Guerilla marketing: what it involves and where it's going

Guerilla marketing is a super-efficient marketing strategy generating a ROI 4.5 to 5 times higher¹ than its initial costs.

Originally used by small to mid-sized businesses, guerilla marketing is now attracting big brands such as Adidas, Red Bull or Jacquemus.

We explain what's behind the term Guerilla marketing, the benefits of using this marketing strategy and what its future looks like.

Guerilla marketing: definition

Guerilla marketing covers a range of techniques that are « unconventional¹ », « daring¹ » and « aggressive¹ » whose sole aim is to grab the attention of consumers. This type of strategy differs from traditional marketing such as TV commercials, written press, or billboards and uses « an element of surprise² » to generate a memorable impact.

Guerilla marketing can be materialized in different formats such as street art or flyposting… enabling a business to surprise their audience as they go about their daily lives.

The benefits of guerilla marketing

Make an impact

Shoppers are becoming increasingly « banner blind³ ». With over exposure to advertising in general, they end up consciously or subconsciously ignoring the advertising banners displayed on their screens.

Guerilla marketing circumvents this banner blindness by pushing businesses to come up with innovative advertising tactics that amuse, surprise or amaze⁴: 86% of shoppers¹ acknowledge guerilla marketing as a more memorable format than traditional advertising.

One example is Red Bull who made a lasting impact by being the main sponsor of Red Bull Stratos. This project mobilized « 100 scientists over a 7-year period⁵ » to enable Austrian skydiver Felix Baumgartner to execute a 39 km freefall. Through this initiative, Red Bull created a wow effect among consumers who have since associated the energy drink brand with extreme sports.

Limit marketing costs

Guerilla marketing uses « minimum resources⁶ » and costs « much less⁷ » than traditional advertising practices.

For example, a brand could use resources that are already available to reduce their marketing budget by 90%⁸. The Mr. Clean brand appropriated some existing crosswalk road markings stating that their product « cleaned whiter⁷ » than other brands, highlighting the brand's superior cleaning capabilities.

This guerilla marketing strategy caught the attention of passers-by while requiring very little use of material or financial resources.

Increase brand visibility

A well-designed guerilla marketing strategy can go viral⁹ and increase the visibility of a brand on different communication channels: social media, word of mouth, press… 63% of people¹ that have experienced a guerilla marketing campaign are eager to share their experience.

An example of this is Adidas who encouraged the creation of viral content when they opened a pop-up store in London⁷ shaped like a giant shoe box (24 feet by 42 feet). In this temporary store, shoppers could use the « Stan Yourself⁷ » app to insert selfies into the brand logo and share on social media using the Stan Smith hashtag. This marketing initiative significantly increased the brand's online visibility.

A guerilla marketing strategy can quickly become viral which is why it is important to advance with caution. A poorly thought through strategy can cause businesses to lose control of their own campaign and have a negative impact on their brand. A guerilla marketing campaign can also result in legal problems and important financial losses for a business (fines, reimbursement of cleaning costs…) if the techniques used are borderline illegal such as unauthorized graffiti, posters on walls that do not respect the law, marketing actions causing noise pollution or creating danger on the road.

The emergence of FOOH

With the development of digital and the growing success of Augmented Reality (AR), new forms of guerilla marketing are continually emerging, one of which is FOOH (Fake Out Of Home).

FOOH involves creating « hyper-realistic and hyper immersive¹⁰ » videos by superimposing spectacular visual effects on real urban furniture: the side of a mall, a traffic circle, a monument… FOOH creates the illusion of a real advertising campaign and increases social media engagement.

A memorable example of this is when the brand Jacquemus created a FOOH video in which giant versions of their bags could be seen « driving around Parisian streets¹¹ ». This 3D animation superimposed on actual images of the city, went viral, generating a buzz on social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok.

FOOH will continue to evolve with the arrival of ever more sophisticated technologies. From a business perspective, this strategy generates better engagement from consumers on all brand touch points. 74% of marketing professionals¹² have recorded a peak in engagement after using this strategy.

¹ Steven, K. (2024, April 19). 29 Shocking Guerrilla marketing Statistics. persuasion-nation.com.
² Shopify. (2024, November 3). Qu'est-ce que le guerilla marketing ? Explication et exemples. shopify.com.
³ Dahmani, S. (2023, October 30). Le guérilla marketing ou l'art de marquer les esprits. blog.hubspot.fr.
⁴ Forbes Agency Council. (2016, October 17). Eight tips for creating a successful guerrilla Marketing campaign. forbes.com.
⁵ Détroyat, O. Baumgartner : un saut à plusieurs millions de dollars. lefigaro.fr.
⁶ Sansonetti, J. (2022, August 3). 7 Exemples de guérilla marketing réussis et créatifs réalisés par des marques. wizishop.fr.
⁷ Street marketing : 5 exemples + conseils pour le mettre en place. (2023, 19 décembre). blog.hubspot.fr.
⁸ Herpin, T. (2023, March 3). Le street marketing : comment développer votre visibilité ? ecommerce-nation.fr.
⁹ De Swarte, M. S. (2024, March 19). Guérilla marketing : 6 exemples ingénieux et réussis. meltwater.com.
¹⁰ Pruvoost, L. (2023, December 20). FOOH (fake out of home) : une tendance publicitaire qui défie la réalité. jai-un-pote-dans-la.com.
¹¹ Journal du Luxe. (2023, April 6). Jacquemus fait défiler ses sacs géants dans Paris. journalduluxe.fr.
¹² Santoreneos, A. (2024, August 13). « Surreal » : The new wave of digital marketing. Forbes Australia.