Done right, guerrilla advertising can not only stretch your advertising dollar much farther than it would otherwise go, it can even win the grudging admiration of your competitors’ rivals. Consider what happened at the Beijing Olympics. Adidas, an official sponsor of the Games, had invested millions in advertising campaigns surrounding the event. China’s own sporting goods manufacturer, Li Ning, certainly didn’t have that kind of advertising budget. But they found a way around the problem. Li Ning the gymnast, the namesake of the company, was used for the torch lighting event during the opening ceremony. And the fact that he was wearing the company’s clothing, brought a great deal of attention on the company is very little expense. The move sent the company’s stocks soaring.
As a way to gain some real traction in the market amid the hoopla surrounding and major events, guerilla advertising can be a very useful device. And mostly, it is used around events like the Olympics where a single stunt pulled off of this nature can really go far. Consider what happened around the Atlanta Olympics. Reebok was the official sponsor and Nike was not. Still, Nike behaved as a major sponsor would, and handed out flags to attending sporting fans to wave, with Nike’s Swoosh logo on them. It was a brilliant guerrilla advertising move that won Nike a good deal of street cred.
Guerrilla advertising though, works best for small companies. The first step in any guerrilla advertising move would be would be to formulate a plan. At any major sporting event in your neighborhood, acting like you’re the official sponsor is a great way – handing out free energy drinks outside the Games Village, or at the airport as athletes arrive, is a great move. Doing the same for spectators arriving at the stadium can be great too. Marketing experts have found that few things make as strong an impact as free stuff handed out to eat.
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Hiring a marketing expert to come up with a clever theme can be a great idea. Calling yourself the best penniless company of its kind left out of the Olympics for instance, can win a lot of hearts. It famously worked for a certain small beer company trying to battle the biggest bottler in its area. Countries like England and New Zealand are so fed up with the way guerrilla marketers piggyback on paying companies, that they are passing laws against such tactics starting with the 2012 Olympic Games in London. They feel it’s unfair for any business to profit unofficially from the advertising budget of another company. They should have quite a time defending the law against free speech litigation though.
