Have you ever seen those weird marketing campaigns in which the company has done a completely unorthodox thing to gain attention? Like those 3 million dollars inside a bulletproof glass at a bus stop? If anyone could break the glass they would take the money home. Well if you remember this, then their campaign was definitely successful. 

This is guerrilla marketing. Unconventional, unorthodox, imaginative but definitely successful. In the ever-evolving landscape of marketing, where attention spans wane and traditional tactics struggle to break through the noise, guerrilla marketing is a creative revolution that has taken hold. 

Enough with the textbook talk, let me show you the most successful and enticing guerrilla marketing campaigns.

Men in White of NYC

GoldToe is one of the world’s largest sock brands and to spread the word about the launch of its latest underwear and T-shirt line, they put their clothes on the famous statues and posters of New York City. They even went to the extent of displaying the bull of Wall Street in its “tighty whities”. This peculiar yet successful strategy made myriad people take pictures with these statues and models and hence, getting their brand imprinted in the minds of the consumers.

A bit too successful

Do you hate those YouTube ads? Well as long as you are a sane person, I am sure you do. And this is what the marketing team of the horror movie The Nun did. Yes, companies are not the only thing that need marketing. Movies do too. And to create the buzz for their movie, the marketing team of the movie The Nun aired a scary scene in the form of an unskippable ad on YouTube. After scaring people way more than they expected, YouTube banned the ad due to it violating its guidelines. The objective was to scare the viewers and create the buzz for the movie, and they scared the viewers so much more that they got the ad banned and also generated $380 million in box office revenue. Buzz created? Check. Banned from YouTube? Check. Suffering from success? Double Check!

Attention>Money

The primary aim of guerrilla marketing is to grab attention, revenue comes in later. But for this campaign, it was only the attention that mattered. This was carried out by RaisingTheRoof, a Canadian charity that focuses on the plight of the homeless and ways to fight homelessness. This campaign effectively tapped into the audience’s sense of relatability. Through this unique marketing poster they showed us how we overlook a cause which needs our help and just move on with our lives.

Photobomb marketing

Who said you need to pay to advertise? Be in the right place at the right time and you will get exactly what you want, similar to what Fiji Water did in the 2019 Golden Globe Awards . Models dressed in blue held trays with Fiji Water, providing water to everyone who felt thirsty at the event. With hundreds of photographers everywhere waiting for the pose of the celebrities, this model knew exactly what to do. She photobombed famous celebrities and got the same publicity the celebrities did. That too for free! She also earned herself the name of “FigiGirl” as the hashtag #FigiGirl started doing the rounds on the internet. Now at least it’s clear that you don’t need to spend millions of dollars to get millions of people to buy your product. Sometimes standing behind famous people does it all.

Too Hot to Handle

Coming right up, is my personal favorite. This was Nando’s promotion for its ‘hottest ever heat level’ Vusa XX Hot.v. This fiery concoction was not for the faint of heart, as it boldly claimed the top spot on Nando’s “PERI-ometer” at the coveted “Extra-Hot” level. But Nando’s didn’t stop there. They decided to take the excitement to a whole new level by crafting a sarcastic liability waiver that customers had to sign before tasting  the tantalizing heat of Vusa XX Hot. Through the  liability waiver they created the thrill for their customers and enticed them as to how ‘hot’ their sauce really was.  Nando’s very perfectly gave out a subtle challenge to the spice adrenaline junkies, and you know what an adrenaline junkie loves the most. It’s a challenge to raise his adrenaline!

In a world cluttered with information and data, it is tough to gain the attention of people and guerrilla marketing aces this. With its unorthodox methods and peculiar approaches, it seems to narrate the most complex stories in simplest of ways. From clothing statues in New York City to signing contracts in fast food restaurants, these captivating campaigns have proven that when it comes to grabbing attention and leaving a lasting impression, guerrilla marketing reigns supreme. 

Written by Arjun Raina