If you take a look at our history, you will see that marketing can be dated back to as far as 4000 BC where Egyptians used papyrus to market their products for sale.
Since then, we have come a long way. Now there are so many ways and forms of media to market products that it’s becoming difficult to choose one that resonates most with the consumers.
Because frankly speaking, ads have now become an eye-roll-inducing activity for people. Nobody wants to see those in-your-face marketing methods.
So, it’s time we drifted away from those traditional methods and made way for a more creative and unconventional approach.
And guess what? We happened to have just the right thing for you! It’s called guerrilla marketing!
Let’s dig a little deeper to see how it can help you improve your marketing scene.
What is Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is a marketing strategy in which a company uses unconventional methods and interactions to promote a product or service.
The thing about guerrilla marketing is that it heavily relies on the element of surprise or provocativeness to create a buzz amongst people.
So, if you find a product at an unusual place, or a brand creating controversies with their crazy ads, then be sure that it’s all part of their guerrilla marketing technique.
Here are some of the essential features of guerrilla marketing:
- They are highly interactive and involves consumers’ participation.
- They always have an element of surprise which aims to make a memorable experience.
- It’s super cost-effective because it involves very little money compared to the outcome you receive.
- They are always subtle in their approach and never too pushy.
Now that you are familiar with what guerrilla marketing encompasses, let’s look at the list of guerrilla marketing examples that you can take inspiration from and get your brand noticed in the most unconventional way ever!
List of Guerrilla Marketing Examples You Must Explore!
1. Product Placement
Let’s kick start our list with this sly little form of guerrilla marketing called product placement. It is a way of subtly advertising or featuring a branded product or item in movies and television shows.
In most cases, you might not even realize that something is being advertised to you. That’s how sneaky they are! But, it sure has a way of etching into your mind without being too pushy or flashy.
Getting some screen time will definitely attach a cool factor to your product, particularly if it’s crucial to the scene or being used by the actor. Sure, it might be a bit on the expensive side, but product placement ensures that your brand gets marketing through the movie forever!
Read more: Tripwires: Definition, How To Include Them & Examples!
2. Flash Mobs
Flash mobs happen when a group of individuals comes together in a public place dressed as regular people and unexpectedly starts performing. This is a really cool guerrilla marketing tactic where you can get people to wear or paint their faces with the name or logo of your brand to capture the attention of your otherwise busy audience.
The idea is to get people to notice and start talking, sharing videos on YouTube, and make your flash mob go viral. Imagine a group of people suddenly bursting into an energetic and entertaining dance routine in the middle of a public place! There’s no way anyone is going to miss that!
Read more: How To Create An Effective Marketing Strategy For Your Business?
3. Promotional Stickers
Stickers are a super inexpensive way to get your brand out there and spread awareness among people. Surely, you must have seen them around your city – on walls, benches, buses, windshields of cars, etc. That’s what makes them so cool because you can stick them literally anywhere!
Nowadays, even animated online stickers are becoming popular among youngsters, which is also a great way to get people to notice your brand.
It’s an effective guerrilla marketing technique where you get to attract people’s attention as they are taking a walk through the city or sitting in a park or riding a bus. It is quite literally a sticky business!
4. Pop-up Shops
Why spend money on an ad to get people to come to your store when your store itself can be an ad?!
We are talking about pop-up shops, which are small shops that pop up on a busy area or street for a short duration of time. It’s a great form of guerrilla marketing because it suddenly interrupts people’s daily visual patterns with a new shop that wasn’t on their path a day before.
This piques their interest and makes them curious enough to check it out.
The best thing about a pop-up shop is that they are portable, which means you can pack them up and put them anywhere you think you will get more customers, for example, outside a carnival or a sporting event.
5. Graffiti Marketing
What if you could make walls and streets a giant canvas for advertising your brand? This is exactly what graffiti marketing does! It is a beautiful way of painting or sprays painting on city streets, walls, and alleyways to grab people’s attention.
You can check out stencil graffiti, where you can use stencils to create street art for your brand, or reverse graffiti, where you can remove or clean dirt from walls and surfaces to create a message.
Since graffiti is an art form and a part of street culture, it is definitely a great way to get people talking about your brand. But, remember to get legal permission before going all Picasso on the walls and streets, or else it can backfire on you.
6. Publicity Stunts
Publicity stunts quite literally involve real and actual stunts usually performed by professionals or even amateurs to get public attention.
It is a highly publicized event that garners a lot of media coverage as well as offers a platform to go viral online, which is what makes it a great form of guerrilla marketing.
It could be anything from achieving an impossible feat to breaking a world record. Sponsoring these events and stunts can provide your brand with high visibility and also reach a larger audience.
You can even use these events as an opportunity for direct interaction with your audience and also get them to try your product by offering samples.
Read more: Target Audience: What is it and How to Find them? (Steps Included)
7. Sassy Social Media Response
Social media is the greatest tool your brand can use to interact with your audience and competitors. So, why not use some humor and sass to get people talking?
As a brand, you should always refrain from directly attacking your competitors, but every once in a while a sassy response on social media can’t do you any harm. In fact, it might even get you more attention than you think.
Leave a feisty comment or a humorous pun roasting another brand under their own social media post and see what happens. You can even give funny responses and comebacks to your followers’ queries and comments.
This is obviously a dangerous territory for guerrilla marketing, but if done right, your brand can create a buzz online by sparking conversations.
8. Creative Billboards
A creative billboard is an awesome guerrilla marketing strategy that can not only entertain the people but also create awareness!
Billboards are large boards used for the purpose of advertising a brand. You have probably seen hundreds of them on your way to work because it’s really hard to miss something so huge.
Obviously, they are nothing new to the marketing scene, but with a twist of creativity, they are definitely buzz-worthy.
Consider a creative location for your billboard, like around the opening of a tunnel or at the end of a bridge. Tell a story with the imagery of your billboard. You can leverage the environment around your billboard.
9. Funny Sandwich Boards
A sandwich board is a double-sided A-shaped board. They are a traditional form of advertising that has managed to survive in the 21st century as well. The beauty of sandwich boards is that they are an inexpensive way to get foot traffic on the sidewalk to notice your brand.
Make a funny sandwich board that contains puns, jokes, or creative imagery, and watch people stop on the sidewalk to click a picture for posting online.
It is a simple, yet great guerrilla marketing technique that can engage every Tom, Dick, and Harry that walks on the street!
10. Street Projections
A street projection is a form of guerrilla marketing that involves the use of hidden projectors installed onto high-rise buildings in high-traffic streets.
It is done to project or display digital images or videos of your brand onto the surface of other buildings. It’s basically like a digital billboard.
By turning iconic buildings or public areas into canvases of light and color, street projection is an excellent way to increase foot traffic, create a media storm, grab headlines and generate a huge buzz around your brand.
It is obviously a risky business, but what’s guerrilla marketing without a little risk?
Read more: What is Product Adoption & How to do it Right?
11. Creative Business Cards
Business cards may be old, but they are still going to be around for a little while. So why not come up with creative ways to make your business cards more interesting than the usual boring ones.
Create attention-grabbing business cards that are so funny and unique that people would NOT want to toss them into a trash can.
Make cards with different shapes, sizes, and colors or go for a more unconventional approach and make stretchable cards, stencil cards, or even edible cards!
Go a little crazy with your ideas and your business cards might end up lending you a customer!
12. Staircase Graphics
Staircases and escalators can be found in a lot of places and they are frequently used by a lot of people, which is what makes it a great space to advertise your product.
Covering an entire flight of stairs with colorful graphics cannot be easily ignored by anyone. That’s why it is a genius guerrilla marketing technique that you can use for marketing your brand.
You can get innovative with staircase graphics by creating optical illusions or using interactive and funny images that will transform stairways and escalators into the center of attention.
It will give every single passer-by an extraordinary view of your ad. This will result in people clicking pictures and posting them online – giving your brand wider exposure.
We would say staircase graphics are definitely a step in the right direction!
13. Printed Coasters
A coaster is a mat for a cup or a bottle. You are likely to see them in restaurants, bars, and cafes, where people constantly come and go.
This makes coasters a great place to add an innovative and unique marketing idea that your customers are guaranteed to see!
Print out some really creative and interesting coasters with humorous one-liners and facts about your brand and its uses written on it, and watch it become people’s topic of discussion during their meal.
You can even go a little wild by creating different shapes of coasters with eye-popping colors so that everyone who comes in to grab a bite will definitely take notice of your coasters.
14. Free Samples
Everyone loves free stuff. In fact, it’s in our very nature to be drawn towards free things, which is why it makes for an excellent guerrilla marketing tactic that will have consumers flocking to your brand like a swarm of bees.
Giving out free samples or services to your consumers is a surefire way to quickly gain a lot of customers because you effectively get your product or service into the hands of just the people who are most likely to want what you are selling.
The psychology behind freebies is that it makes the consumers feel obligated to give their time for your brand. So use this opportunity to educate as many people as you can about your brand and its products.
Our team at bit.ai has created a few awesome marketing templates to make your marketing process more efficient. Make sure to check them out before you go, your marketing team might need them!
- Content Calendar Template
- Creative Brief Template
- Product Launch Marketing Template
- Partnership Marketing Plan Template
- Marketing LaunchPad
- Customer Survey Template
- Company Fact Sheet
- Brand Style Guide Template
Conclusion
As a marketer, you are the artist that brings to life the art that is guerrilla marketing, and the world is your canvas for it.
Making a creative advertisement does more than just getting people to buy your product – it interacts with them, makes them laugh, and triggers their nostalgia.
But most importantly, it gets everyone talking.
Our list of guerrilla marketing examples is a surefire way to get your consumers laughing, engaging, and buzzing with excitement without waving it aside as ‘just another ad’.
Being unconventional has become the new norm. So, get your marketing weapons ready, because it’s time to attack!
Further reads:
7 Social Media Trends To Watch Out For in 2022
Brand Authenticity: Definition, Importance & Tips To Build It!
12 Marketing Goals You Must Include In Your Plan!
Buyer Persona: What is it & How to Create it?
Go-To-Market Strategy Guide for Businesses
Saas Marketing: Definition, Funnel, and Comprehensive Strategies!
Marketing Funnel: What is it & How to Create it? (Steps included)
Business Development Plan: What Is It And How To Create A Perfect One?
Social Proof: 8 Ways to Use it to Get More Sales!
