Get Creative and Take Your Brand to the Next Level
If you want your brand to stand out in your niche, you need to get creative. Since standing out in a crowd can prove to be a challenge, many brands have turned to guerrilla marketing. Just as its name states, these techniques take on a creative, outside-the-box form and are sometimes put into practice sans-authorization. Below are some guerrilla marketing ideas your brand can use to give you that extra push.
What Is Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing may sound like a funny term that is reminiscent of wartime strategies, but that’s exactly where the name comes from. Guerrilla marketing techniques draw their inspiration from the unexpected and surprise attacks used during times of war. These attacks were unconventional and relied heavily on the element of surprise in order to be a success.
In the same way, guerrilla marketing is employed to help brands get creative and stand out in their market. These techniques aim to surprise consumers in order to make a name for themselves. Brands are getting more and more clever when it comes to finding ways of really standing out. Instead of running ads on television, they may instead focus on creating an outdoor installation that disrupts the rhythm of daily life.
The idea is to demand attention from consumers instead of running another ad that is easy to walk past or ignore. Of course, this takes creativity and thinking outside the box. Think beyond the normal ad you see in a magazine or on television and create an effective marketing strategy your product or service.
Guerrilla Marketing Techniques You Can Use
Guerrilla marketing techniques are more often used by larger brands and corporations because they can be risky. With that being said, this doesn’t mean smaller brands can’t benefit from getting creative and working with an experienced marketing agency. If you have a great idea for your brand, taking the leap into ti can pay off and can help make a name for your brand no matter what industry you’re breaking into.
If you’re interested in including guerrilla marketing techniques in your plans, below are some great ways to make this happen. Whether your brand is just starting out or you think it’s time to make a move that will really set you apart, these tips can help.
Street Art and Marketing
Street art is a popular form of art, especially among younger crowds. Thanks to the viral works of artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey, people are much more likely to notice and admire works of street art like graffiti, sticker art, and stencil art. Of course, when something is popular among the masses, there’s a good reason to look into how to use it for your own brand.
A popular technique used by artists as well as big brands is reverse graffiti. This is accomplished by cleaning the dirt and grime away from sidewalks using a stencil which then reveals an image or slogan. Not only is this a clever way to advertise your brand, but it’s also free and requires no permits. It’s a great option for eco-friendly campaigns as well since there is no printing, no painting, and resources aren’t wasted since you’re basically just cleaning a sidewalk.
Outdoor Guerrilla Marketing
When talking about outdoor guerrilla marketing, this refers to any outdoor installation that is creative and pushes boundaries. Oftentimes, these campaigns are plastered in parts of cities that get a lot of foot traffic and their aim is to get people to stop and look or even interact with the installation.
These will be presented in the form of creative billboards that bleed into the city with additional elements, bus stops that take on a new form, park benches that look like something beyond a regular bench, and even activations that require passersby interaction to work. Another plus is that these installations make for great photo backgrounds which means people will definitely share them on social media.
These can be tough to explain in just words, so using a billboard maker can help you bring your idea to life. If you’re presenting your idea to your team, you can use a billboard mockup to help them really understand your proposal.
Indoor Guerrilla Marketing
On the contrary, indoor guerrilla marketing is just the opposite in the sense that these installations are presented, as the name states, indoors. These are just as creative and innovative, but they’re often seen inside train stations, shopping malls, and university campuses.
In most cases, you will need a permit or permission for these types of installations. Since they aren’t out in public spaces, it can sometimes be tough to be granted a permit, but once you achieve this, you can be sure your brand will get noticed thanks to your non-traditional form of marketing.
The video below shows an installation Coca Cola crafted to get attention in a more creative way. They installed a vending machine in a collage campus and watched as the crowd grew around the machine and captured their surprise. Their Happiness Machine was a total success and brought smiles to everyone.
Clever Social Media Marketing
Social media marketing may not sound like anything out of the box or even eye-catching at this stage in the game, but it all depends on how you approach it. Instead of traditional posts and ads, you’ll want to steer your campaigns in the direction of witty and interactive.
Think of all the brands you follow because their social media team knows how to be witty and maintain that same voice throughout their posts and social media platforms. Sometimes this also leads to “fights” with competing brands which may actually just be collaborations and agreements behind the scenes.
Some brands will even have “followers” comment on their posts and start their own drama in the comments section. As these fights between different “followers” gain more attention due to their ridiculous or unbelievable nature, you can be sure the brand is benefitting from this.
Influencer marketing can be considered a form of guerrilla marketing on social media, but don’t stop there. Don’t be afraid to interact with your audience and give your brand a personality that really stands out.
Take the example below. When a Twitter user told Vita Water they’d rather drink urine than their coconut water, the brand responded in an outrageous way that caught many people off guard. Of course, they got tons of publicity and attention after making a bold move.
Ambush Marketing
The previous examples of guerrilla marketing are generally eye-catching but still safe methods to get the right type of attention for your brand. A technique that is often riskier is ambush marketing. Since this is usually done without the consent of whoever is hosting the event where the campaign will take place, it can be disruptive and can sometimes garner the wrong type of attention for your brand. If you’re a strong believer that all publicity is good publicity, then you have nothing to fear.
If you’re gutsy enough to do this, then take advantage of the attention already present around an event. Coming up with a creative marketing campaign that follows advertising regulations is essential. If you need some inspiration, Nike is known for their ambush marketing campaigns which are so seamless, people don’t even realize what’s happening. Just know that some people may not like it, especially the event hosts.
The example below is a compilation of ads Nike made in 2012 around the time of the London Olympics. Adidas was the official sponsor but Nike was able to swoop in and take some attention thanks to their stealth marketing techniques. They never mention the Olympics nor do they include the Olympics logo anywhere, but the London references and shows of athletic greatness automatically made people associate them with the biggest sporting event of the year.
Get Your Brand Noticed
Now that you have some more information about guerrilla marketing and how you can incorporate these techniques into your marketing strategy, there’s no reason not to give it a try. Get creative and find a strategy that makes the most sense for your brand to get it done successfully!
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Creative Branding Made Easy
If you’re a small business owner trying to get your brand to stand out while on a budget, it can seem near impossible to accomplish. With a bit of creativity and some commitment, anything is possible. Use these guerrilla marketing ideas and some tools like Placeit’s billboard mockups to position your brand where you want it.
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