Updated on 29/05/2024

In our fast-paced world, traditional advertising often gets overlooked. That's where guerrilla marketing comes in—a bold and creative strategy that captures attention and generates buzz in unexpected ways. Get ready to discover how brands are thinking outside the box! 

Click here for a sneak peak:

1. What is guerrilla marketing? 

2. The role of technology in guerrilla marketing

3. The benefits of guerrilla marketing

4. The risks of guerrilla marketing

5. 8 types and examples of guerrilla marketing 

6. Is guerrilla marketing right for you? 

7. Summing up 

What is guerrilla marketing? 

Guerrilla marketing is an approach that uses elements of surprise and unconventional messages.

It raises awareness and promotes products or services to potential customers.

In 1984, advertising executive Jay Conrad Levinson created "guerrilla marketing."

The concept came in his book "Guerrilla Advertising," drawing inspiration from unconventional warfare.

The book focused on a shift from traditional marketing methods to digital.

The term “guerrilla” comes from the warfare tactic. This is best known for catching the enemy off-guard using ambushes and raids.

This disruptive advertising method relies on creative, memorable and even shocking images.

But you have to find the right spot and time to create a campaign to avoid legal issues. 

Those evoke customer engagement and spark awareness through word-of-mouth or virality.

An example of an immersive experience?

Take Netflix’s 3D billboard in Times Square promoting Resident Evil.

The role of technology in guerrilla marketing

In 2024, guerrilla marketing tactics use digital technology to increase their outreach.

A single creative action can go viral within hours.

Ana that is thanks to social media platforms like TikTok, Instagram, and Twitter.

Today’s technology transforms local events into global sensations.

This ensures that innovative campaigns capture widespread attention.

Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) have created successful guerrilla marketing campaigns.

How so?

By offering immersive experiences that blend the digital and physical worlds.

Imagine interactive street art or live events that extend into virtual spaces.

This engages audiences both in-person and online.

But you should be careful about the speed.

Negative reactions can arrive due to a rapid content spread.

A misstep can lead to widespread backlash.

This makes it essential for brands to plan and execute their guerrilla campaigns.

In the digital age, technology provides extensive reach but requires careful planning.

The benefits of guerrilla marketing

A well-executed promo can impress customers more effectively than other digital marketing tactics.

Here are some of the top benefits of guerrilla marketing: 

• Budget-friendly: Executing guerrilla marketing requires careful planning, thought and stacks of creativity. Your ingenuity is the biggest investment, not the implementation which makes it relatively low-cost for your marketing budget. 

• FUN: We use capitals here to convey the correct meaning - guerrilla marketing can and should be fun. Creativity is a large part of marketing in general, but few methods make it the focus of a campaign.

• Memorable: A measure of success for guerrilla marketing is how memorable it is. If people are gossiping to their friends, spreading and sharing your work online, you know you’ve created something special.

• Partnerships: Placing your ads in popular locales, festivals and other significant areas opens the door for more exposure and getting noticed by potential collaborators.

• Customer insights: Seeing the response to guerrilla marketing ads reveals much about how customers perceive your brand and how they feel about it. 

The risks of guerrilla marketing 

If you get it right, guerrilla marketing is a formidable tactic.

Why?

• It can raise awareness on a large scale

• It strengthens your brand identity

• It can spark a conversation around your company

But like most unconventional methods, they can backfire if not handled with care. 

So what are some possible cons of guerrilla marketing?

Be mindful of the following factors: 

• Risky: Ultimately, what you put out in the real world reflects your brand. Be mindful of using risky or controversial elements that might draw negative attention.
  
  
• Getting buy-in: Guerrilla marketing can be a hard sell to executives and budget gatekeepers. You’ll need a strong case that it’ll work to convince managers and get approval.
  
  
• Sensitivity: Shock value by its very nature, is shocking. Be careful not to upset, frighten or irritate people with your ads. 

8 types and examples of guerrilla marketing 

Now the real excitement can begin!

Let’s look at some real-world examples of these 8 types of guerrilla marketing that can be categorised as either outdoor or indoor marketing:

Outdoor marketing

Outdoor marketing is about advertising and promotional efforts in open or public spaces. This includes streets, parks, and building exteriors.

1. Ambient marketing

This uses an unusual location or place to advertise.

Ambient marketing is a strategic approach that creates an authentic connection.

By using its surroundings, it also evokes a response.

Example: Folgers coffee in New York. 

We love the ingenuity of this campaign.

Folgers covered manholes across the city with coffee cup stickers that let the subway steam pour through the vents, just like a hot morning brew.

The tagline reads, Hey City That Never Sleeps. Wake up. Folgers.

This is a prime example of using the natural environment to heighten the impact of an advertisement.

And in one of the busiest cities in the world, thousands of commuters can’t miss it. 

Perfect. 

2. Ambush marketing 

This refers to companies and brands promoting themselves in the same place as a competitor or another company.

Common places for ambush marketing are festivals, sports events and similar attention-heavy areas.

The interesting (and risky) thing about ambush marketing is that companies don’t always have permission from the sponsor.

Brands will pop up unexpectedly to create buzz, disrupt or piggyback off other campaigns. 

Example: Audi vs. BMW 

This now historic billboard battle between two automotive giants took place in Wisconsin, circa 2009.

After sponsoring a rally, BMW compared the event to a chess game.

Audi saw an opportunity to capitalise on their rival’s slogan and produced this: 

Pretty funny. But for Audi, this light jab wasn’t enough.

They provoked BMW further with another billboard ad, quite literally asking for a response. 

The fight was officially on.

BMW responded to Audi’s light-hearted but intentional mockery by flexing its automotive muscles.

Right across the street, they erected this billboard, dealing what everybody thought was the final blow:

But it didn’t stop there! Audi wiped the sweat from their brow and squared up for another round.

Unfortunately for them, it wasn’t enough to stop BMW’s final haymaker - attaching a blimp to Audi's billboard with the slogan, “Game Over.”

See the final bout below: 

3. Guerrilla projection mapping 

Ever seen a video or image projected onto a building?

This is guerrilla projection mapping.

An undeniably captivating marketing tactic that draws eyes and cameras from around the world.

There’s nothing quite like seeing a video play out on a skyscraper as you’re taking a stroll.

Example: Irn-Bru Made in Scotland from Girders campaign.

Irn-Bru-Timelapse2 on Vimeo

This guerrilla projection caught national attention due to its creative genius.

Irn-Bru has always shared history with The Forth Bridge in Scotland.

So, bottles of Irn-Bru were projected onto the bridge’s girders to celebrate this decades-long relationship.

Quite the spectacle.

4. Street marketing 

Another cost-effective and buzz-building guerrilla marketing tactic is street marketing.

This is when a company advertises their product in unconventional street areas such as parks, bus stops, a train station, or other public areas.

Street marketing is yet another showing of creative ingenuity that oozes brand identity.

Example: KFC

Videogames are huge. Whether you like them or not, the gaming market was valued at €195 billion in 2021.

God of War: Ragnarok is one of the most highly-anticipated games of the year.

So why not capitalise off that momentum and excitement with a smartly placed ad?

Right next to theirs. This is a great example of collaborative street marketing that garners tons of attention.

Bravo KFC, well played.

Indoor marketing 

Indoor marketing stands for promotional activities within enclosed environments. This includes shopping malls, offices, cinemas, and online platforms.

1. Astroturfing 

Astroturfing is highly controversial as it tries to create a positive message or image about a company or brand, that appears natural but is in fact, being funded or directed by the beneficiary.

Examples of astroturfing are:

• Paying bloggers for reviews (posing as non-biased)

• Creating fake or bot accounts on social media to spread a message

• Influencer marketing: using influencers to say positive things about a product without any first-hand experience or evidence.

Example: McDonald’s paying part-time employees to queue for a new burger. 

The city of Osaka in Japan eagerly awaited the release of McDonald’s new quarter pounder burger. Delicious indeed.

But to generate buzz around their new product launch, the company paid 1000 people to queue, faking its popularity.

Not the best idea. 

2. Buzz marketing

This one plays into word-of-mouth marketing.

There is little more powerful than a trusted source telling you about their experience with a brand.

It gives automatic credibility and persuades without effort.

It makes sense then that a popular guerrilla marketing tactic hones in on this long-utilised strategy.

In the digital age of social media and viral marketing, companies can create a product that gets people talking and sharing at scale.

Example: Budweiser’s wassup commercial. 

Simply put, this is one of the best commercials of all time.

It’s funny, memorable and impossible to resist mimicking. Drinking a Budweiser beer became synonymous with yelling “wassup” at your friends.

Few marketing campaigns etch their way into our lexicon. 

3. Stealth marketing

Stealth marketing happens when companies promote a product or service without the customer’s knowledge of it.

It’s passive and just “there”, two versions of this are product placement and undercover advertising. 

Example: Axe body spray. 

If you were born in the 90s onwards, you’ll likely be familiar with Axe body spray for men (or Lynx as it’s known in the UK).

Aside from receiving Christmas gift sets for a decade, Axe’s mantra was making men “irresistible” to the opposite sex.

They made a bold statement, not really based on facts.

To promote this, they cleverly used stickers on fire exits.

The stickers showed women chasing men and it was a unique way to catch people’s attention.

4. Grassroots marketing

Unlike other marketing methods grass marketing does not aim to spread brand awareness or promote their products to the masses.

Instead, it focuses on a smaller, highly targeted and niche audience for which its message can resonate more deeply.

Grassroots marketing can be a bit flexible and occur in both settings, but traditionally it often starts in more controlled indoor environments before moving outdoors.

Example: One Fund’s #BostonStrong campaign.

Grassroots marketing is a powerful driver for philanthropic and charitable campaigns.

Centred on community and the selflessness of giving, one example is the One Fund’s Twitter campaign.

This followed the devastation of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings Marathon bombings.

They managed to raise $72 million and donate $2 million to each of the victim's families.

We love to see marketing making a real difference and uniting people.

Is guerrilla marketing right for you?

Guerrilla marketing can be incredibly effective, but it’s not the right choice for every company.

If you're unsure whether this bold approach matches your brand, it's wise to test the waters before diving into a full-scale campaign.

With various guerrilla marketing strategies available, you might find that one particular method resonates more with your brand than others.

If you’re wary of potentially misleading your audience, it's best to avoid unconventional tactics like astroturfing.

However, if you're excited about leveraging creative and low-cost street guerrilla marketing techniques, this type of marketing might be ideal for you.

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Summing up 

Guerrilla marketing is an approach that focuses on being memorable and cost-effective.

The campaigns aim to spark curiosity delivering powerful messages that connect with audiences.

This strategy is especially useful when traditional methods aren't effective or when your brand needs a fresh boost.

Guerrilla marketing can cut through the noise and leave a lasting impression on your target audience, using creative marketing strategies.

So, adding guerrilla marketing to your strategy can revitalise your brand and engage customers in exciting new ways.

Whether you want to stand out in a crowded market or go viral, guerrilla marketing is a versatile and impactful tool to achieve your goals.