Guerrilla Marketing

From a management point of view, what strikes one first, when one hears about eye-catchy, attention grabbing , effective marketing campaigns? It is generally huge investment, isn’t it? So does it mean that the small and medium businesses do not stand a chance in front of big MNC’s? The solution to budget problems for marketing may have come to an end. But it requires something else in abundance: original thinking or innovation. The secret of successful marketing is sensory stimulus. Marketers want that people should get as involved in a product as possible through their senses like smell, touch, sight etc. Guerrilla marketing is a term coined on such engaging and economical attempts.

Guerrilla marketing may be termed as unconventional system of promotions and advertising and marketing attempts that rely on time, energy and imagination rather than a big marketing budget.

Guerrilla marketing refers to such marketing campaigns which are totally offbeat or so called HAT KE! The term Guerrilla Marketing was coined by JAY CONRAD LEVINSON in his book on the same subject. This term has successfully found its place in the toolbox of today’s marketer.  The concept is best understood through examples.

Take a look at the adjacent photograph. “Well”, you will say, “that doesn’t require a huge investment.” And it is effective also. All that the marketer needs is to get people’s attention so that the brand  gets registered in their minds. Who wouldn’t see such a thing while walking down the street? Innovative and effective, isn’t it?

In guerrilla marketing, the marketers try to get as near to people as possible so that their products get noticed. Guerrilla marketing campaigns are always unexpected and unconventional, potentially interactive and consumers are targeted in unexpected places. The objective of guerrilla marketing is to create a unique, engaging and thought-provoking concept to generate a buzz, and consequently turn viral. The most important factor of such attempts is the negligible cost associated with them.

The dog toy shown in the adjacent figure was kept in lots of parks and public places by Meister Camera to communicate the image clarity their camera provides. It was a very successful campaign.

Guerrilla marketing tactics are also being used by government agencies to send a stronger message to people. 

Take a look at the video. 

In this attempt, the authorities took a photograph of a child and printed real life posters of the girl and placed them all over the city. There was no message on any of the posters. People would notice that little girl everywhere they go. After a few weeks, the authorities put a message on the poster: “The kids you kill never leave you. Slow down near schools”. This had a very deep impact on people of that city and the average speed of vehicles around the school premises was found to be drastically reduced. 

While you are traveling for work or for any reason in a metro and you have to hold on to something as shown in the adjacent figure, it would definitely catch your attention. It is very important to recognize what the marketers of the product are trying to do in such add campaigns. If you stress your grey cells a little bit you would get the point that is being made here.

Marketers are trying to create an actual experience for you with the product! The wrist watch advertisement actually puts the watch on your wrist without any resistance from your side. You may turn your attention again to the camera advertisement. It doesn’t say anywhere that their camera provides a superior quality of photographs. The process that starts in one’s mind is important here. The dog is not clearly visible and it is written “See it in more detail”. The moment one sees such a thing, what happens in her mind? The person’s conscious mind works a little bit and tries to figure out what it means and there you have it, people doing, what the marketers actually wanted them to do. They are THINKING. By thinking on such a thing, we unknowingly get involved in the product and the next time we go to buy a camera, Meister would be the first thing that would come to our mind just because we had a personal experience with the brand and that too, we ended up admiring the great minds behind that advertisement. So, there you have it, a great experience with the product or the brand. Didn’t cost much, right?

Nike and many other sports accessory companies have made  marketing attempts similar to one shown in the adjacent figure. A bit of psychology is also used here. The crashed car sets our mood in slight fear, a state identical with excitement. The reason sports companies wanted to associate themselves with such an emotion is obvious. Ultimately, they got the publicity they wanted.

One crucial point to be noted here is that as this channel of advertisement becomes more and more effective and the word spreads, it would start flooding, as happened with TV and other media. When a channel gets flooded it obviously loses its effectiveness. So, there is a need for constant innovation by the marketers. Guerrilla marketing seems to be very effective as the companies try to create a personal experience for potential customers. The question here that comes to mind is what next? How personal can companies get to push their sales? The answer to the question lies not far away but in the near future.

Kushal Lokhande
Marque
IIM Rohtak