The most innovative creations come from the nuttiest of ideas. And in today’s society, your brand needs to stand out if you want to capture the attention of your target consumers. The average attention span of a Millennial is 12 seconds, while the average attention span for Gen Zers is only eight seconds (Oracle, 2020). If you want to harness their attention spans the best way to do so is with a mind-blowing guerrilla marketing campaign.
Guerrilla Marketing Explained
You might ask what the hell is guerrilla marketing? Guerrilla marketing emphasizes a combative gorilla warfare approach to business and gets inspiration from gorilla militia tactics such as surprise, speed, aggression, mobility, and an out-of-the-ordinary approach to achieving an objective and defeating the enemy (Meltwater, 2021).
Guerrilla marketing is different from traditional marketing in that it often relies on personal interaction. Businesses that use guerrilla marketing rely on their in-your-face promotions to be spread through viral marketing, or word-of-mouth, thus reaching a wider audience for free. Connection to the emotions of a consumer is what guerrilla marketing is all about.
Guerrilla marketing takes place in public, high-foot traffic places that offer as big an audience as possible, such as streets, concerts, public parks, sporting events, festivals, beaches, and shopping centers. One key element of guerrilla marketing is choosing the right time and place to conduct a campaign (Meltwater, 2021).
Here are a few other reasons why incorporating a guerilla marketing strategy into your marketing plan is great for your business:
- It’s inexpensive
- It creates buzz and free press
- Your brand remains topical in today’s ever-changing world
- It sparks emotion within people and is completely out of the ordinary
- There are several word-of-mouth marketing opportunities
- You can hit your target audience…and then some with a wide range of people if you ensure you target high foot traffic areas
Example of Successful Guerilla Marketing Campaigns:
GDX Studios: 30 costumed ladies took to the streets in high-traffic locations in Miami, Los Angeles, and San Diego. Dressed in full Atomic Blonde apparel, they passed out branded cassette tapes with the movie’s soundtrack. In San Diego, lucky fans were invited to a VIP screening of the film. This activation was called out by BizBash as being one of the top activations at Comic-Con!
The street teams were popular with fans everywhere, even Charlize Theron posted a selfie with the ladies on her personal Instagram.
These are only a few of countless ways your brand can make a buzz in today’s world. If your brand incorporates guerilla marketing tactics in your marketing plan you can begin to stand out from the crowd, continue to surprise and delight your target audience, and turn strangers into loyal customers. Need help turning your ideas into reality? Reach out to us at GDX Studios at [email protected]— Let’s make magic happen.
