Between their morning newspapers, the billboard advertising on the way to work and the web ads on the office computer, consumers are bombarded with up to 1,600 marketing messages a day.

Advertising saturation means that it is becoming increasingly difficult for businesses to stand out and reach their target audience.

So how can you get your brand noticed?

With the help of some clever guerrilla marketing!

Guerrilla marketing is a low cost, high impact strategy which aims to catch the consumer off-guard. Effective campaigns are intelligent, unexpected, and memorable and they evoke a unique reaction from the consumer.

There are a multitude of guerrilla tactics at your disposal, but we have highlighted our top three below, to get you started.

1.     Unexpected public stunts

Organising an unexpected stunt in a public place can be a great way to generate excitement amongst a large number of people. Coca-Cola has used this to great effect over the past few years – does anyone remember the happiness machine campaign? Coca-Cola placed vending machines on university campuses in America and Britain that dispensed a feast of unexpected items.

The feeling of genuine surprise and appreciation got people talking about Coca-Cola and the campaign went viral, resulting 8 million views on YouTube.

Pull off a surprise in public that leaves people with a smile on their faces, and you’re guaranteed to improve your exposure.

2.     Give away free stuff

Another way to demonstrate the worth of your product or service, while also creating goodwill among customers is to give away something for free.

You can do this by product sampling at trade shows, exhibitions and events, or via online competitions that tie-in with your social media channels. If you decide to use this technique, you should offer something different to the masses. Don’t just encourage visitors to like your Facebook page or re-tweet a post. Instead, engage users in an active event, such as a scavenger hunt on your website, or a zany photo competition on your Twitter page. The crazier the competition, the more attention you will generate.

3.     Become Part of a Community

Few things are better at generating buzz than supporting your local community.

Red Bull has masterminded this strategy by creating a series of extreme events around the world that bring communities together under the Red Bull brand.

red bull

 

For example, their annual Bird Man competition, which is held in various cities across the UK, attracts thousands of participants and spectators. Competitors spend months creating unique human made ‘flying machines,’ in order to try and break distance records. Because the event is held simultaneously in locations across the country, it retains a community feel, while spreading the word far and wide. The flying machine theme also ties in nicely with the Red Bull slogan.

Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.