At least 14% of businesses fail simply from bad approaches to marketing. This comes from not knowing the best forms of marketing to use or how to use them the right way.

Guerrilla marketing, for example, is an innovative marketing strategy that is all about product exposure, and this form of publicity…if done right, can be truly jaw-dropping, increasing attention toward your brand and even monetary spikes in your revenue.

The concept of guerrilla marketing examples comes from “guerrilla warfare” and uses the element of surprise to drive popularity, intrigue, and overall sales. Companies not taking advantage of this type of marketing are missing out on potential clientele or customers, their money, and their network.

Seeing a few examples of how this concept plays out in the real world could help you to see just how beneficial it is, so keep reading to learn more.

What Guerrilla Marketing Is and How It Works 

Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional, often low-cost, marketing tactic. Businesses use this approach to business marketing to maximize exposure and drive an increase in sales. The idea behind it is to grab the attention of customers in a way that isn’t expected which helps any bay area business to stand out from the competition. 

Chances are, you’ve come across some bold and unique marketing campaigns. A few large companies that have made their mark in this area of marketing are:

• Sony
• Red Bull
• Oreo

These are only some of many great guerrilla marketing examples. New York is one of the most popular cities where you will often come across this tactic in action, but other large cities like San Francisco or Los Angeles are also prime targets. Some popular guerrilla marketing tactics include:

• Flash mobs
• Street performances
• Graffiti or 3D advertising
• Publicity stunts
• Scaling the traditional idea of a treasure hunt
• Transforming 404 pages into something unexpected

The entire point of this strategy is to be inventive while finding unique ways to communicate better with your target customer.

Getting Inspiration From Successful Guerrilla Marketing Examples in Action

It could help to take notice of some successful brand marketing techniques used for guerrilla advertising. For example, there are a few big businesses making use of the traffic that their area has to offer.

1. The San Francisco Zoo

This zoo created a smart guerrilla marketing concept by combining visuals. They decorated a light post that looked like a giraffe. The point?

To remind residents and visitors how unique and majestic the animals are. The zoo’s branding was right above the giraffe’s head, directing the viewer’s eye contact.

2. McDonald’s and Their Famous Fries

McDonald’s fries are already a fast-food staple. What better way to drive attention and hunger than to paint the fries on the streets of a city? It’s easy to view and adds a noticeable pop of color to the street. This almost guarantees it won’t be missed.

3. Lego and What They’re Known For

Lego has products that appeal to both children and adults. In 2006, the company put a fake Lego at the end of a construction crane. This not only got a lot of public attention but inspired more edgy and “out-there” brand marketing ideas to come.

4. Uber’s Ambush

You might remember Uber Eats at the Australian Open in 2019. In case you don’t, Uber had participants blend in with the crowd and made the return of tennis into a captivating ad for the company. Considering this event was the biggest annual advertising opportunity across Australia, this was a smart marketing move made by Uber.

5. Frontline and Their Brilliance

Frontline is known for its flea medication. To remind people to treat their pets for fleas, Frontline made their ad interactive. The company put a large image of a dog on the floor of a multi-story building.

When people walk across it, they look like fleas on the dog from higher levels of the building. This adds a great shock factor and has bystanders interacting with the display giving it even more impact without asking anyone to take part.

6. Netflix Keeping Things Strange

There are plenty of Stranger Things fans, and Netflix takes advantage of the popularity of their shows. This marketing strategy produced a DIY doorbell kit. The doorbell can play sounds, screams, and songs from the show.

Its purpose was meant to be used during Halloween but can be a great interactive option year-round. It maintains popularity for the show itself just from the do-it-yourself product.

Methods You Could Use Today

To get a better idea of how to use some of these examples, let’s apply them to real-world opportunities. Each of these examples could be started today and with a small budget tailored to what you want to achieve.

Guerrilla Projection

Companies project images onto walls and buildings, often at night, to highlight their products and spread their message. This is a good tactic that is very low-cost and can cover a variety of areas.

Guerrilla Sampling

Companies give out samples of their products in public spaces. An example of this could be giving samples next to check-outs at stores or at festivals.

This method is saturated but there is a lot of room to expand on this simple idea to capture more attention. This is a good choice if you have a tight budget but do have samples of what you sell.

Stencil Bombing or Using Graffiti Art

You may or may not have heard of this, but it involves quickly and anonymously “bombing” a city with slogans, images, and logos that are associated with the company. In the Bay Area, for example, people have seen or are familiar with Clarion Alley’s street art or similar places. Using this form of messaging could make your business more relatable.

Making Use of Head-Turning Posters

Posters are highly effective a lot of the time because they are easy to customize, take to print, and distribute for every target customer you have. Marketing using posters often has higher ROI potential when compared to other methods of print advertising.

Not only is this concept an easy way to grab attention and increase interaction, but it’s also one of the safest investments for any level of marketing.

Interactive Experiences

Companies can organize interactive experiences for potential customers in public areas. This could be forming a scavenger hunt with VR tech specific to the company. It could also include using pop-up exhibits for app-enabled fun in your area.

Elevating Your Marketing Concept

Utilizing creative and innovative guerrilla marketing examples and other creative marketing tactics like these can help to make your Bay Area business stand out from the competition. Guerrilla marketing is a powerful tool that can help to maximize exposure, increase sales, and develop participation within different San Francisco communities.

To elevate your marketing, you need to do something different and you need to be different. Work with Thumbtack Bugle to watch the public attention on your business shift.