{"id":20923,"date":"2020-01-30T13:52:16","date_gmt":"2020-01-30T13:52:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/glosario-digital\/marketing-de-guerrilla"},"modified":"2026-09-28T15:32:08","modified_gmt":"2026-09-28T15:32:08","slug":"guerrilla-marketing","status":"publish","type":"encyclopedia","link":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/guerrilla-marketing","title":{"rendered":"Guerrilla Marketing"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"boxpad alignright wp-image-23300 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/guerrilla-marketing.jpg\" alt=\"Guerrilla Marketing\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/guerrilla-marketing.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/11\/guerrilla-marketing-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><strong>Definition:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Guerrilla marketing<\/strong> is a promotional approach that uses unexpected, creative and context-specific actions to attract attention and prompt a response from the audience. It can take place in physical or digital environments and aims to make the idea, location or interaction amplify the effect of the investment.<\/p>\n<p><strong>It is not defined solely by a low budget and does not guarantee virality.<\/strong> Some actions require substantial production, permits, staff, technology or safety measures. Their value depends on whether the execution serves an objective, fits the brand and can be evaluated.<\/p>\n\n<h2>Characteristics of guerrilla marketing<\/h2>\n<p>A guerrilla action breaks a familiar expectation in a particular place, format or moment. <strong>Surprise is a resource, not the final objective<\/strong>: it should help the audience understand the message, remember the brand or take a measurable action.<\/p>\n<p>Its most common characteristics include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Creative use of context:<\/strong> It uses elements of the environment, everyday behaviours or familiar formats to change their meaning.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Audience participation:<\/strong> It may invite people to observe, interact, share, register or move to another channel.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Concentrated execution:<\/strong> It usually takes place in a defined location, community or period before its reach is extended.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Potential for amplification:<\/strong> Photographs, videos, editorial coverage and user posts can extend the action, although such distribution is not guaranteed.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Strategic consistency:<\/strong> The creative idea should relate to the value proposition, audience and brand positioning.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Types and relationship with other techniques<\/h2>\n<p>Guerrilla marketing can use different formats. <strong>The type of action depends on the environment and the behaviour it is intended to generate<\/strong>, rather than on a closed classification.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Ambient marketing:<\/strong> It integrates the message into an existing object or space. It is a specific technique within the guerrilla repertoire when it uses the environment unexpectedly. See the definition of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/ambient-marketing\">ambient marketing<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Street marketing:<\/strong> It runs actions in streets, squares or other public spaces, often using promoters, installations or demonstrations.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Experiential marketing:<\/strong> It creates an experience in which the audience participates and associates a feeling or memory with the brand.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Publicity actions:<\/strong> It uses installations, interventions or one-off events designed to attract coverage and conversation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Digital extension:<\/strong> It documents the action and adapts it to social media, owned media or other channels to expand its reach.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Guerrilla marketing is not the same as <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/virality\">virality<\/a>. <strong>The former describes how a promotional action is designed; the latter describes how content or a message spreads<\/strong>. A campaign may use guerrilla techniques without spreading widely, or become viral without having been conceived as guerrilla marketing.<\/p>\n<h2>Advantages and risks<\/h2>\n<p>A relevant execution can generate awareness, conversation, recall and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/digital-glossary\/engagement\">engagement<\/a>. <strong>These are potential benefits and should be compared with the total cost<\/strong>, including production, location management, content distribution and the subsequent response.<\/p>\n<p>There are also limits and risks:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Misinterpretation:<\/strong> Surprise can obscure the message or create an association different from the intended one.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Rejection or intrusion:<\/strong> An action can annoy people if it interrupts, deceives or uses a space without considering those affected.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Safety and accessibility:<\/strong> Installations and interactions should account for mobility, signage, evacuation and access for different users.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Permissions and rights:<\/strong> Using spaces, images, music, data or third-party brands may require authorisation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Negative amplification:<\/strong> Conversation may focus on an execution error rather than the brand proposition.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Incomplete measurement:<\/strong> Estimated reach or mentions alone do not demonstrate a commercial effect.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>How to plan and measure an action<\/h2>\n<p>Creativity needs a control process. <strong>Before producing the action, the team should define the change it is expected to cause and how that change will be verified<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Set the objective and metric:<\/strong> Decide whether the aim is awareness, recall, visits, registrations, sales, attendance or participation.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Analyse the audience and context:<\/strong> Identify where the relevant situation occurs, who may be affected and how the action is likely to be interpreted.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Design the idea and response:<\/strong> Connect the creative device to a clear message and a proportionate call to action.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Validate feasibility:<\/strong> Review permits, safety, accessibility, privacy, logistics, maintenance and the removal plan.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Test and prepare contingencies:<\/strong> Run a pilot when possible and assign responsibility for incidents or negative reactions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Document and distribute:<\/strong> Decide which materials will be created and where they will be published, without presenting a paid collaboration as a spontaneous reaction.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Measure results:<\/strong> Compare the baseline with reach, interactions, coverage, branded searches, traffic, leads or attributable sales.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>A campaign can generate many views and little useful response. <strong>Evaluation should distinguish attention, interaction and business outcomes<\/strong>, while recording lessons for future actions.<\/p>\n<h2>Guerrilla marketing examples<\/h2>\n<p>Several frequently cited executions show how the environment can become part of the message. <strong>Their value lies in the relationship between medium, message and context<\/strong>, not in assuming that the same device will work for every brand.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Colgate:<\/strong> It used ice cream sticks shaped like toothbrushes to remind people about oral hygiene after eating sweets.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Tipp-Ex:<\/strong> It linked an oversized correction-fluid container to the white lines of a pedestrian crossing, turning an urban feature into part of the message.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Miele:<\/strong> It represented a tunnel entrance as the opening of a very large vacuum cleaner to communicate suction power.<\/li>\n<li><strong>KitKat:<\/strong> It visually transformed public benches into chocolate bars and connected the medium with its invitation to take a break.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>These cases are also close to ambient marketing because they intervene in objects or spaces. <strong>The precise label matters less than whether the action is understandable, legitimate, safe and effective for the defined objective<\/strong>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Guerrilla marketing uses creative, unexpected actions. Learn its types, benefits, risks and examples, and how to plan and measure a campaign.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":80943,"template":"","encyclopedia-tag":[1071],"class_list":["post-20923","encyclopedia","type-encyclopedia","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","encyclopedia-tag-guerrilla-marketing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia\/20923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/encyclopedia"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80943"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"encyclopedia-tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.arimetrics.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/encyclopedia-tag?post=20923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}