Special Report: Guerilla Marketing

Special Report: Guerrilla Marketing

(This is Part II of a Special Report on Experiential Marketing)

Viewpoint by James D Roumeliotis, WCW Columnist

Experience based marketing tactics which fall under the category of “Guerrilla Marketing” are clearly consumer centric. The approach gives customers an opportunity to engage and interact with products and services in creative and compelling ways.

The goal is to establish the connection in a way that the consumer responds to a product offering built upon emotional and rational response levels. The unique experience can turn viral, as word will spread quickly to others. Therefore, the aim of the experiential marketer is to add excitement with a dose of entertainment to what otherwise might pass as lacklustre.

Marketing guru Philip Kotler, in his classic book “Marketing Insights from A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Needs To Know”, states that marketing experiences or designing experiences around goods and services have many illustrations. For example, great restaurants are known for their experience as much as their food.

Starbucks charges $2 or more to experience coffee at its finest.

A restaurant club such as Planet Hollywood and Hard Rock Café is specifically set up as an experience. If its "only rock 'n roll", the Hard Rock Cafe under the spirit of its founder and original owner Issac Tiggret shows how the concert experience of your favorite acts live forever in aspic. Here under the muted lights, you can remain 18-20 years old forever. Woodstock was more than event. It became a mind set for eternal youth.

On another level, the city of Las Vegas is a type of adult-Disney world of pure fantasy. Hotels, anxious to distinguish themselves, take on the character of ancient Rome or New York City and cater to crowds who wish to escape the "normality" of their everyday lives. According to people at the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, "everyone who comes to Vegas is a winner". The Sands is so steeped in mythology that it is its own recognizable brand.

The Disney Experience

However, the master is “Walt Disney”. It was sheer genius to create a world where either an adult or child could live out their fantasy and meet people from a movie or animated film. The Disneyland experience allows you to step into the American Wild West, visit the fairyland castles of the Grimm Brothers, sail on pirate ships throughout the Caribbean or participate in an Indiana Jones episode. Any visitor to Disney world in Orlando can tell you about the complete marketing control exercised by the firm once you are "on campus". This is the type of "virtual" reality adults as well as children enjoy most. You can touch, feel, and taste the experience in real time with your real senses. No need for illusion or 3-D glasses here. In such a universe, you can become your own "Avatar" and even take the experience home home by buying the "props", i.e. the after-market products made and designed with the post movie experience fully in mind. Tie In products even generate more revenue than the actual event at the box office. This is quite lucrative as the Disney organisation has proved over the years.

The Genius of Apple

Another classic case study is “Apple”. Every one familiar with their retail experience are familiar with their “Genius Bar” and its success. The concept offers its customers:

• Free advice,
• A well designed ambiance,
• Well-trained & friendly staff,
• Appointments can be set to avoid long waiting periods.

With the “Genius Bar”, Apple created a conversation. When you enter their stores, you experience a two-way “experience”, which will meet or exceed your expectations.

Building Brand Loyalty

Looking at less "sexy" or glamorous products, take a look at the effective experiential campaigns of Procter & Gamble. What could be less "sexy" than laundry detergent or toilet paper?

Tide CleanStart mobile free laundry service was first launched in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in 2005 to provide clean clothes for affected families in New Orleans. The resilience and spirit of the people of New Orleans inspired Tide to expand the program and bring laundry service to Southern California, helping families affected by the wildfires of October 2007. Collectively, Tide has washed more than 30,000 loads of laundry for New Orleans and Southern California families. The Tide CleanStart truck is now prepared to help displaced residents, people in shelters and other people whose homes and the Iowa flood has impacted personal items.

Times Square and Toilet Paper

How do you successfully build an engaging, loyalty-building brand story around toilet paper?

Just ask the ace marketers at Proctor & Gamble and they'll likely tell you about the 20 free, deluxe Charmin restrooms opened in New York's Time Square for the 2007 holiday season. At the same location in 2006, the Charmin Holiday rest rooms served more than 420,000 people from 100 countries and all 50 states, so a 2007 encore was in order.

However, free family-friendly restrooms and ample toilet tissue were just one part of the unique, memorable brand story crafted by the Charmin team. First, friendly folks dressed as dancing toilets greeted passersby on the street, inviting them to visit the Charmin Holiday Restrooms nearby. Visitors then took escalators up and wove through a rope line while a legion of smiling hosts wearing Charmin apparel greeted them and upbeat holiday music played in the background. Inside the stalls (serviced by staff after every use), Ultra Strong and Ultra Soft tissue were available. Afterward, guests were asked to vote for their favourite.

Making Experiential Marketing Work

Experiential marketing should strive to:

• Deliver a meaningful benefit to the consumer
• Engage people in a memorable ways
• Be authentic
• Deliver relevant communication only where consumers can respond
• Succeed by using innovation to reach consumers in creative and compelling ways

Today’s Actionable Insight

Whether it’s online or in the field, you should start a conversation with your customers. All merchants offer products and/or services, however, don’t simply view a transaction as a transaction and time to move on to the next. That is getting rarer. The challenge is to usher your customer through a memorable experience that will yield long-term benefits for the client and your business.

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