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The power of guerilla marketing is in its ability to surprise and delight - both those taking the action as well as those perceiving it. Coming up with creative and original ideas is a fun part of the process, too. Brainstorming about different imagery, media, sites as well as different methods of distribution and production is an important and rewarding part of the process in itself.

It can take a little time to talk through the range of possibilities and work up to more outrageous or and unconventional scenarios - even conventional elements moved into an unconventional situation can puzzle and delight. Guerilla marketing works because it is different and unexpected. It stops people and grabs their attention, either in person or second-hand via stories, the internet or mainstream media coverage. Guerilla marketing is a creative, low-cost way of spreading your message, and a fun way to do so.

Guerrilla strategy

Creativity - the essential element

Guerilla marketing is particularly suited for NGOs and advocacy groups because it emphasizes creativity, imagination and resourcefulness over big budgets and access to mass media. Guerilla marketing can be low-tech and require very little initial investment. It’s also a way of circumventing other types of controls. For instance, when a protest is not permitted, guerilla marketing can make a message heard in other ways.

Get people to participate

Guerilla marketing can also be interactive, asking participants to complete an action. Examples include:

• tearing off a paper to reveal the image underneath
• sending an SMS text message to a special number
• wearing a certain color and converging at a predetermined location, or
• distributing a stencil template for supporters to cut and paint around town.

What forms can it take?

Guerilla marketing can take a variety of forms: brush and paint, spray
can and stencil, photocopy or color printout, wheat paste, performance art, flash mob, etc. There's
no one way to do it. Let you imagination run wild, then bring it back to your Strategy to check if it will work.

Where accessible, online distribution is a great way of sharing printable resources. Posting your materials on the internet can be an effective way of spreading your message and campaign beyond your usual supporters. Images and printable templates for stickers, stencils, or signage can be downloaded by sympathetic viewers and further disseminated. Printing up a large number of materials and sending out a call for help via email or SMS can also bring in help to disseminate your campaign materials.

Organizations can even sponsor “open calls” for poster, stencil or action ideas that other supporters can access and reproduce on their own.

When should you use guerilla marketing?

Guerilla marketing works best in a densely populated, public places where people will encounter your message. Places that work well are city streets, college campuses, shopping malls, toilet doors, public parks or plazas.

Make them laugh

Humour is also a particularly powerful way of touching people who may initially disagree or disapprove of your message as well as those who might usually ignore such messages. Parody, caricature and satire can puncture the reverence and gravitas that powerful offices command—and open the door for criticism.

Checklist

Before undertaking your action, it makes sense to review a few things.

• Who is your target audience? Where is the best place to reach them? What is the best time of day or season?
• What is your desired outcome? What do you want your audience to experience or do?
• Do you have the resources and capacity to undertake your action? Do you need outside professionals, volunteers?
• How visible is your target location? Different types of people traffic different neighborhoods, and different locations have different safety, security and accessibility concerns.

Go viral

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"Viral" marketing relies on the public to spread your message by sharing it among friends and through existing social networks. The term derives from the way the message is spread, when a person sends a message to a group of friends, and those friends to their groups of friends, the message spreads exponentially and quickly reaches a large audience.

Humorous, outrageous and simply strange messages are likely to be passed along between friends. While viral marketing usually refers to forwarding messages or links via email, it can refer to the spread of fax, photocopy, video or other media among social networks as well. Making media easy to share and encouraging sharing can help make campaigns viral.

Checklist

Breaking the law

In many cases, guerilla marketing may be illegal and put at risk:

• members of your organization (caught in the act)
• the public (found in possession of illegal materials)
• property owners (say, a shopkeeper or homeowner on whose wall a mural is painted)

Before undertaking your action, consider: what is the law and what is the penalty for breaking it?

In some cases, it may make sense to apply for permission or permits to implement an action, though in some cases official permission may be cost prohibitive, introduce delay, or may not even be possible.

Take precautions when planning an action. Before your action, fully inform your participants of the law and possible consequences for breaking the law. Brief participants on what to do in the event of arrest or conflict with authorities. Perhaps arrange legal representation in advance. Set up a system of communication to verify that your participants are all safe.

Including or not including contact information

Now that interested members of the public have seen your campaign, how can they get in touch? In some cases, it may make sense to include contact information, perhaps a phone number, web address or anonymous email address. In other cases, it may make sense to leave any identifying information off of the materials, particularly if there is a risk of prosecution.

Next steps

The public has seen your message, now what do you want them to do? What next steps should they take? Many organizations focus on making a splash but without planning a way to follow up with new supporters. Providing a website address where people can get more information or a time and place for a follow-up meeting or protest may help channel a viewer’s reaction into meaningful action.

Document it

Public interventions, particularly oppositional ones, may be quickly dismantled or covered up by the authorities. But actions that last only briefly may live on if documented in photos or video. Be sure to document your action, both for your own records and to publicize it. Of course, depending on your situation, be careful to consider legal issues involved in retaining “evidence” of an illegal action.

Publicize it

In some cases, guerilla marketing actions are best kept underground. Part of the thrill and effectiveness is when someone discovers it on their own during the course of an otherwise ordinary day. However, in many cases, it may make sense to publicize your action by notifying members of the media or an extended community of supporters. If accessible, the internet is a particularly cheap and widespread way of publishing photos, stories and video.

The power of guerilla marketing is in its ability to surprise and delight—both those taking the action as well as those perceiving it. It can be a creative, low-cost way of spreading your message, and a fun way to do so.

Examples

Here are some examples for inspiration:

Art on the Wall

Banksy's graffiti in the West Bank. Photo by Jennifer Hayes

The "separation wall" constructed by the Israeli government has been the site of painting, graffiti, and even a photo exhibit satirising and condemning the wall. The unconventional, some times humorous, artworks rendered in the shadow of Israeli military power have drawn international attention to an ongoing issue.

Giant plastic bottles 

Detail of giant bottle. Photo from Eduardo Srur's website

To call attention to water pollution in Sao Paulo, artist Eduardo Srur erected giant, inflatable soda bottles along the Tieté river, one of the city’s most polluted rivers, as part of Quase líquido (Almost Liquid) an art exhibition on themes of social exclusion, the river pollution and insecurity. The giant bottles, which are illuminated at night, generated considerable publicity of the issue and of the status of the river. 

Banner Hang

Screen cap of YouTube video. Photo from Indymedia

In perhaps one of the most audacious acts of guerilla marketing, activists traveled to China as tourists and hung a banner calling for a free Tibet from the Great Wall. The banner read “One World, One Dream, Free Tibet,” a parody of the the official slogan for the 2008 Olympic games in China: “One World, One Dream.” Press coverage was seen around the world and video of the action was widely viewed on video sharing sites like YouTube.

Duct Tape Flyers

Photo from Osocio.org

To protest censorship of journalists in Belarus, the Poland chapter of Amnesty International taped 20,000 portraits of people to signposts and trees, wrapping silver duct tape around the mouths and posters, attaching the posters to its support.

Grassroots Memorial

In March 2002, Police shot and killed five demonstrators and injured dozens in Aksy, Kyrgyzstan. In defiance of the government, residents erected a stone memorial on the site of the incident. The memorial has since become a reminder of those who lost their lives, of the events and of abuse of power.

Action over Vanishing Sidewalks

Photo from Friendlyghost

To protest urban developments that privileges cars and shops, but squeezes out pedestrians, members of the group Sahasi Padyatri (Brave Pedestrian) took to the streets of Mumbai and painted a six foot median of their own in the middle of the road. The action earned publicity, but was also a clear visualization of the group’s demand for more space for pedestrians.

Ice Animals

Photo from http://directdaily.blogspot.com/

To raise awareness about climate change, Conservation International deposited ice sculptures of polar animals in seven of the busiest public parks in Bogota, Colombia along with a puddle-shaped sign with information about global warming and the group’s web address. The action prompted and email response from 1,500 people.

Post it notes against violence

Photo from Guerrilla Innovation

A group called Vandals Against Violence in Copenhagen, Denmark encouraged members to post yellow post-it notes in public places with messages condemning a recent increase in violence with handwritten statements such as “only the weak resort to violence.”

Zimbabwe Graffiti

Photo by Ethan Zuckerman

Because of the crackdown on other forms of political expression, political graffiti has become common on the walls and road signs of streets and towns in Zimbabwe. A campaign to increase the salaries of soldiers and teachers received a boost in June 2006 when dissent became visible in the army barracks. After graffiti appeared on bathroom walls calling for President Mugabe’s ouster, the salary increase went through.