Tired of trying to stay afloat with your tiny business when corporate bigwigs with bottomless coffers are dominating the great deep?
You may have an advantage yet… but if you go down the traditional marketing route, you’re likely sunk!
Guerilla marketing can help you get a seat at the table, as it deploys low-cost marketing “firepower” to create a much bigger bang for the buck.
Of course, you won’t need to engage in actual armed combat while peering out from bushy undergrowth. But you will need to think strategically and “strike” at the right time when crafting these marketing campaigns.
In this article, we cover:
- What exactly guerilla marketing is
- Key benefits for small businesses
- Potential pitfalls
- The different types
- 10 real-life guerilla marketing examples to inspire you
- Tips, tricks, and strategies, to give you the competitive edge
What is guerrilla marketing?
Guerilla marketing describes marketing tactics that utilize the element of surprise to generate publicity and drive word of mouth marketing (organic recommendations and buzz).
The term ‘guerilla marketing’ is credited to business author Jay Conrad Levinson, who envisioned this style of marketing as an unorthodox yet effective means for small businesses to generate profits on a limited budget.
But that doesn’t mean big businesses can’t use it. In fact, established businesses can learn a few tricks from guerilla marketing too.
The word ‘guerilla’ is a reference to guerilla warfare, where small groups of fighters use unconventional methods to ambush or surprise traditionally larger military groups. In guerilla marketing, on the other hand, we’ll be using the element of surprise to catch people’s attention and spread the word in a positive and exciting way!
But unlike guerilla warfare tactics, which are spontaneous and often decided on the spot, guerilla marketing ideas are often strategically planned in advance.
Since guerilla marketing was initially designed keeping the needs of small businesses/start-ups in mind, it’s distinguished by these unique features:
- Unconventionality and memorability: It’s designed to stop the scroll or grab attention.
- Low investment: Unlike traditional methods, guerilla marketing can work on a limited budget making it a boon for small business owners.
- Creating hype and buzz: Because there’s an element of creativity required to capture eyeballs, guerilla marketing has the potential to grow viral, encouraging word of mouth and shares on social media platforms. Think flash mobs as a case example!
Guerilla marketing campaigns are largely deployed offline (i.e. outside of digital channels). Any online element typically jumps off the guerilla marketing to encourage brand awareness and virality.
Benefits of guerrilla marketing
Guerilla marketing can offer several power-packed benefits despite not having the support of a large budget. Here are just a few of the most important ones:
Helps you reach consumers directly: In the book Guerilla Marketing for Dummies by Jonathan Margolis and Patrick Garrigan, the authors discuss why it’s a great way to hand-deliver your message and connect to your target audience immediately and powerfully.
“Going guerrilla puts your message on the move, granting you the opportunity to talk to people as they walk to work, watch a movie, or make a stop at the restroom… Through careful planning, you can use this trait to your advantage, deciding what sort of efforts to implement in order to target specific people at specific points in their day.”
Generates rapid word of mouth/could create virality: Because guerilla marketing deploys creative and out-of-the-box marketing techniques to arrest and hold attention, they have the potential to create rapid word of mouth or even generate instant virality. Imagine an average person on the street who, captivated by a guerilla campaign, decides to share a video of it online on their social media channels.
Viable solution for budget-strapped businesses: Guerilla marketing can be a cost-effective solution for small businesses, start-ups, and other types of businesses that have a shoestring budget. While you don’t need a lot of dollars in the bank to create a guerilla marketing campaign, the onus will be on utilizing time and energy to come up with a disruptively creative one.
Potential pitfalls
For all its advantages, guerilla marketing does come with some distinctly unsavory disadvantages that could potentially snowball if you don’t take those into account before conceptualization.
The potential for backlash: Sometimes campaigns can backfire on you, if you haven’t done the homework and don’t understand your audience. If you don’t read your demographics correctly, you may end up with a campaign that may offend, upset, or turn people completely off your brand.
Levinson isn’t a big fan of using humor in marketing. He says, in his compendium Guerilla Marketing Remix, The Best of Guerilla Marketing, “A good joke is very funny the first time that you see it. It’s a little bit less funny the second time you see it. The third time you see it, it’s not funny at all. The fourth time you see it, it becomes grating. After that, it starts turning you off of the product.
“Guerrilla advertising is fascinating the 10th time you see it, the 20th time you see it. You never get tired of it. But with humor, you get tired of the joke very fast.”
Dependent on weather, foot traffic, etc.: Because guerilla tactics rely on experiential marketing through direct interaction with people in real-life environments, you do have to factor unpredictable elements like the weather and potential traffic. Also, don’t forget to research and ensure any activities are legally allowed in the area you’ve targeted to avoid legal complications afterward.
Hit or miss: You can only run a campaign once. It’s a unique idea that will either shine or tank. If it tanks, it’s back to the drawing board.
Unpredictable results: While you may have some precedents or references for your unique marketing idea, it’s hard to predict the ROI on your campaign. You won’t be able to realistically predict the impact and how much word of mouth or virality you could potentially generate.
Types of guerrilla marketing
Guerilla marketing can be split into a few different types:
Outdoor displays: These comprise unexpected, creative visual installations that capture public attention in the most unlikely of locations. They often leverage urban environments like walls, streets, or public spaces to create incredibly memorable branding moments. Successful outdoor displays generate buzz through their element of surprise and their potential for shareability.
Indoor displays: These are similar to outdoor displays, except that they transform interior spaces like shopping malls, airports, or corporate lobbies into unique brand experiences. They typically use unconventional design, interactive elements, or provocative visuals to disrupt typical consumer expectations. These displays aim to create immediate, intimate brand interactions in controlled environments.
Campaigns at live events (“event ambushes”): Here, marketers aim to strategically insert their brand into live events without official sponsorship, creating unauthorized but attention-grabbing promotional moments. These tactics exploit high-traffic public gatherings like concerts, sports events, or conferences to maximize brand exposure. Success depends on creativity, timing, and the ability to generate viral social media content.
Full branded experiences, where people directly interact with a brand: These immersive marketing strategies create highly interactive environments where consumers directly engage with a brand’s products or services. They often involve pop-up installations, experiential zones, or demonstrations that transform passive observation into active participation.
The goal is to create memorable, emotional connections that go beyond traditional advertising approaches.
Top 10 guerrilla marketing examples
Let’s take a close look at 10 real-life examples of guerilla marketing and deconstruct why they were, or still are, so effective:
1. Coca-Cola’s Happiness Machine
Concept
A seemingly ordinary Coca-Cola vending machine at the Queen’s NY campus of St. John’s University became an unexpected source of joy when it started dispensing more than just sodas.
Coca-Cola, in conjunction with marketing agency Definition 6, installed hidden cameras that captured genuine student reactions over the course of 2 days, as the “Happiness Machine” surprised them with everything from flowers and sunglasses to full pizzas and even a massive hero sandwich.
Key Takeaway: The power of ingenuity and surprise
This guerilla marketing experiment brought Coke’s promise of happiness to life in the most delightful way, highlighting the powerful impact of creativity and surprise. The video moments shared online on Coca-Cola’s YouTube channel continue to deliver, having garnered over 11 million views to date.
2. HAVAS Pay for a Cookie With a Smile
Concept
Continuing on with the theme of delighting customers through the element of creativity and surprise, is HAVAS’ Pay for a Cookie With a Smile marketing Campaign.
When Euro RSCG rebranded to Havas Worldwide in 2012, they turned a simple name change into a force for positive change. The rebranding incidentally would also coincide with the launch of Project Change – “a series of actions to bring positive change in the world.”
When HAVAS discovered that a staggering 97% of Australians loathe their commute, they came up with a unique idea — several ridiculously happy team members would load up a vintage Mustang with freshly-baked cookies, and sell them for nothing but a smile. Racing through rush hour in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, these happy troopers were able to transform grumpy commuters into grinning customers.
Key Takeaway: Understanding your audience
HAVAS understood the underlying sentiment of an audience profile and decided to bring about a tiny revolution of sorts by flipping that sentiment, again deploying the element of surprise and creativity. Besides, who doesn’t like a freshly-baked cookie?
3. IKEA’s Apartment in a Box
Concept
IKEA, together with TH Experiential, and Deutsch, brought practical small-apartment-living to the streets, literally, with a roaming 400-square-foot slice of Brooklyn life. This fully-furnished mobile studio i.e. apartment-in-a-box, filled with 150 IKEA pieces, turned heads as it popped up overnight at iconic NYC spots like Union Square and the Brooklyn Public Library. It wasn’t just a display; it was a moving testament to small-space living that had New Yorkers following its journey across Manhattan and Brooklyn.
When IKEA Brooklyn finally opened its doors, 4 days later, more than 30,000 believers showed up driving over $1 million worth of sales.
Key takeaway: Taking marketing to the people
This example exemplifies the impact of guerilla marketing when you take it outdoors to places that regular people frequent, catching them as they go about their day. IKEA went all out with this idea which not just went viral on social media, but also highlighted their ability to provide multifunctional, space-saving furniture designed to make the best use of small apartment dimensions.
4. McDonald’s McFries Pedestrian Crossing
Concept
McDonald’s turned a traditional Swiss zebra crossing on its head by converting it into a temptation-fest featuring its iconic French fries.
During Zurichfest, when some of Zurich’s streets are opened up for all-pedestrian use, one local McDonald’s decided to seize the opportunity. They painted their signature fries where the traditional street stripes should be, creating an edible-looking path straight to their door.
In the midst of a food festival packed with vendors vying for attention, this simple yet brilliant idea drove pedestrian footfall to the nearest McDonald’s for their share of the crispy spuds.
Key takeaway: The importance of location and context
This specific example highlights the importance of making use of opportunity, location, and footfall behavior to leverage the power of guerilla marketing.
5. Gold Toe’s Wall Street Takeover
Concept
During New York Fashion Week, Gold Toe launched their new t-shirt and underwear line through a bold urban campaign that dressed iconic NYC statues, including the famous Wall Street Bull, in their products. They complemented this with strategically placed underwear-shaped wild posters throughout Manhattan streets.
Key takeaway: Timing and placement are key
Gold Toe’s campaign was successfully able to capture traffic during one of the busiest times of the year – New York Fashion Week. Their urban-installation-themed marketing capitalized on the optimal placement of well-known statues without damaging any public property in the process. They were able to create memorable photo opps (wanna take a photo with the Wall Street Bull wearing his gleaming tighty-whities?) and organic social media buzz.
6. BIC’s Grass Cutter Billboard
Concept
For this marketing campaign in Japan, BIC featured a minimalist billboard that served as a backdrop for a creative nature-friendly display. The main element was a precisely manicured strip of real grass leading up to a large 3D razor, with only a small BIC logo present. The grass was maintained regularly to ensure the message remained clear and effective.
Key takeaway: Show vs. Tell
The BIC campaign exemplifies the potential of guerrilla marketing by transforming an ordinary billboard into an unorthodox demonstration of the product’s effectiveness through the creative use of real grass.
The minimal branding and clever visual metaphor created a memorable surprise for passersby, generating organic word-of-mouth and social sharing potential while demonstrating the product’s benefits in a way traditional advertising couldn’t achieve.
The most powerful marketing messages often come from showing rather than telling — demonstrating your product’s benefits through creative, unexpected real-world applications that naturally capture attention and spark conversation.
7. Fiji Water’s Fiji Water Girl
Concept
At the 2019 Golden Globes, Water brand partner Fiji Water opted to have models present the bottles on the red carpet to ensure they had adequate promotional opportunities. One model stood out more than most.
Kelleth Cuthbert, who would soon earn the moniker ‘Fiji Water Girl’ post-event, showed up in the background of many a star photograph becoming an unlikely mascot of sorts for the brand. Her images went viral and so did the Fiji-branded bottles she was holding, creating significant publicity for the brand.
Key Takeaway: Prepare for the unexpected
Because when you do you can capitalize on moments that can potentially viralize. Fiji Water was quick to make use of Cuthbert’s momentary internet fame to reach new audiences and get their brand in front of more people.
8. 3M Security Glass
Concept
The 3M Security Glass guerrilla marketing campaign is the stuff of legends.
In 2005, 3M’s local dealer wanted to showcase a product called Scotchshield, which is an added clear film application to strengthen glass. For the campaign, $3 million was encased in 3M’s bulletproof glass and members of the public were invited to break the glass with their feet only to claim all the money inside.
The images and windows went viral quickly.
According to the Daily Hive, “It is estimated the 3M product received over $1 million in free publicity from all the organic local and national media coverage it earned at the time, and the cost of the stunt was just $6,000, including the cost of installing lights inside the case for the nighttime illumination of the cash.”
Key Takeaway: You don’t need a lot of dollars to execute a successful guerilla marketing campaign
3M’s campaign just goes to show you that with some out-of-the-box thinking and by cleverly leveraging public spaces, you can easily earn many times the ROI on minimal spends.
9. UNICEF’s Dirty Water Drinking Challenge
Concept
UNICEF placed vending machines that offered eight dirty and dangerous types of water in the streets of Manhattan, New York. The flavours? Malaria, cholera, typhoid, dengue, hepatitis, dysentery, salmonella, and yellow fever.
The idea was to create awareness about the millions of people around the world who lacked access to safe drinking water and the numbers of death that were a consequence. UNICEF also hoped to raise $1 million in donations.
By donating $1, people could access a bottle of the dirty water, with that $1 going to provide clean drinking water to a child for 40 days.
Key Takeaway: Guerilla marketing can be just as effective for social causes
The key is to provide just the amount of cognitive disruption to generate awareness and force people to action.
10. Dunkin’ Donuts: You Look Hot Down There
Concept
Dunkin’ Donuts went aerial with this instantly engaging banner which was flown over some of the busiest local areas for maximum visibility. The playful reference to its iced coffee during some of the hottest days of the year did not fail to create impact. The messaging was vibrant and fun, instantly establishing a connect with people on the ground.
Our key takeaway from this guerilla marketing example is the effectiveness of combining humor with strategic placement to capture attention.
Key Takeaway: Don’t be afraid to be playful!
The best guerilla marketing campaigns are the ones that manage to put a smile on your audience’s faces!
Guerilla vs. viral marketing
Guerilla marketing is an offline creative ‘stunt’ which deploys low-cost, unconventional tactics to create a localized ‘buzz’. The focus is on surprising and engaging real-world interactions. These interactions may lead to online virality, however that may not always be the case. Examples of guerilla marketing include flash mobs, street art, interactive billboards, and unique installations.
Viral marketing is engineered to spread rapidly online. While it can be just as equally low-cost, the chief focus is creating highly shareable and emotionally engaging content with the aim of widespread digital distribution. The ALS Ice Bucket challenge and Dollar Shave Club’s website-breaking launch video are some specific examples.
Marketing lingo can seem confusing especially when it’s used to reference seemingly similar types of marketing tactics. A case in point is ‘buzz marketing.’ Buzz marketing can utilize both guerilla and viral marketing tactics but it differs in that it relies on creating word of mouth through identifying and leveraging influencers and thought leaders for the purpose of sharing.
Guerilla marketing tips
Before we wind up, we’re going to share some of the most effective guerilla marketing tips that are proven to deliver results:
Set campaign goals
Establish clear and measurable objectives before you start conceptualizing your creative – whether it’s driving foot traffic or boosting sales, as this will shape your entire strategy and help measure results.
Get in touch with your target audience
Understanding your audience’s daily routines, pain points, and areas they like to frequent, helps you create moments that genuinely resonate rather than just startle, like IKEA with their Apartment-In-a-Box concept that recognizes how small apartment owners are looking for multifunctional and space-saving furniture that are equally stylish.
Dig deep into their habits, preferences, and cultural touchpoints to ensure your guerrilla campaign speaks to them.
Choose your location carefully
Your location should naturally align with your target audience’s lifestyle and physical presence while offering maximum visibility and engagement potential, similar to the manner in which McDonalds’ designed their MacFries pedestrian crossing.
The perfect location combines high traffic with contextual relevance, turning everyday spaces into memorable brand experiences.
Be original, creative, surprising, and on brand
Aim to create a campaign that stops people in their tracks while staying true to your brand identity – like Coca-Cola’s Happiness Machine delivering unexpected joy in a way that perfectly aligns with their brand promise.
Your guerrilla campaign should feel both surprising and perfectly natural for your brand.
Add interactivity if you can
Give your audience a chance to become part of the experience, whether it’s through physical interaction, social media sharing, or direct participation – like Havas’s smile-for-a-cookie campaign that turned passive observers into active participants.
The more people can engage with your campaign, the more memorable and shareable it becomes.
Try it with a focus group first
Test your concept with a small group to identify potential issues, gauge reactions, and refine the experience before going public – this can help you avoid costly mistakes or the potential for negative responses. Running a focus group helps ensure your creative concept translates effectively from idea to reality minus the hitches.
Maintain momentum with promotions
Keep the momentum high through follow-up off-site activities, integration of social media content, and promotional tie-ins that extend your campaign’s life beyond the initial campaign.
A great guerrilla campaign should spark conversations that continue long after the initial drop.
Measure your results
Track relevant metrics that align with goals, whether that’s foot traffic, social media mentions, sales uplift, or brand awareness. Concrete data helps prove ROI and informs the strategy for successful guerrilla marketing strategies in the future.
Wrap-up
Guerilla marketing is a great way for small businesses to gain publicity and word-of-mouth on a limited budget. Use the tips, strategies, and examples shared in this article to help inspire your next marketing campaign.
