What is Guerilla Marketing? Definition - Benefits - Features

Although large brands have enough budget to enter the competition, it is quite difficult for medium and small brands to compete with large brands. Because traditional marketing requires a serious budget. In this sense, guerrilla marketing gives advantages to medium and small brands. This is because guerrilla marketing is fueled by imagination and creativity.

Guerrilla marketing, which does not have a very distant history, is actively used by many brands today. Due to the effects of guerrilla marketing on consumers, the brand's sales and therefore the brand's awareness are increasing. Unlike traditional marketing, guerrilla marketing, which focuses not on sales but on profit, also has a dynamic perspective. The fact that it also has a relationship with human psychology clearly indicates the superiority of guerrilla marketing over traditional marketing. In addition, guerrilla marketing, which surprises the consumer audience, has also october traditional marketing in this sense. Guerrilla marketing technique, which is used by more and more brands every day, is a strategy aimed at reaching a wide audience.

History of Guerrilla Marketing

If we look at the history of guerrilla marketing, we can see that it appeared quite recently. This concept, which was first introduced by Jay Conrad Levinson, entered the literature in 1984 by appearing in a marketing book written by Levinson. The story of the emergence of the concept is quite interesting. Levinson, who studies at a university, promises one day to find his students a resource book associated with the lesson. After that, Levinson, who is looking for resources in all the libraries in the vicinity, unfortunately returns empty-handed. Because in the 1980s, there was no marketing book suitable for low-budget people. "I promised once." Levinson personally created a list for his students with his own hands. this list, which has 57 items, has laid the foundations of guerrilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing, which has come down to this day in this way, is still actively used by many brands as a marketing strategy. In short, the introduction of the concept to the literature was realized by Jay Conrad Levinson.

Looking at the more detailed history of the guerrilla marketing method, we can see that it was a concept that was included in the American commercial sector in the 1960s. This technique, thanks to which high profits are achieved at little cost, is actively used by many brands. This technique, which is quite far from traditional marketing, is especially loved by medium and small brands. In this marketing strategy, where high capital is not required, all you need is your imagination and creativity. This marketing technique, which is mainly aimed at surprising and attracting the consumer audience with its imagination, has many advantages.

Advantages of Guerrilla Marketing

Due to the fact that guerrilla marketing has many advantages, brands prefer it with love. The presence of unusual advertising attracts the attention of the consumer audience and increases the preferential rate of the brand. This type of advertising, which is not included in traditional marketing, is one of the foundations of guerrilla marketing. The fact that it offers originality and the viralization of the brand are also some of the other advantages of guerrilla marketing. Guerrilla marketing strategy, which can be easily implemented without the need to allocate high budgets, is preferred by both medium and large brands. Viralization of the brand is inevitable somewhere due to the original forms of advertising made. Standard ads are not as interesting to today's people as they used to be. The guerrilla marketing strategy is in the center of attention with its advertising. Because in traditional marketing, when it comes to human manipulation, in guerrilla marketing strategy, people are aware that nothing has been taken from them and manipulated. There are also points where guerrilla marketing, which has so many advantages, is, of course, a disadvantage.

Disadvantages of Guerrilla Marketing

In addition to the advantages of guerrilla marketing, there are also disadvantages. It is known that time investment occupies a large place in guerrilla marketing strategies. Despite the fact that a lot of time has been invested, success may not be achieved. This leads to its unpredictability, which is another drawback. A guerrilla marketing strategy that entails various risks may not be successful, causing a visibility error from time to time. For this, a brand that wants to implement a guerrilla marketing strategy should do business by accepting various risks. In October, there may also be a situation such as misinterpretation of marketing. As a result, this marketing strategy, if done in the right way, can be more successful even than advertising where big brands allocate high budgets. It is very important that the brand follows a correct path despite the risks when implementing the strategy. Planned action is also one of the steps that minimizes the disadvantages. In addition, being open to business associations is also a situation that will reduce the disadvantages. Despite its disadvantages, the guerrilla marketing strategy is a fairly effective type of marketing.

Types of Guerrilla Marketing

Although there are several types of guerrilla marketing, the 3 most important types are often used today. Let's take a closer look at these types, which are in the form of outdoor, indoor and event product placement.

Outdoor Guerrilla Marketing: We can say that we advertise in almost everything that is located in outdoor environments. Creatively placing products in pre-existing structures such as cities, roads, vehicles is literally the definition of “outdoor guerrilla marketing”.

Indoor Guerrilla Marketing: Outdoor is the indoor version of guerrilla marketing. Places such as railway stations, building interiors, university campus buildings are some of the areas where indoor guerrilla marketing can be done.

Guerrilla Marketing with Product Placement at an Event: It can be defined as promoting a product or service to an audience at events such as a sports game, concert, cinema. We can often see that guerrilla marketing is carried out by placing products at the event around us.

Principles of Guerrilla Marketing

There are several principles that are at the heart of guerrilla marketing. The successful implementation of these principles is very important for guerrilla marketing to work. Here are the principles of guerrilla marketing:

• Creativity, Imagination
• Economic
• Original
• The focus of viralization
• Unusual and unexpected
• Away from traditional marketing strategies

We Outline the Guerrilla Marketing Strategy in 10 Steps

According to Jay Conrad Levinson, who introduced the concept of ”guerrilla marketing" into the literature, it may be possible to successfully implement a guerrilla marketing strategy in 10 steps. Here are those 10 steps:

1. To investigate the market situation of the brand and advertisement that will be featured in a very detailed way.
2. We review it, keeping a list of the benefits that it can bring you.
3. To determine what different brands or people will earn you if they do business with you.
4. To act in a planned manner by making a marketing plan. One of the biggest weapons of the guerrilla is planning.
5. Making a calendar as another condition of being planned.
6. One of the golden rules of being successful in marketing is to be open to cooperating. Cooperation can be made with people or brands interested in a similar field.
7. To panic and act in a hurry is a waste of both money and time. It is quite important in this situation to stay calm and not panic.
8. It is very important to constantly make and maintain the strategy.
9. Some strategies may not work well. What needs to be done here is to monitor, examine and extract.
10. To choose the channel where sales and marketing strategies will be applied well.