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A client recently approached us for ideas for a guerrilla marketing campaign, i.e. using public spaces or unsponsored events to promote a brand. This got me thinking about other brands that have conducted guerrilla marketing, or indeed ambush marketing – where a brand attempts to associate itself with an event or opportunity, to generate brand awareness without paying the costly sponsorship fees.
We’ve seen an example of this in the media this week, where a group of 36 women were detained by police following the Holland and Denmark World Cup game for wearing orange mini-dresses available from the leading Dutch beer brand Bavaria. Although the dresses weren’t branded, 36 young women stood together in the same bright clothing caught the attention of the cameras. FIFA perceived the group to be conducting illicit marketing activity, or “ambush marketing”. The story went public in the media and has no doubt given the Dutch brewery even more publicity. With two of the women facing possible charges and an ex-footballer losing his job for selling the tickets, the punishment may seem steep, but the World Cup's authorised beer, Budweiser, has paid millions for the privilege of exclusive representation during the competition.
Sponsorship is big business, both for the brands themselves and the sporting governing bodies who cash in on it, resulting in so-called ambush marketing becoming a huge growth industry. It is a risky move to make and can result in large fines, but there's an element of excitement involved in trying to cheat the system. We can expect to see even tougher regulations brought into force both inside the stadium and in the surrounding area for the 2012 London Olympics. This does therefore pose a challenge to try to outwit officials in order to generate mass exposure.
You may have been fooled into thinking that Nike and Pepsi are official World Cup sponsors, but they too have capitalised on a promotional opportunity to communicate to a global audience and have each run a TV ad featuring various superstars in themed, branded kits.
As consumers, we are exposed to hundreds of marketing messages everyday in one form or another, be it a radio advert or billboard poster. We see so many that we tend to switch off and they almost become subliminal messages. So as marketers we have to make our creative concepts work harder in order to stand out from the crowd and capture people's attention. The concept of guerrilla marketing began as a means of promotion that relied on time, effort and imagination rather than a big marketing budget.
It’s always difficult to measure brand awareness compared with actual sales, however, with the latest trend in web 2.0 and social media, there is a vast worldwide audience with which to promote your brand. It is also now more trackable with blogs and tweets, as it provides the opportunity to see how much your campaign is being talked about. If you are able to create a talking point or buzz that gets circulated, it can far outweigh the initial investment, making guerrilla or ambush marketing a powerful tool.
Another example of a successful guerrilla marketing campaign was run by Kleenex to promote a new style of travel tissues. A number of public toilets were redecorated to resemble ones you might find in people’s homes, in order to make people feel "more comfortable". People took photos and circulated them all over the internet.
Another example of ambush marketing took place in Barack Obama's speech at a Democratic primary election rally in 2008, where he was discretely ambushed by three models advertising Abercrombie & Fitch behind him.
As marketers the challenge is to get the most out of your budget. Guerrilla marketing or even ambush marketing (if you're brave enough) is a growing industry and depending on the execution, can be a relatively inexpensive way to stand out from the competition and engage people with your brand in a unique way.
So why isn't everyone doing it? The answer, because there are a number of unknown variables in the execution of conducting marketing in an open space. In difficult times people stick to what they know, generally print. So tread carefully and if you do get the opportunity to run such a campaign, and you get it right, you'll be a hero!
