By the 1185s, the adertising world
was ready for a reolution.
That reolution came in 114; when Gay +onrad (einson)s ideas for big
adertising results with little inestment hit the book stores. Guerrilla Marketing laid out
the secrets of subtle marketing that professional ad men had already known for years.
>hen the book was published, not een (einson could hae predicted how small
businesses would take the concepts and run with them.
The attraction of Guerrilla marketing is that it)s not educational or preachy. "t
makes the iewer think that they)re in on a secret. The more creatie and Farring a
campaign is, the more attention it gets. !ome of the most memorable Guerrilla marketing
eents hae made bystanders feel lucky to be there to witness them.
The goals of Guerrilla marketing are relatiely simpleK use unconentional tactics
to adertise on a small budget. $orget about T7 and radio ads C think outside of those
boxes. +reate a trape@oid instead of a box. Make your campaign so shocking, funny,
uni9ue, outrageous, cleer, or creatie that people can)t stop talking about it. Back up
your claims and make sure that whateer you)re adertising is worth all of that bu@@.
(einson)s ideas had been used for years to help underdog businesses an9uish
their larger competitors. The Marlboro Man, 0illsbury Bough Boy, and Golly Green Giant
can all be credited to teams including that rebel marketer who took their respectie
companies from relatie obscurity to adertisement immortality.
The ideas that small business owners got from this book completely changed the
way the adertising game was played. $or the first time, small businesses were able to
garner as much attention as the big players. By being 9uirky, personal, or Fust completely
unexpected, the new generation of adertisements was taking the country C and the world
C by storm.
Be sure to stayed tuned for the next installment in our series on the history of
Guerrilla marketing. >hich of your faorite brands hae used Guerrilla tactics to sell you
something?
. "t)s 1148. The scene at the club is hectic. The lights are
flashing, the music is thumping, and the hair is big and teased. The dance floor is a sea of
acid wash Feans and Adidas mingling with huge plastic earrings and punky lace layers.
!uddenly a gorgeous woman sidles up to the bar next to you and purrs NBuy me a drink?O
!ince it)s the 45s and you)re up for anything, you happily agree. "t)s a little weird when
the woman insists on a ery specific brand of odkaPand then goes on and on about why
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Guerrilla Marketing
she loes that particular brand of odka. Before you know it, she slips back into the
crowd and you)re left alone at the bar, unfulfilled and a little confused but with a strange
yen for the lady)s brand of odka.
Bude, you)e been Guerrilla=d.
The Nbuy me a drinkO club girls of the 1145s were one of the earliest examples of
Guerrilla marketing in action. The tactic proed to be so effectie that it)s still in use
today. "f you)re lucky enough to be in a targeted hotspot when a new li9uor or energy
drink comes out, you)re likely to see these Guerrillas in the wild.
Around the same time as the Nbuy me a drinkO girls, a struggling shoe company
was desperate for an image oerhaul. At one time, Adidas was on top of the world. They
were popular with %lympic athletes who were all too happy to sing their praises. But
after a series of management changes and a whole lot of upheaal, the company was in
trouble.
"n the mid 1145s, a $rench businessman named Bernard Tapie took oer the
company. ,e knew he had to do something drastic to get the shoe brand back on top. ,is
answer? Gie pairs of Adidas away to up=and=coming rappers in -ew Jork.
Tapie was no doubt called insane :and worse< for making that moe. >hat did rappers
hae to do with shoes, anyway?
As it turned out, one rap group brought Adidas back from the brink of extinction.
"n 1142, .un BM+ put out a single called NMy Adidas.O 0ractically oernight, Adidas
shoes were on the feet of eery hip young thing and wannabe from -J+ to (A.
By today)s Guerrilla marketing standards, the Adidas method probably wouldn)t
work. >ith the tons of free products being sent to celebrities eery day, the shoes would
likely be lost in the shuffle and the business=saing phenomenon would neer happen.
Because Guerrilla marketing tactics become ineffectie once the method is well=known,
marketers hae to keep moing and changing, bobbing and weaing, aoiding detection
and bla@ing new trails. Their business depends on stealth and the element of surprise.
!ince these early examples of Guerrilla marketing, the personal approach to g=
marketing tactics has spread to almost eery industry. The most effectie sales pitches
aren)t made by an actor playing a role in a T7 commercial. They)re made by the cute
young couple who ask you to take their picture and hand you their brand new camera
phone to do itPthe spend 15 minutes telling you how much they loe it and why. They)re
made by the hot guy walking around the bar with the bright green drink and happily
explaining what)s in it to anyone who looks interested.
This type of personal, one=on=one marketing has done wonders for a lot of small
and struggling businesses. But what happens when an already=successful large business
takes on a Guerrilla approach? Boes throwing money into a g=marketing campaign make
it more or less effectie? Be sure to tune in for the next installment in this six=part series
on Guerrilla marketing.
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Guerrilla Marketing
Ma.r Cr,ratins G 5r Guerrilla Marketing
The heart and soul of Guerrilla marketing, according to G.+. (einson, is its
sparseness of budget and abundance of creatiity. !ince Guerrilla marketing has entered
the mainstream, howeer, the term has been applied to Fust about any type of adertising
that attracts attention in an unconentional manner.
>hen a small business uses a Guerrilla marketing campaign to create a bu@@, it)s
on a shoestring budget and it has to make a huge isual impact. But what about when a
well=established company decides to embark on a campaign using Guerrilla tactics? Their
budgets are massie, their names are already well=known, and there)s no re9uirement to
make a good first impression.
"n a way, big=budget Guerrilla marketing isn)t really Guerrilla marketing at all."n
fact, Guerrilla adertising can be extremely risky for a well=known business. "f the
message isn)t cleer enough to catch our interest and hold it, the attempt can look pitiful.
"n the worst case scenario, an established business trying to tap in to the modern method
of Guerrilla marketing can come off looking like a retiree wearing a mohawk and +huck
TaylorsK it Fust isn)t right.
"s it possible for a large business to launch an edgy and modern campaign using
Guerrilla tactics to attract attention without alienating its established customer base?
That depends on a lot of factors, as it turns out. Bespite billions of dollars spent
on research eery year, adertising isn)t an exact science. >hen Microsoft unleashed
thousands of butterfly stickers on Manhattan in *55*, they no doubt thought that the
message deliery was edgy and modern. The campaign was mostly met with disgusted
groans from -ew JorkersPand city officials were most definitely not amused. Microsoft
was ordered to clean up the butterflies and issued with a Q35 fine :although under city
graffiti laws they could hae been charged Q35 for each sticker<.
The street cred Microsoft had tried to generate turned into an embarrassing show
of public apologies and red faces. But since the point of the campaign was to draw
attention to the launch of a new product, the coerage of the decal disaster in 124 news
stories does seem like it did the trick.
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Guerrilla Marketing
And in !an $rancisco, !ony)s *553 Guerrilla campaign for the 0!0 was met with
undisguised hostility. The electronics giant commissioned street artists to :legally< spray
paint images of young gamers haing fun with the 0!0. .esidents responded by painting
oer the ads and adding their own witty commentary, such as NAdertising Birected at
Jour +ounter +ulture.O %ther cities were slightly more receptie to the ads, but by the
end of the campaign it seemed that most of the paintings had been defaced ,oweer,
some large companies hae had huge success with their Guerrilla m arketing campaigns.
,0 uneiled an ama@ing campaign in Malaysia in May of *554 that had people literally
stopping in their tracks. (ife=si@e cardboard cutouts were placed in public areas with bits
of paper protruding from them, making it look like the background was nothing more
than a life=like picture printed on ,0)s paper C paper through which someone had Fust
walked.
The more subtle the Guerrilla campaign is for a larger company, the better.
+onsumers seem more impressed with a low=key campaign that doesn)t relentlessly
pound the senses than a high=profile or high=concept attempt. -issan unleashed a
relatiely 9uiet but effectie campaign to promote the cars) new keyless push=button
ignition system in which *5,555 sets of keys were NlostO in targeted cities. The keys came
attached to a tag that directed finders to keep the keys since the push=button ignition
made them useless. The message was simple, but effectie. "t created a bu@@ that has
lasted well past the expiration of the promotion.
%erall, it seems that the arena of Guerrilla adertising can be shared by the big
guys and the start=ups. The success of a campaign depends on a ery precise blend of
timing, method, message, and a healthy dose of luck, no matter what type of company is
doing the adertising. The campaign is likely to be well=receied if it doesn)t
immediately look like an adertisement :especially an adertisement in disguise< or if it)s
so cleer or inentie that we can forgie the company for trying to commit that cardinal
sin of selling us something.
+ig +a6aar's Guerrilla Marketing 77
Apparently its part of Big Ba@aar)s :owned by +i$ani's 5uture Gru,< new Guerrilla
Marketing !trategy according to agencyfa9s.com !urely one must hae heard about the
guerrilla warfare strategies during one of those (ring histr$ sessins in school
:generally its boringRR<, wherein guerrilla force is diided into small groups that
selectiely attacks the target at its &eak ,ints. >ah lah, enter the future and in the
world of cut throat competition, corporates use extension of the sa!e strateg$ in
!arketingPhmmmm neer imagined this while we were in our shorts RR +orporates like
coke, pepsi, etc hae been using the same for 9uite some time now and the latest entrant
is our ery own S5uture Gru,)= +ig +a6aar8 Pantalns8 5uture +a6aar8 e9ne are
all part of this group and they are taking on the biggies like !hoppers !top, (ifestyle, and
Tata)s >estside.
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Guerrilla Marketing
>ith retail market in "ndia especially in metros where standard of liing and "is,sa(le
inc!e is at an all ti!e high, competitors will ie for the market share and can st, t
an$ le/els &hile !arketing their ,r"ucts. Guerilla marketing is Fust one of the
strategies and surely one can learn a lot from the ongoing battle, especially people
interested in marketingTmarketing techni9ues.
Things hae already started to boil co@ of this ad campaign and (th 2i)est$le8 Sh,,ers
St, are anal$6ing the e))ect ) the strateg$ used by Mr +i$ani and $uture Group.
(ifestyle are een planning to take $uture Group and their ad campaign to A"/ertising
Stan"ar"s Cuncil ) In"ia :A!+"<. " Fust feel, $uture Group hae done a ery creatie
Fob and surely time will tell the effect of this strategy C by this " refer to both $uture
Group and their competitors.
>e)e only uncoered the tip of the iceberg so far. 0rint ads, billboards, and liing
billboards are one thing. But the adertising game is changing daily as technology
improes and consumers re9uire a bigger Folt to get their attention. The solution may Fust
be to set that ad free in the wild and see where it goes. +ome back for the next installment
to find out how companies are letting you do the adertising for them C for free.
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Guerrilla Marketing
Guerrilla Marketing 1ersus 1iral Marketing
There)s a subtle difference between iral marketing and Guerrilla marketing.
Guerrilla marketing ambushes the iewer and grabs their attention when they least expect
it. 7iral marketing is adertising that you oluntarily pass around because it)s cool, not
necessarily because you want to help build publicity. There is some noticeable oerlap
where a Guerrilla ad that doesn)t 9uite look like an ad is so great that you to tell other
people about it. But iral campaigns can)t be engineered in the way that other types of
adertising can C they depend solely on the user to deem them worthy of passing them
along.
"t doesn)t take a marketing genius to figure out that people accept suggestions
from their friends better than from some nameless marketer. "t)s also apparent that
campaigns which engage usually enFoy more success than campaigns that educate. !o
logic would follow that engaging, ground=leel marketing campaigns are one of the best
ways to present an idea.
But the peril is that being too obious can kill a campaign before it eer gets off
the ground. The trick is in tying all of these components together and getting the ads to go
iral without any apparent effort from the adertiser.
#nowing all of this, marketers are taking on a new attitude toward their audience
and the way they communicate. The method of the moment is trying to make campaigns
into grass=roots publicity machines that don)t look like adertising. The goal? Make an ad
that gets passed around relentlessly like an annoying email forward. And so far, we)e
been lapping it up.
,ae you eer emailed a link to a JouTube ideo that amused you? Taken a
snapshot of a flashmob=type marketing eent to show to your friends later? Told a co=
worker about a store specifically redesigned for the release of an upcoming moie or
music eent? Jou)e probably participated in this innoatie :and some say deceitful<
form of marketing.
Almost eeryone remembers (onelygirl13, the pouty but compelling JouTube
star. The supposed teenager later turned out to be an actress building bu@@ for a trio of
budding filmmakers. Then there was the ama@ingly entertaining ideo featuring a whole
office lip=synching to N$lagpole !itta.O That ideo was later reealed to be a great
publicity=builder for +onnected 7entures, home of Busted Tees, +ollege ,umor, and
7imeo. !eriously, didn)t you want to work there after seeing that ideo? That)s apparently
what they were going for.
-either of those campaigns seemed like they were trying to get you to do or buy
anything. "n fact, it wasn)t een immediately clear what the company in the office ideo
was. But by creating something that was entertaining, didn)t look like an adertisement,
and begged to be passed around, both companies created enormous publicity for
themseles. :And, may we add, with pretty much no inestment.<
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Guerrilla Marketing
Arguably the most effectie Guerrilla marketing campaign to date was for the
moie The Blair >itch 0roFect. The bu@@ around the film was unlike anything the world
had eer seen. The low=budget moie was built up with an unprecedented iral campaign
that focused mainly on spreading the myth of the Blair >itch as if it were a real local
legend. By the time the film came out in the summer of 1111, many people refused to
beliee that the legend and the eents in the film were completely fictional.
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Guerrilla Marketing
Marketing )r Scial Causes
The reaction to a Guerrilla campaign is often what defines the whole experience.
A well=receied iral campaign that is straight forward and obiously trying to sell you
something may be moderately successful. But a Guerrilla campaign that fools a lot of
iewers into thinking it)s not an ad? That tends to tick people off.
And what do ticked=off people do? They tell other people. They conduct research.
!ome een go to the media. And all of that attention makes for one wildly successful
adertising campaign.
+ompanies small to massie hae used Guerrilla techni9ues to grab the attention
of unsuspecting consumers. But beliee it or not, these subersie and innoatie ideas
can be reapplied in creatie ways C such as through subertising, reerse shoplifting or
other culture Famming C or can een used more directly for good causes C not Fust lining
someone)s pockets.
%ne of the most easily recogni@ed social Guerrilla campaigns is N%bey.O "f you
lie in or near a maFor city, you)e no doubt seen stickers. The %bey campaign is the
brainchild of artist !hepard $airey, who describes his work as Nan experiment in
phenomenology.O >hat started out as an inside Foke in the skater community eentually
grew to encompass the world. !tickers and stenciled images featuring the iconic image of
Andre the Giant and the cryptic big brother=es9ue word N%beyO can now be found from
!an $rancisco to Tokyo and pretty much eery city between.
+ould this be Guerrilla art and not Guerrilla marketing? (et)s call it Guerrilla
anti=marketing. $airey)s manifesto describes it beautifullyK NThe %bey campaign attempts
to stimulate curiosity and bring people to 9uestion both the campaign and their
relationship with their surroundings. Because people are not used to seeing
adertisements or propaganda for which the motie is not obious, fre9uent and noel
encounters with %bey propaganda prooke thought and possible frustration, neertheless
reitali@ing the iewer)s perception and attention to detail.O
By looking like adertisements for something obscure and exclusie, %bey
images sere to make us more aware of the constant barrage of commercial ads we are
subFected to each day. !omewhat ironically, the campaign has spawned a clothing line
and a successful design career for $airey. %bey now produces many images besides the
giant who started it all.
Guerrilla marketing has proen its ersatility as a social medium and money=
making adertising tool. -ow, een nonprofit organi@ations are getting into the game.
(ots of nonprofits hae embraced Guerrilla adertising as the perfect way to get the
attention needed to further their causes.
"n anticipation of (ights %ut for &arth ,our *554, the >>$ placed stickers
resembling light switches in outdoor locations around !wit@erland. The stickers looked so
14
Guerrilla Marketing
realistic that many passers=by actually tried to switch them off. >hen they were close
enough, they could read the text all about the upcoming eent.
These ama@ingly realistic images of children pushing automatic reoling doors
in Amsterdam are meant to call attention to child labor practices. They are actually inyl
stickers with copy aboe that states NJou +an)t "gnore +hild (abor.O
To create awareness of the plight of homeless people in America, these nutrition
facts labels were placed on outdoor trash bins. The familiar image in an unexpected place
causes the mind to react differently than it would to an obious adertisement. The
iewer is drawn in to examine the label and figure out what it)s doing there. The M.( at
the bottom gies a call to action, and the hope is that the image will stick in the iewer)s
mind long enough to encourage them to follow through on that action.
>e are intrigued by Fuxtaposition, and that is one of the hallmarks of effectie
Guerrilla adertisements. !eeing something that is out of place, shocking, or Fust plain
bi@arre snaps the mind out of the state of forced indifference C a state that we)e
deeloped in response to eer=present adertising. Because the marketers behind
Guerrilla ads use this knowledge to capture our attention in new and unusual ways, does
that mean they)re manipulating us?
"n a word, yes. The goal of any adertisement is to get you to do something.
>hether that something is buying a product, seeing a moie or, as in the picture aboe
:from a M# ashcan<, stop smoking, marketers play on psychological principles to affect
our behaior. The adertising world has latched on to these principles because of their
incredible effectieness. But what kind of lifespan does Guerrilla marketing hae? >ill
we eentually become desensiti@ed to een the most shocking adertisements?
According to some people, though, Guerrilla marketing campaigns already go too
far. >hile they are by nature inasie and Farring, there hae been seeral Guerrilla
marketing campaigns that were oerflowing with shock alue. Besides some notable
well=intended flops, many Guerrilla marketing campaigns either fall short of the mark or
oerestimate our tolerance for shocking images or methods. +oming upK more details on
kinds of and approaches to Guerrilla marketing and ways in which Guerrilla marketing
might een work for youR
11
Guerrilla Marketing
Di))erent T$,es ) Guerrilla Marketing
%ne of the main adantages of Guerrilla marketing is that it)s unexpected. "t
catches us off guard and causes an emotional responseK laughter, shock or sadness are
great sellers. "t)s easy to see why marketers would rather you didn)t know Fust how
they)re using Guerrilla marketing to their adantage. "f you know their secrets, you may
Fust stop responding.
"t probably doesn)t come as a surprise that marketers are a cleer bunch. They are
well ersed in the principles of human psychology that make us want to buy what they)re
selling. Anyone who has eer taken a marketing class will probably recogni@e the
psychological principles used to sell us thingsK reciprocity, authority,
consistencyTcommitment, social proofTacceptance, and scarcityTurgency. And in the
methods we)ll explain below, you can find each and eery one of those principles. "n this
installment of our Guerrilla marketing series we will take a closer look at some unusually
interesting types including ambient marketing, presence marketing, grassroots marketing,
wild posting, undercoer marketing and astroturfing.
:a; /iral !arketing K
This is a highly isible form of Guerrilla marketing these days. A iral campaign
can)t be planned or predicted, but it is dearly hoped for by marketers. A successful iral
campaign uses existing communication networks :you tell two friends, they each tell two
friends, and so on<, doesn)t re9uire much in terms of resources, and has the potential to be
unstoppable. "f you)re giing something away, een better. .emember Gmail inites?
They were somewhat difficult to get at first, so everyone wanted one.
:(; A!(ient !arketing<
"t allows a business to create brand recognition without necessarily pushing their
products. %ne excellent example is the Bancing Grass 7ans of (ondon. %wned by
renegade smoothie makers :and brilliant marketers< "nnocent, the ans are coered in
real, growing grass and can often be seen around the city making delieries and drawing
stares. Because they sere a real purpose :deliering smoothies<, the ans don)t look like
adertisements. But do you forget the name of a company with grass=coered ans?
-eer. (eading up to the release of the !impsons Moie, 8=11 transformed some of their
stores to look Fust like #wik=&=Marts, complete with weird !pringfield=type products.
This ambient marketing campaign was ridiculously effectie.
= Presence !arketing<
"t is along the same lines as ambient marketing. "t)s about making the business
name recogni@able and familiar and always there. Jou know that saying, Nout of sight,
out of mind?O "t goes double for products that don)t maintain a constant presence. This
can be achieed through product placements in moies and T7 shows, stalls at local
festials and markets, regular Twitter updates, or whateer else makes that product name
*5
Guerrilla Marketing
isible daily. !mall businesses and entrepreneurs with modest marketing budgets often
find that presence marketing deliers an excellent return for their inestment. All they
really hae to do is be isible.
:"; Grassrts !arketing<
"t is gaining popularity like C well, like a grass fire. A grassroots campaign can
take on many forms, but for the most part it is about winning customers one=by=one
rather than on a ery large scale. !ome grassroots campaigns hae elements of presence
marketing :like posting on message boards releant to your business< or iral marketing
:like the aboe user=generated !ony ad<. A successful grassroots campaign is all about
building relationships and emphasi@ing the personal connection, not about broadcasting
your message and hoping potential customers are listening.
:e; #il" ,stings
"t may seem old=fashioned, but they are still wildly popular with indie bands and
products that want to portray that indie image. ,ae you eer walked down a city street
and seen a wall plastered with multiple copies of a poster for a moie, concert, or
alcoholic beerage? Those would be wild postings, and part of their effectieness lies in
the way that they can make us beliee we)re witnessing something momentous. Most of
us would loe to hae a poster from the wild posting days of the Beatles, right? !o you)d
better grab that !mirnoff "ce poster now while you can, right?
:); Tissue4,ack a"/ertising<
"t was made popular in Gapan, but today it)s spreading to infiltrate the rest of the
world. #nowing that adertising fliers were almost neer accepted, much less read,
Gapanese businesses began to hand out pocket packs of tissues with ads on them. This
simple but ingenious marketing method works because, well, who would turn down free
stuff? Because the gieaway is a useful item, it stays close to the target consumer until
it)s been used up. These days, you)d be hard pressed to find pocket packs of tissues in
Gapanese shops because they are so readily aailable for free.
:g; Un"erc/er !arketingK
"t is also known as (u66 !arketing, is said to be one of the more deious ways of
marketing to the masses. .emember the Nbuy me a drinkO girls from part two of this
series? These loely young ixens were being paid to create a bu@@ around a certain
beerage without eer letting you in on their dirty little secretK they were being paid to be
so friendly. Mndercoer marketingTbu@@ marketing is all about selling something to
someone who has no idea they)e Fust witnessed a sales pitch.
*1
Guerrilla Marketing
:h; Astrtur)ing
"t is widely considered to be the slimiest of all Guerrilla marketing practices. "t
inoles creating an artificial bu@@ about a product or company, and it)s mighty risky in
the information age. 0ostings are created in online forums, singing the praises of a certain
product or serice C but they aren)t made by the public. They)re made by shills, or people
associated with the company who are paid to express a positie opinion. Astroturfing is
rampant online in forums and blogs :actually Nflogs,O or fake blogs<, but you can still see
the odd ".( astroturfer wandering department stores, lobbying +ongress, and writing
letters to newspaper editors.
:i;Alternati/e !arketing<
"t is referenced consistently by marketers, but it is by nature challenging to define.
"t may be best defined as publicity that looks like it is completely remoed from the
company itself. $or example, when 0aris ,ilton)s !idekick was hacked, sales of
!idekicks Fumped oernight. >hile T=Mobile probably :maybe?< had nothing to do with
that publicity, it was excellent marketing for them. "n fact, it has been suggested more
than once that the whole eent was an orchestrated publicity stunt. Alternatie marketing
takes a good deal of imagination and a healthy dose of luck to pull off. "f the public finds
out that they)e been duped, it will spell disaster for the campaign.
:.; E>,eriential !arketing<
"t is increasingly embraced by all types of companies and brands today. "t)s
becoming easier for us to tune out and ignore adertisements today, so experiential
marketing aims to gie you an experience rather than send you a one=way message.
&xperiential marketing lets you interact with the product and associate your immediate
emotional responses with that brand. The +harmin 0ottypaloo@a bathrooms at state fairs
and the semi=permanent ones :now gone< in -ew Jork +ity are an unprecedented
example of effectie experiential marketing.
,ow many of these methods hae you seen Fust this week? >ith new concepts being
rolled out all the time, it)s not always easy to spot when you)e been targeted.
**
Guerrilla Marketing
Phen!enn ) Guerrilla !arketing
?*@ C!!unicatin 4 the rute t &in the &arA
Marketing is about sending a message through different channels, according to the
empirical findings there is an importance with the communication process. ,ence, the
message is transmitted through new and different channels within Guerrilla marketing
compared to traditional marketing, although the communication process looks almost the
same. The channels used in the marketing. approaches are of high importance in
accordance with seeral of the respondents. Accordingly, the theory mentions two types
of channels personal or non= personal, where Guerrilla marketing is more of a personal
channel. The channel is used to reach a targeted market or a segment. "n light of what $%
communicates, traditional marketers use gien channels, like T7 or radio, while Guerrilla
marketers use new and inented channels, hence giing Guerrilla marketers a competitie
adantage since the competitors all use the gien channels. Although for the channel to
be effectie it needs to reach the targeted segment, the end customer needs to receie the
message that the Guerrilla marketers are sending.
This compared and analy@ed in the light of warfare, the market leaders defend the
roads, using a Guerrilla tactic you hae to take another route to win the war.
+onse9uently, walking along the road the enemy will shot you down and you will not
surie, therefore you hae to take another way, behind the enemy lines in order to
become competitie and successful in the war.
The source of the message tries to send it towards the receier and encodes it with
symbols or other tools. "n Guerrilla campaigns they use symbols, words, pictures and
actiities for help in encoding the message for the sources. These symbols could be seen
as weapons, in the war oer the customers) minds. An example of using symbols is when
Miami used a blue !anta +lause during +hristmas time in their Guerrilla marketing
campaign for Moderaterna. This was connected to both +hristmas time and the color
blue, since the color symboli@es Moderaterna. %ne could argue that this is a good way to
the reach the target. Another example is when (# uses purple as her symbol on business
cards, letters and een clothes hae a touch of purple, she is een known as the purple
lady in the streets of +hicago. $or that reason, this way the receier can relate purple with
(# and it will help them to remember her and her serices in an easier way. ,ence, she
reduces the possibility for the receier to not understand her message. >hen the sender
has encoded the message it is deliered through the channels, accordingly seeral of the
respondents in the empirical research reali@e the importance that the deliered message is
well planned and with releance otherwise the receier will not acknowledge it.
,ence, next in the process is the decoding phase, where the critical decision is
madeA whether the receier will understand the message or if it has been lost through
noise or clutter. ,ence, noise often occur when the sender and the receier do not hae a
common ground, for instance the !anta +laus campaign were effectie since the receiers
could relate to it. "t can also be affected by other companies using the same channel and
your message will be lost. Therefore, the Guerrilla campaign could easily backfire if
these kinds of common grounds are not found or if someone else is sending out a stronger
message, since then the receier would hae difficulties decoding your message. "n order
to enhance the message, both ,. and A( points out the importance of connecting the
*/
Guerrilla Marketing
message to a current eent or to some kind of actiity in order for the customers to
remember it.
$urther, when the receier has decoded the message, the response phase appears
in the communication process. Most of the time, the response that is wanted is action,
seeral of the respondents in our empirical research mentions that. Although according to
the theory, there are different kinds of action, instant action or actions that will come oer
time at a later occasion. $or example, A(& understands that the purchase of a ehicle is a
long processA hence her goal with the Guerrilla campaigns is to create awareness.
Accordingly when it is time for the receier to buy the car they will think of Mitsubishi.
"f not response, at least some feedback is wanted for the sender according to the theory.
This is done in different ways, for instance Mitsubishi uses a call center to Nsei@eO the
contacts that has been made, and this is a good way to find out how the message has gone
through the process and how they react upon it.
+onse9uently, the communication between the sender and the receier has started
and will continue. Though, the feedback session is of most importance when discussing
Guerrilla marketing, as A( talks about it, it is a way to sae money. "f one constantly ask
new customers from where they hae heard about the company and takes notes, one
could sae tons of money. !ince you do not hae to hire any marketing research firms to
track down your customers and how they find you. Also (# adds to this method of
tracking down the customers and getting feedback in a cheap and efficient way. Though,
one could argue that the feedback might not be accurate, but at least you will get some
figures and it is a cheap way of finding out if your marketing works. +onse9uently A(
uses a similar approach in gaining feedback, although he also uses a marketing calendar,
hence he can see if the choice he makes in marketing gies any effect to his reenues.
?*B Marketing C!!unicatin
#nowing that Guerrilla marketing is deliering a message through some kind of
communication, though a one should add a more innoatie approach to it. Guerrilla
marketing could help get a higher awareness than other approaches. "t is not Fust one
thing
one can do and then you can call it a Guerrilla attack. %ne could argue and say it is a
form
of thinking and acting in the market. As $% explains, it needs to hae a clear purpose and
be backed up in the right way within the organi@ation. (# insists that Guerrilla marketing
must be an entire package of marketing tools. %ne could therefore compare the Guerrilla
campaign with "M+, integrated marketing communication, whereas seeral promotional
tools are a part of the entire communication process. "t is important for the organi@ation
using this approach to try to create a synergy between the tools. The secret with Guerrilla
marketing is that one communicates a message to a specific target group, trying to be
uni9ue and creatie not in eery single case, but uni9ue to the receier of the message. "n
order to enhance the picture and to bust through the clutter different kind of combination
of the promotional tools are important.
,ence, there are some of the promotional tools that are less useful for a Guerrilla
attack, in this case mainly adertising. &en though, adertising as it exists today will not
die in the future. &specially, there are so many newspapers, T7=channels, maga@ines that
*;
Guerrilla Marketing
are dependent on companies buying media space. Though, in order for it to work it needs
to be more fun and entertaining according to 0+, further the authors argue that for it to
become more efficient the customer must go out and seek for the adertisements
themseles, instead of the other way around. Meaning that, for example some kind of
website could be created, where customers could create accounts. %nce a member, one
could specify what products and serices one is interested in and then go and look for
deals for these products. Moreoer, as (# presents, when watching a T7=show, one
should be able to know exactly what clothes, apparel, furniture that was used in the show,
and where one can buy it. This would mean differentiation and hopefully publicity and
could easily grow fast in the market today.
?*B*@ Pr!tinal !i> C &ea,ns t &in the &ar
Through the empirical findings, one tool used for a great success is direct mail.
A( continues that his most successful campaigns hae inoled direct mail to some
extent. (# also adds that she is using direct mail for some of her campaigns. ,ence, she
adds that it is of most importance to further follow up the campaign with something else,
for example direct selling in order to finali@e the deal and getting the consumers to buy.
Another interesting approach also a tool in the promotional mix is the direct
marketing. ,ere one should really break down the market into segments and really focus
upon a specific target market. Birect marketing is one tool that goes hand in hand with
Guerrilla marketing approaches, meaning that it is more of a direct way of marketing
where one in a straight way influence the target customers. Birect marketing is maybe the
best traditional promotional tool that can be compared to Guerrilla marketing approaches.
!ince it is a direct marketing tool that is interactie and it do use more than one media to
affect the response.
0ersonal selling is also an important part of being a Guerrilla marketer. !ince,
often after the first contact is made with the customer, one needs to sell the idea or
product in a good way. As (# means that Guerrilla marketing has to be a package, where
after direct mail for example has been sent out, one need to call or contact the persons
reached, to follow up to process, could be compared to the latter stages of the A"BA
ladder. $% explains that during the start up of their firm, personal selling was a big deal
and important for surial of the firm.
Though, the need for personal selling is high and since the trends in the market
tend to become more personal, sales is and will always be an important part of a
company. "f Guerrilla marketing is a part of the future, sales will also be of most concern.
!ales promotion is also strongly connected to the personal selling and it is also an
important tool for the Guerrilla marketer.
The promotions that are handed out in different kind of campaigns are often
innoatie and they can therefore create awareness around someone or something. $or
example did (# send out packages of pistachios to her potential customers during the
stressful +hristmas !eason saying, Ndo not go nutsO, and associated her company by
saying they could help to find the right people to assist during these times of the year.
0romotions are often an important tool for Guerrilla marketers and could be from the
point of warfare being seen as missiles that are sent out in order to win the war, focusing
on the exact right target. "n other words, the Guerrilla campaign do use promotions, but
they should be targeted exactly right in the war in order to be effectie.
*3
Guerrilla Marketing
Maybe the most important tool in the Guerrilla marketing way of thinking is
publicity and public relations. $irstly, if an extra ordinary campaign is launched
maga@ines, newspapers or other media players will treat the campaign as high news alue
and tons of media space will be created for the ones behind the campaign for free. ,.
means that before eery of their campaigns a press release are sent out, because it creates
possibilities for some media coerage, which is free and of appreciated for most
companies. ,. further argues that it is within the media that the game, in his case oters,
is won. Therefore, 0. is an important tool to use in order to gain adantages in the war of
the customers) mind. !ince, success stories in the media will encourage the people and
hopefully the organi@ations inoled will hae followers supporting in the war.
The discussion whether all publicity is good publicity is also an intense discussion
without any final answer. %f course is it of most concern, to if you are not seen, you do
not exist.
,ence, one)s company would not like to be mention in a bad way in the media.
Though, there are tactics een here to win the battle, een if the publicity is bad. >hen
remembering, a couple of years ago, when (adbrokes sponsored the controersial
T7show Big Brother in !weden. The T7=show got a lot of media space and seeral
scandals in the show was a fact, since (adbrokes did not want to be associated with it,
they canceled their sponsorship and got a lot of goodwill in the media. This could be one
way to turn bad publicity into something better. !eeral of the respondents mean that
your company does not want to be associated with bad things. MM does not think that all
publicity is good publicity, especially not within the consultant business. (# continues in
the same way, she would not want to be linked to something that was done poorly or
wrong, eery company has to be careful when it comes to publicity. "n the war for the
customers, one has to be careful in what kind of information that reaches the supporters
and also the customers that one is fighting for, and especially the competitors in the
market, since a lot of information could turn into bad publicity. #nowing that publicity is
an important channel to reach the customers, especially since it could add trustworthiness
to one)s company and brand aswell. A(& means that all publicity to her is good publicity,
as long as one is well prepared with good answers to all conersional things that might
appear, through this she proclaims the importance of being well prepared in a Guerrilla
marketing campaign.
?*B*B Mre a!!unitin
?*B*B*@ #r" ) !uth
>ord of mouth is about personal communication between two persons discussing
a brand, product or a serice according to Marsden and #irby :*552< and discussing
something they hae experienced or seen. This is where Guerrilla marketing comes inA
according to ,. Guerrilla marketing campaigns uses more senses and will therefore stay
with the people, getting in contact with it, for a longer time. ,ence, resulting in that these
people more likely will talk about the Guerrilla campaign instead of others.
+onse9uently, $% means that Guerrilla marketing should surprise people and when
people hae experienced something fun and surprisingly they hae a tendency to talk to
others about it, according to Marsden and #irby :*552<. $urther, the chance that Guerrilla
*2
Guerrilla Marketing
marketing campaigns will be spread through the word of mouth is high. !ince, one of the
goals with Guerrilla marketing is to create publicity, in newspapers and maga@ines,
enhance that statement. Although, $% beliees that the campaign must be releant in
order to be successful and to start a positie word of mouth.
?*B*B*B 2i/e +u66 !arketing
$urthermore one kind of word of mouth is lie bu@@ marketingA this techni9ue
uses an eent or a performance to create a bu@@ around town :Marsden ' #irby, *552<.
$% gies an example when they created the blue N!anta +lausO campaign for
Moderaterna around +hristmas time. This campaign created a ery fast and positie bu@@
through the city of Gothenburg, and een got publicity in the newspaper which helped the
bu@@ continue to lie for a longer time. (ie bu@@ marketing can according to Marsden
and #irby :*552< be used as a complement to an ordinary commercial or adertisement.
$urthermore, 0+ agrees with that idea that Guerrilla marketing should be used as an extra
tool to create a bu@@ around a campaign, basically to attack the end customers from
seeral directions.
Accordingly, the use of professional actors is something that hae been used
many times within Guerrilla marketing, although the once been affected by it are not
aware of it :Marsden ' #irby, *552<. ,ence the idea of lie bu@@ marketing is basically
to start a rumor or gossip around a brand, product or serice and therefore it is a good
tool for Guerrilla marketing, as (# says it is about creating awareness and attention.
?*B*B*D 1iral !arketing
7iral marketing is another form of word of mouthA it could be called irtual
marketing since it is mostly about spreading the word in digital domains. A( discusses a
lot about marketing on the internet, since there are many different ways of reaching end
customers through the internet. Accordingly the American prospectie talks more about
the potential of the internet, it seems as if they hae come a longer way in the
deelopment of using the digital media. !ince today there are blogs, forums and chat
rooms that are spreading the word of mouth throughout the globe, which creates great
potentials, according to A(, for Guerrilla marketing. Miami and their clients do not talk
about or use these channels to the same extent, and it could be because they want to keep
it to a smaller target segment.
+onse9uently, today)s consumer hae a high leel of awareness and searches the
internet for there product or serice information, hence the usage of iral marketing could
proe to be ery successful, as A( discusses.
?*D In &hat &a$ cul" AIDA su,,rt &inning the (attleA
The authors of this thesis argue that Guerrilla marketing as a phenomenon is
essential to hae in mind when talking about the traditional response hierarchy model.
Though, one has to be aware of how the process of A"BA works, in order to market
yourself in the best way one has to know what stages your customer relates to. Also, the
use of Guerrilla marketing is known to be targeting a smaller crowd or niche of the
market, therefore the A"BA should be used in order to make the marketing as efficient as
possible. !ince, the phenomenon of Guerrilla marketing, both according to preious
*8
Guerrilla Marketing
research and through our empirical findings, shows that it needs to be as cost effectie as
possible. Therefore, a message should not be transmitted if it is lacking a clear purpose.
The A"BA model helps the marketer to identify the steps a salesperson must take a
customer through in a selling process. $irstly, the salesperson or in this case the marketer
get the attention of the customer, and since the adertising enironment today is so
intense, one has to find good ways to get through the noise and reach the customer and
get its attention. This could be done through, for example, a huge adertising campaign.
Although if the potential capital re9uirements do not exist one has to find other ways to
get the attention of the customer and therefore Guerrilla marketing is interesting. !ince,
Fust by using a more innoatie approach any budget could get the right attention
necessary, therefore one should try to focus the marketing directly towards the right target
market.
According to $%, Guerrilla marketing is about to find new channels or other ways
tha t your competitors, this is in order to get through the noise and get the attention
needed in order to adance on the purchasing ladder. A(& further supports this stand
point by saying that Nto do unexpected things that creates big attention with a small
budgetO, it could be compared to go behind enemy lines and destroy a bridge, you will
get a lot of attention and hopefully your followers will celebrate it, which would lead to
an interest in your work. %nce the interest is found, one has to keep the customer
interested in order to create a desire for the product or serice. ,ere A( contributes, to
send one message to the end customer is not enough to think that heTshe would be
interested in your serices. %n the contrary, it re9uires that the message is sent out around
six to eight times before one can start talking about an effect, according to A(. Then one
should add in a piece of creatiity and the effects of the campaign can be successful.
,ence, the phenomenon of Guerrilla marketing should be consistent through out the
entire process of the A"BA model. This is in order to create adantages against your
competitors, it can be done by using the methods within Guerrilla marketing and it does
not hae to be expensie.
"f one is consistent with the approach, customers will eentually create a desire,
though one should hae in mind when using more innoatie approaches the need for a
specific target market is high. Though, one can with Guerrilla marketing only focus on
one target market at the time and focus the resources towards the potential buyers in that
segment. As (# means by saying that you need to do your homework before going into
the market, could be analy@ed towards if one does research for one segment does not
mean that the same approach will work for the next segment in order to create desire.
%nce haing the right military intelligence from the market, one shall start the attack, this
could be compared to the Guerrilla marketing approach also, and in order for it to be
efficient one should not attack before the right research is complete. $urthermore, (#
also contributes with that one has to be prepared once the attack is made, so that the sales
personnel are ready for the outcomes of the attack. "t could be compared to the warfare
also hereA after an attack is made the nurses must be ready to take care of the wounded
soldiers. Taking the customers through the A"BA ladder is a complex method and
Guerrilla marketing will definitely help taking one up the ladder in a smooth way. Getting
to the action stage is though a long process and the methods used is different for different
kind of people, (# means that in order for the approach to work in a good way one
should find the uni9ueness within it, meaning that eery approach does not hae to be
*4
Guerrilla Marketing
uni9ue, but it has be uni9ue for the one you are trying to target, this is to encourage the
customer to take action and start buying from you. "t is often the last part that is hard to
get the customer to reach.
?*E Chsing the right channel
?*E*@ Channel Manage!ent
+onse9uently the channels one choose is of big importance for the success of the
marketing campaigns, hence according to our empirical findings the general belief were
that many of today)s channels are blocked or oer exploited. ,ence, the need to find
other channels are of great importance, according to A( the process he uses is to first
figure out who the message is supposed to be sent to, hence the target, furthermore one
has to decide what kind of ehicle will transport the message and conclusiely on what
fre9uency, so the responder could easily understand the message in the end. Accordingly
the theory state the similar process, hence it is important that the receier understands the
message that is being sent to them. There are two kinds of channels, direct and indirect,
the direct channels is when the contact with the customer is taken directly through face to
face communication, phone conersations, mail or een in an electronic way.
+onse9uently, the indirect approach often goes through a second part before reaching the
end target. >hen A( discuss Guerrilla marketing he describe it as a direct channel to the
end customer, his beliefs is that it is more effectie than indirect channels. According to
the theoretical framework direct channels are mostly used when there is a need for a lot
of information or if the 9uality needs to be measured.
$urthermore, een (# points out the preferable usage of direct channels, since it
has proen to be an effectie way to reach the end customers. $urthermore, both $% and
,. agree to the importance with the new and different channels but it does not work as
effectie as it could do if there is not enough releance in the message. Then the receiers
will not understand and receie the message and the campaign and the message is lost.
According to the theory this is an applicable discussion, since it is ery important that the
message is both releant and on the right fre9uency for the specific channel for it to be
understood and successful transmitted to the receier. $urthermore the choice of message
affects the choice of channel and ice ersa, hence a balance between these two must be
found. +onse9uently the channel is suppose to communicate the message to the receier,
the message the marketers want the end customer to get. Therefore the choice of what
channels should be used is a key 9uestion within marketing and specially in Guerrilla
marketing whereas the idea is to find such a uni9ue and effectie channel as possibly,
here lays the need for creatiity.
$urther as $% explained that many of their clients comes to them because they
want to do something new and different and in the same time something that is fun and
excites people. $urthermore, the channels does not reach the customers in the same way
as before since they are so fed up with the commercials of today. Therefore the beliee is
between the respondents that new and different channels must be found for it to be
possible to breach through the customers defensie lines and present them with the
marketers messages and information, and especially if one wants it to stay in their minds.
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Guerrilla Marketing
?*E*B The internet channel C getting arun" the "e)ensi/e lineA
"n the beginning of the phenomenon, Guerrilla marketing, internet was seen as
Guerrilla marketing, hence today almost eery company has their own webpage. Thus,
internet is still seen as a great tool to use in Guerrilla marketing. According to A(, he
bases almost all his Guerrilla marketing on the internet, since internet is so much more
then Fust a home page and e=mails, today it is also about blogs, forums and pod cast, new
means to reach the potential end customer. As both the theoretical state and the empirical
findings say that using the internet is also positie because it is not so expensie. ,ence,
the internet channel is perfect for the companies that want to cut down on marketing costs
and reach a big market according to $%, hence the internet is often good to use for those
who wants to measure their sales and homepages isits.
%ne has to hae in mind that internet is huge, the competition is fierce and it can
cost a lot of money to protect you from hackers etc. &en though, internet is genius since
Fust by posting something online makes it aailable for an entire world. (# means that
her company now spends the maFor part of their budget online. >hy is that? >ell, since
the growth potential is still 9uite strong and the simple way of finding the right
information is important. "f you are not on the internet, you do not exist, might be a
clichU, een though to a high extent it is true. %ne could track the growth back seeral of
years, een though knowing that in the end of the 15)s the internet had big drawbacks.
Today the channel is growing bigger than eer, and people tend to trust to higher extent
things stated online.
MM explains that his most efficient Guerrilla marketing campaign did inole
web=based promotion, and it did consist of speaking and writing as a way to generate
interest among prospectie.
Today one sends out e=mails fre9uently, and the innoation known as auto=
responders could be something, if not already, that will be used een more in the future.
These autoresponders are simply answering emails automatically with a prewritten
message, a cheap and easy way to show the customers that you care. A( means that
internet is a big part of the Guerrilla tactics in the future. $urther, een so that MM
beliees that internet based adertising is gaining ground in the war for the customers and
also beliees that Guerrilla marketing will be more web=based and more targeted to
customers through the use of the internet.
Though, the internet has seeral positie aspects such as it is 9uite easy to track
all the actiity in one)s specific webpage. $rom this, one could gather information about
the customers and make the future marketing more efficient. Also, the usage of certain
keywords is of most interest. !ince a part of internet marketing today is definitely search
engines. "f a company can get a lot of traffic to their webpage, a lot of attention comes for
free. "t is not too hard to deelop, but the company must hae a well built webpage that
encourage the customers to action.
?*F Marketing #ar)are
Almost eery company in the market could identify itself with some of the
military approaches presented by .ies and Trout :1142<A the defensie strategy, the
offensie warfare, the flaking warfare and the Guerrilla warfare. ,aing this in mind,
Guerrilla marketing should only be suitable for smaller companies. $% adds to this
discussion by confirming that not all companies should use Guerrilla marketing, hence it
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Guerrilla Marketing
is not because of the si@e of the company. "t is depends on their position in the market. "f
being the marketing leader, adantages such as financial muscle power could be the
deciding factor.
Though, when one does not possess the large budget, one could use smaller more
efficient methods instead. "t is Fust a matter of thinking in the right way in order to win
the war. As a market leader one does not hae to use the small dirty roads in order to gain
adantages in the war winning customers, they can afford driing down the main road in
a tank, taking the competition easy. As a challenger it is different, some times all out
attack must be used in order to win market share, or een so as being smaller, one has to
take some shortcuts in order to find the right target market. $urther, all companies might
not internally be ready for using more of a Guerrilla tactic in order to gain market share,
hence it is of most concern to be internally prepared before an attack. The organi@ation
has to be well prepared, and hae the right intelligence of the battlefield so that the
approach is successful. (# strongly adds that one should know the market and then
attack it with a releant tactic. Though, by doing so one is able to stand out in the clutter
and will be isible in the market.
Marketing is warfare, though again in this fight no direct blood spills. %ne does
not fight the war with the customersA it is a competition against the other companies in
the market. %ne is fighting for the same things, Fust being apart of the customer)s lies.
The ones reaching through the clutter is gaining adantages in the war.
?*G Guerrilla Marketing
The authors of this thesis understands that the iew on Guerrilla marketing that
came from the empirical findings is ery similar to the theoretical frameworks iew on
the phenomenon, in terms of definitions. ,ence, (einson :*55/<, states that Guerrilla
marketing is in a shorter time frame then traditional marketing, as 0+ said, he beliees
that Guerrilla marketing campaigns are often taking place during a shorter period of time.
Accordingly, "es :*55;< beliees that more and more marketers will start to use
Guerrilla
methods since the end customers hae proen to be harder and harder to reach.
+onse9uently the empirical findings in this thesis implies the same thing, there is
a problem today with adertising and marketing, the public is fed up, basically tired of it.
$urthermore, the consumers block out marketing today in seeral different ways,
therefore they must find new channels, and this is the belief from all the interiews made
in this thesis. According to (einson :1114<, a good way to reach the end customer
without being blocked is to target the segment, using target marketing. This is also a
belief from $% that Guerrilla marketing is a more targeted approach then traditional
marketing, which also implies that it, is in a smaller scale.
%ne must reach the target market with releance in order for the marketing to
work properlyA a lot of the empirical findings imply the importance of keeping the
releance in the marketing approaches. (einson and (autenslager :*553< also explain
that it is essential to hae a releant message and a well planned campaignA otherwise the
campaign will be seen as an expensie instead of an inestment. This is something that
,. also emphasi@es when discussing the preparations, that the campaigns may look
simple, but a company inests, a lot of time in planning so that it will be a successful
campaign.
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Guerrilla Marketing
Accordingly (# beliees that the preparation is one of the keys to success, to
study and prepare, especially its own organi@ation according to A(&, she beliees that it
is important that the organi@ation is aware and apart of the campaign. $urthermore,
(einson :*55/<, says that in Guerrilla marketing time and energy is one of the key
ingredients in a successful campaign, these attributes and imagination and knowledge is
what that takes to create Guerrilla marketing. This is also something A( in the empirical
findings belieed that imagination, time and energy are essential to create a Guerrilla
campaign that is effectie.
$urthermore, Guerrilla marketing should be fun and surprise people, hence $%
beliees that the campaigns should reach the target market in a surprisingly way.
Accordingly 0+ also beliees this, that a campaign should include humor. ,ence, "es
:*55;< says that many companies today uses Guerrilla marketing as a way to be fun and
modern and to a large extent to reach a younger, perhaps, more aware crowd.
/*
Guerrilla Marketing
A"/antages ) Guerrilla !arketing
L Guerrilla marketing is cheap. At the high end, you may end up inesting a few hundred
dollars in promotional items or a maFor, centrali@ed piece that you can build a number of
different campaigns around. At the low end, it)s free V and you can)t beat freeR
L "n addition to growing your business, Guerrilla marketing inoles networking, both
with your customers and with other businesses. "n the process of executing and
maintaining your campaign, you will make a lot of new friends and allies.
L Guerrilla marketing is specifically tailored to meet the needs of small businesses,
whereas traditional adertising enues are complicated and expensie to the point of
exclusion :bordering on snobbishness<.
L Many aspects of creatie Guerrilla marketing campaigns are Fust plain funR Jou get to
perform wacky stunts and engage in unusual actiities, all in the name of working for a
liing.
L Guerrilla marketing works. "f you do your research, plan your campaign, and stick with
it, you will more than likely end up with a better and more profitable business.
//
Guerrilla Marketing
Disa"/antages ) Guerrilla !arketing
L Guerrilla marketing works V but it is not completely failsafe. "t is, after all, adertisingA
which is far from an exact science. The number of ariables inoled in adertising
guarantees that nothing is 155 percent effectie.
L As with any adertising campaign, you will not be able to pinpoint exactly what works
and what doesn)t. %btaining measurable results is difficult :but not impossible, unlike
other marketing techni9ues<.
L Guerrilla marketing re9uires a greater leel of dedication and energy than traditional
adertising enues, which often consist of throwing large amounts of money at other
people to do the work for you.
L "f you)re looking for a 9uick fix, Guerrilla marketing is not your solution. Jou will not
see instant or oernight results stemming from your efforts. An inestment of time is
re9uired in order to achiee your business sales goals.
L Guerrilla marketing is not for the thin=skinned or faint of heart. At the ery least, you
will hae a few detractors who find fault in your methods. At worst, you may be
threatened with legal action :which is why it)s so important to check your local laws
before engaging in a Guerrilla marketing campaign<.
En" "iscussin
@D*@ The )uture ) !arketing
%ne could argue that the future of marketing is the internet. -ot only the internet,
but this channel, or should we say medium, has tons of potential in finding new ways to
reach the end customers. ,ence, one could argue that internet is nowadays an old channel
to reach the customers, een so, new ways within the net could be apart of the future.
Though,
people in the world today tend to aoid marketing and adertising if they can. >hen
changing channels during commercial breaks or when putting up notes on their mailboxes
in trying to aoid mass adertising, the future of marketing and adertising should be
something that customers want to hae and they seek themseles. According to the idea
presented by (#A when watching a T7=show and you like someone)s Facket, there should
easily be a way from you to buy it online somewhere or
een so, with the technology that exist today, it should be possible to pause the show and
Fust click on the character to see what heTshe is wearing in order to buy the same items.
This is an interesting approach where interactie marketing is a part of the future.
$urthermore, from the empirical findings, the authors found that many of the respondents
/;
Guerrilla Marketing
wants fun and entertaining marketing in the future, more commercials and adertisements
that amuses the ones affected by it. ,ence, interactiity is a good part of marketing in the
future.
To continue, the empirical findings shows that marketing and Guerrilla marketing
will continue to deelop in the future, hence nobody really knows where it is going to
end, but the eolution is a fact, Fust look at the past. >hat Guerrilla marketing is today,
will be traditional marketing in tomorrow, therefore the need for constant deelopment of
marketing is isible.
Trying to predict the future is nothing that is possible, though discussion the
future is more interesting and one could base an entire thesis Fust based upon the future of
marketing. "n this case, the authors of this thesis wanted to take the chance while they had
it to discuss the liing and iid future of marketing.
/3
Guerrilla Marketing
The 5uture ) Guerrilla Marketing
"t happens to the best of them eentually. They get old, worn
out, past their useful lies. At some point you hae to grab the shotgun and head out to
the pasture to put them out of their misery.
>e)re talking, of course, about adertising methodologies.
Guerrilla marketing has been hailed as the renegade king of adertising methods
for many years now. But, like all adertising models, this one will eentually lose its
effectieness and be replaced by the next big thing.
!ince we are so inundated with adertising these days, most of us hae learned to
simply ignore it. >e can walk right past billboards bearing the name and image of some
fantastic product and neer know they)re there. >e can skip commercials altogether in
our own homes.
>hen Guerrilla marketing was introduced, it was a way to get past our defenses.
A great Guerrilla campaign can conince us, if een for a split second, that we aren)t
looking at an adertisement and that it)s acceptable to pay attention. Guerrilla marketing
tactics can help businesses to stay a step or two ahead of the competition by using
methods that were preiously unknown.
Guerrilla marketing is still as aluable today as it was back in the 1145s. "t)s a
way for small businesses to leel the playing field. $or a small inestment, the smaller
businesses can compete with the big names. This has lead to an unprecedented
commercial enironment where the relatiely unknown company can garner as much
attention as C and often more than C the well=established national brand.
But are we oer=saturated with new and innoatie marketing? >e)e learned to
become suspicious of people we see on the street or in the supermarket. "f a stranger asks
for an opinion to help them choose between two products, we wonder which choice
they)re trying to sell.
!ome Guerrilla efforts hae become increasingly outlandish and 9uestionable.
The efforts of Golden 0alace +asino are known to be particularly on the edge of
acceptability. !ome of their Guerrilla marketing ploys hae been harmless, amusing, and
een beneficial :they)e raised oer Q1 million for arious charities, after all<, but some
are simply outrageous.
The online casino has paid two people, #arolyne !mith and Brent Moffatt, to
permanently tattoo the site)s M.( on their foreheads. -otwithstanding the fact that both
indiiduals placed their forehead space for auction on eBay, the publicity stunt didn)t sit
well with much of the general public.
/2
Guerrilla Marketing
Marketing ploys such as these hae made some of us 9uestion where Guerrilla
marketing is headed. >ill marketers employ increasingly shocking and horrific methods
to get our attention? "n the future, will we see brands on eerything from hot dog buns to
girls) big plastic fingernails to the backs of +ub !couts?
"n a perfect world, it would be nice to think that Guerrilla marketing will take a
different :less shocking, more personal< turn. >e)re seeing already that brands C
especially small businesses C are taking it to the streets, so to speak, by Foining forum
discussions, obsessiely updating their Twitter accounts, and writing articles for
newspapers, maga@ines, and blogs.
Building personal relationships with customers may be the best marketing moe
of the future. A handshake and the assurance that een a big, important business owner is
neer too important to wait on a customer is Fust what we Faded masses need to help us
reconnect to our buying habits.
Although that)s what we)d like to think, our actual predictions are not so rosy.
Gien the recent trend of aggressie undercoer marketing coupled with the fact that we
are increasingly hard to reach :thanks to Ti7%, M0/ players, and a hearty desire to aoid
being corporate America)s pawns<, we think that Guerrilla marketing will only grow
more coert and stealthy as time goes on.
The days of outrageous adertising scenes may be nearing their end. But you can
bet that in the future it will become increasingly difficult to tell what is an adertisement
and what is a simple conersation. These Guerrilla ambushes may moe further into the
online realm as the *1st century ersions of the Nbuy me a drinkO girls shamelessly flirt
online only to entice you to isit a certain irtual casino with them.
/8
Guerrilla Marketing
Cnclusin
Guerrilla marketing is a state of mind, a way of thinking, a mindset for marketers
and business people. The ones who use Guerrilla marketing hae a more open mind then
the ones not using it, the people that beliee in the phenomenon of Guerrilla marketing is
open to new and creatie ideas.
>hen one plans Guerrilla marketing well, it often proes to be ery effectie,
though the hard part of it is do the right research, preparations and find the right
information. Guerrilla marketing is not working if you do not focus on the right target
and send out a releant message using the right ehicle on the right fre9uency. "f not, this
is what one can call the negatie side of Guerrilla marketing, then the campaigns relation
to it is Fust seen as a bad attempt to create attention and awareness. The aspect of
Guerrilla marketing is focusing on uni9ueness to the target, which in seeral cases leads
to publicity, which could result in attention in the media, an economical way of getting
the message to the target market.
0erson who using g=marketing they are enlightened to new ideas, to original ways
of reaching the end customer and aware that marketing does not necessarily needs to be
expensie adertisements in the media. "nstead, a Guerrilla campaign creates free
publicity in the media world. Guerrilla marketing is a good compliment for organi@ations
using a more traditional approach, it is a way to spice up the consisting marketing and a
way to get attention which will make it easier to come through the clutter and reach the
target market. $urthermore, if one was to pitch an idea for a new marketing campaign and
the idea are unconentional and do not look like any campaign eer made before, instead
more bold and daring. Guerrilla marketer would be much more enthusiastic and open to
the new idea then a traditional marketer would be.
Although it is ital to hae in mind that the idea sent out, as a message, needs to
be releant to the target market. Meaning that, the planning and the preparation phase of
the campaign is of most importance, in order for it to become successful. This includes a
big part of internal communication, eerybody inside the company or the organi@ation
must be aware of what is going on. ,ere lies some complications, it is shown that
Guerrilla marketing can be met with conseratism inside some organi@ationsA here the
leel of conseratism in the culture of the organi@ations plays an important role. To
continue, it is reali@ed with this study that Guerrilla marketing campaigns are often met
by a positie public response, much to the fact that in many occasions Guerrilla
marketing is personal communication. $urthermore, if the campaign and message is well
motiated and releant it can always be turned into something positie, at least for the
target market.
%ne can wonder why we hae chosen to call this phenomenon for Guerrilla
marketing when it could hae the meaning of numerous things, such asK creatie
marketing, innoatie marketing, undercoer marketing, stealth marketing,
entrepreneurial marketing or marketing under the radar. Although, they do all represent
the same state of mind, openness for change and to find new channels in marketing to
reach to the end customers and at the same time always seek the market for opportunities.
/4
Guerrilla Marketing
(eb)io*ra+hy and Bib)io*ra+hy
(ebsites:-
,,,"*oo*)e"-om
,,,",i.i+edia"-om
,,,",ebeerbanist"-om
,,,"hou*htonmi//)inboo.s"-om
Boo.s, Ma*a0ines 1 2e,s+a+ers:-
Mar.etin* Mana*ement: - &amas,ami, .ot)er, A0har
3a0mi
2e,s+a+ers: - Business Standard
Ma*a0ines: - Business ,or)d
/1