Guerrilla Marketing
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NEW Marketers are creative people. Sometimes they are making efforts to capture buyer's attention with non-standard merchandising tools. Also, large advertising campaigns require large funding and are only available to a small number of businesses that have huge funds, a comprehensive PR department, and are able to use all forms of promotion. For representatives of small and medium enterprises, these resources and methods may not be available.
What is Guerrilla Marketing? Definition
Guerrilla marketing is a low-budget advertising and marketing method that allows you to effectively promote a product or service, attract new customers and increase profits with a little amount of money. It is also referred to as "low-budget" or "low-cost" marketing.
Guerrilla marketing aims to promote small businesses using advertising methods that do not require high costs. it should be done in a way that is interesting, unconventional, and of course aimed at attracting the client's attention.
The essence of guerrilla marketing is to use creative thinking and just a small budget to promote a product or service, and the result of applying this method is, first of all, attracting the attention of consumers with something unusual, out of the ordinary, that will make them talk about the company a lot.
Guerrilla Marketing is about taking the consumer by surprise, make an indelible impression, and create copious amounts of social buzz. Guerrilla marketing can sometimes make a more valuable impression with consumers in comparison to more traditional forms of advertising and marketing. This is due to the fact that most guerrilla marketing campaigns aim to strike the consumer at a more personal and memorable level.
Guerrilla Marketing Characteristics
Guerrilla marketing characteristics that distinguish it from classic marketing:
- Creative approach: Only an original idea, using non-traditional advertising channels, can cause corresponding resonance;
- Low-budget: It focuses on maximizing profits with minimal financial investment;
- One-time implementation: Repeating a similar campaign for the same target audience will often be ineffective;
- Lack of strict moral and ethical restrictions: Guerrilla marketing often involves provocative and shocking events;
- Shows quick results: Most guerrilla marketing techniques give the result either immediately or after a short period of time. Guerrilla marketing typically gets new customers in almost the next day;
- Psychological impact on the target audience: Based on an initial analysis of potential client needs, and their internal motivation.

An Example of Guerrilla Marketing
The owner of the pet store invited students from nearby schools on a tour to his store as part of the natural history lesson. At the end of the excursion, each student received a gift of a live goldfish in a plastic bag filled with water and a brochure with instructions on how to take care of the fish. As a result of this maneuver, many parents were forced by their children to buy an aquarium, aerator, algae, special food, and other goods for the fish, the total cost of which was hundreds of times higher than the cost of the fish itself!
Although guerrilla marketing as a concept is mostly aimed towards small businesses with a small budget, this doesn't stop big businesses from also adopting the same ideology.
It is important to remember that successful marketing ideas are always based on good knowledge of the target markets and the ability to effectively communicate with them. Therefore, the difference between guerrilla marketing and traditional marketing mainly lies in the understanding that creativity means more than investing large sums of money, and the result must come quickly, otherwise, it will probably not happen at all.
Did you ever use guerrilla marketing in your marketing strategy? Please share any cool examples and experiences with us below. Thank you!
References:
• Ay, C., Aytekin, P., Nardali, S. (2010). Guerrilla Marketing Communication Tools and Ethical Problems in Guerilla Advertising. American Journal of Economics and Business Administration Vol.2, No.3:, Pp.280-286.
• Tam, D., D., Khuong, M, N. (2015). The Effects of Guerilla Marketing on Gen Y's Purchase Intention — A Study in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. International Journal of Trade, Economics and Finance, Vol. 6, No. 4, Pp.191 -198.