Brands Which Successfully Used Guerrilla Marketing

With social media and digital marketing growing hand in hand, people were looking at new forms of marketing. Although the 1980s did see a few brands using guerrilla marketing, it wasn’t until Jay Conrad Levinson’s book, Guerrilla Marketing, that people started paying attention to this form of marketing. This book dished out everything which goes on with guerrilla marketing and talked about how major advertising results were derived with barely any money being spent.

Similar to guerrilla warfare techniques, this kind of marketing involves quick and precise attacks, with the result being an instant recall of the brand! While the ’80s saw small brands using this form of marketing, the early 2000s saw an increasing use of it to spread word about the brand. From Red Bull, to Taco Bell and to Eastern Bank, these major companies have used this particular marketing technique to the fullest!

1. Red Bull

Picture credits: guerrillaguide.wordpress.com

As a company which uses social media to its complete advantage, Red Bull has quite literally redefined marketing. By creating individual campaigns with the brand as its central focus, this energy drink producing company started creating campaigns aimed at promoting it as a positive drink. By placing massive Red Bull cans on a Red Bull car, the brand used guerrilla marketing to its complete advantage. Every event they have is centered around promoting the brand. From having individual challenges with Red Bull involved in them, to having a tag line which redefines energy and positions the brand differently, every campaign is created toward increasing recall. These campaigns were so successful, it increased the market share of Red Bull by 70 % and by 2010, the Company sold 4.2 billion cans all over the world. Today, Red Bull is consumed by people in more than 160 countries! Talk about marketing campaigns done right.

2. Pokémon Go

Picture credits: adweek.com

Created by Nintendo, Pokémon Go was one of the most one of the most popular games which came from the United States. A completely immersive game, people went so far as to create hangout spots for increasing the pokémon capturing hotspots. Even social media was going crazy with this fad, with tweets about this game outweighing national topics. With downloads of this app shooting higher than those of  apps Tinder and Candy Crush, Nintendo’s sales started skyrocketing. One of the most dominating guerrilla marketing campaigns from 2016, the virtual reality app for Pokémon Go was used by people all over the world. One of the primary reasons this campaign picked up so quickly was because of its immersive nature. An augmented 3D reality game, the Pokémon Go app let people catch pokémons in unexpected places.

3. The Ice Bucket Challenge

Picture credits: the atlantic.com

The Ice Bucket Challenge, was started to raise money and increase awareness about what the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) disease is. This challenge went viral in the year 2014. Affecting over 6,000 people a year in the United States alone, ALS results in death between 2 to 4 years of the diagnosis. Using social media as a platform, the challenge had people throwing buckets of ice water on themselves and then nominating three people to complete the challenge as well. Aimed at showing people what ALS really does and how it affects people, this challenge involved more than 17 million people all over the world and raised a grand total of $ 220 million for research aimed at improving the lives of the people suffering from ALS.

4. Uber

Picture credits: cnet.com

Sometimes, money isn’t really all that is needed to make a mark in the world of advertising. All it takes is an idea. Uber quite literally hit gold when it partnered with Cheezburger and ASPCA for the Uber kittens promotion. In order to increase awareness about giving these kittens a home, Uber would deliver kittens to people and give them 15 minutes of play time! So popular was this campaign that within just a few days of being launched, more than 30 kittens were already adopted! Not only did Uber get good word of mouth publicity, the kittens also got a home. Talk about a win win campaign!

5. Eastern Bank

Picture credits: nhfood.com

In a one of its kind marketing campaign, Eastern Bank launched a campaign which was aimed at brand recall. Using a guerrilla marketing brand called Plenty of Twenty, Eastern Bank set up a scavenger hunt by hiding 6 GoPro cameras around Boston. By posting a series of hints and clues on its social media handles, Eastern Bank enticed people into physically going around and looking for the hidden GoPros. What made this campaign work is, not only did it make people walk around looking for the GoPros, it also helped increase the brand recall of Eastern Bank. What could be a better guerrilla campaign than this!

6. Taco Bell

Picture credits: twoeggz.com

According to the rumour mill, Taco Bell hired the extremely famous Liberty Bell and used it as a part of its marketing campaign. The Liberty Bell, a symbol of freedom and justice, is one of the most iconic figures from American History. Initially cast in London in the year 1752, the bell was moved to Pennsylvania State and ever since, is a representation of all the times America fought for its rights. Renaming the bell as the Taco Liberty Bell, this stint resulted in a lot of raised eyebrows. While the initial reaction was negative and raised a lot of outrage from everyone who saw the revised bell, the reaction post the storm was calm. A definite brand recall tactic, Taco Bell definitely raised a lot of eyeballs with this campaign.

7. Audi

Picture credits: audi.com

Early on before diesel was used as widely as it is today, it had a negative connotation of being harmful to the environment. With an impressive guerrilla campaign, Audi quite literally changed the way people perceived diesel in itself. Working with the tagline ‘Di*sel | It’s No Longer A Dirty Word,’ Audi set about promoting diesel as an environmental friendly product. Instantly hitting the right notes, this campaign went viral. The result of this campaign was so widespread, it changed the perception around diesel in itself. While once thought to be a harmful source of energy, diesel was now viewed as a means to save the environment!

The main advantage of guerrilla marketing is, it helps increase your brand’s awareness and it leaves a lasting impression on the audience. If you think we missed out on any other marketing campaigns like these, comment and let us know!