Imagine opening your door to the sounds of a German brass band, men parading around in lederhosen, and free pints of German beer- interested? Read on to discover how a guerrilla marketing campaign can successfully promote your business.
What Is Guerrilla Marketing?
For starters, guerrilla marketing has absolutely nothing to do with the gorilla primate. In fact, the term guerrilla marketing comes from guerrilla warfare. An irregular form of military action, where small, often independent, groups of combatants fight using quick, small-scale tactics such as ambushes, sabotage, and hit-and-runs.
In marketing, guerrilla tactics refer to budget-friendly unconventional methods used to promote a business or product. It often focuses on personal interactions with the public or attempts to go viral online.
As traditional advertising methods such as print, radio and TV lose popularity, guerrilla marketing aims to cause an emotional reaction in the public. Creating an unusual and attention-grabbing campaign that the public will remember and tell their friends and family about. This generates word of mouth publicity and increases brand awareness. Think flashmobs, graffiti, hired actors, and public art pieces.
Examples Of Push Promotions Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns
Here at Push Promotions we have staffed many successful guerrilla marketing campaigns and can do the same for you. We have a staff database of 3000+ experienced, talented and enthusiastic promotional staff who have worked on promotional campaigns across the entire UK. Staff can truely make or break a promotional campaign. So we carefully handpick our staff for each event to ensure they are a great fit for your brand! We have staff with experience in nearly every industry sector such as gaming, cosmetics and cars. We also have staff with performing arts experience! They can be especially effective at guerrilla marketing campaigns.
Keep reading for some examples of our successfully staffed guerrilla marketing campaigns:
Perfectdraft Do Oktoberfest
2020 was the first time since World War II that the official German beer festival Oktoberfest was cancelled in the UK. However, PerfectDraft refused to let Covid ruin the occasion. Instead, they recruited Sketch Events to bring the magic of Oktoberfest to people’s homes through a guerrilla marketing campaign. Sketch Events then sourced staff for this event from Push Promotions.
Overnight, we took over the UK’s smallest village, Llanwrtyd Wells, with Oompa bands, a procession of costumed brand ambassadors! Oktoberfest stalls were also set up offering free samples of German food, and giveaways of PerfectDraft pints and machines. We therefore transformed the village into a Bavarian wonderland!
This guerrilla campaign completely utilised the element of surprise! It interacted directly with the public and created memorable moments for everybody involved. But most importantly, it attracted national press attention- promoting the company nationally.
Bowel Cancer Awareness Month
We were thrilled to work with Pall Mall Medical to raise awareness of Bowel Cancer Awareness Month- April! We provided staff to walk through the streets of Manchester, dressed in poo emoji and toilet paper costumes, and armed with placards.
They were briefed with various important bowel cancer facts beforehand to educate the public about the disease. For example:
- The three main symptoms of bowel cancer are blood in stools, changes in bowel habits – such as more frequent, looser stools, and stomach pain.
- Nine out of ten times, it’s the over 60s who are more likely to develop the disease.
Additionally, our ‘dirty’ protest even gained local press attention:
https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/dirty-protest-hits-streets-manchester-26743075
Our staff are all enthusiastic and personable, making them an ideal fit for the campaign! We were delighted to raise awareness for an important cause and be involved in such a unique campaign!
NME
The British music, film, and culture magazine, NME, became a free publication in 2015. They therefore launched a guerilla marketing campaign with Push Promotions to make the public aware of the change.
We provided 20 brand ambassadors, who staged a fake protest by marching around London with placards arguing to ‘Free NME Magazine’. After all, what gets more attention than an angry mob marching around England’s capital.
Additionally we supplied a further 20 members of staff to hand out free magazines at various offices and venues around London. This ensured that as much ground was covered as possible, and also meant that more members of the public were reached.
To read about other events that Push Promotions have staffed and organised, click here.
Potential Downsides To Guerrilla Marketing And How You Can Avoid Them
To be as cost-effective as possible, and retain the element of surprise, such campaigns often do not seek permission from local authorities. The staff required for such events need to be able to successfully diffuse any potential queries, and be prepared to change location quickly.
To be as memorable and surprising as possible, guerrilla marketing often tries new and innovative techniques that vary from traditional marketing methods. Therefore there is always the risk that such methods will be confusing or misunderstood by the public. That is why it is important to properly research guerrilla marketing strategies and work alongside an experienced agency such as ourselves.
So Is Guerrilla Marketing Worth It?
So, Guerilla marketing is a fun, inventive, and interactive way of promoting your product or service. It often doesn’t require a big budget, just some careful planning and great staff. It can result in the exponential growth of brand awareness and lead directly to more sales.
Here at Push Promotions, we can successfully staff with a guerilla marketing campaign. We have an extensive database of promotional staff covering the whole of the UK. Many of our staff have direct experience with these kinds of campaigns, therefore we can hit the ground running on your campaigns.
For more information check out our full website here or get a quick quote here.
