Guerrilla tactics

Guerrilla marketing was coined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book "Guerrilla Marketing" in 1983. It is derived from the term guerrilla warfare. It is wrongly termed as a strategy, it is more of tactics. The word was coined in Spain to describe their warfare in resisting Napoleon Bonaparte's French regime, its meaning was broadened to mean any similar-scale armed resistance. Guerrillero is the Spanish word for guerrilla fighter. Guerrilla has a more operational angle to it. It is about how it is done rather than what is done. Though I could not find a perfect definition for guerrilla warfare, this is the closest I could get.

Guerrilla warfare (also guerilla) is the unconventional warfare and combat with which small group combatants (usually civilians) use mobile tactics (ambushes, raids, etc) to combat a larger, less mobile formal army. The guerrilla army uses ambush (draw enemy forces to terrain unsuited to them) and mobility (advantage and surprise) in attacking vulnerable targets in enemy territory. - Wikipedia

The features of guerilla warfare are

· In guerilla it’s the weak that attacks the stronger one.

· It’s the weaknesses of being small that is converted into a strength. It’s like a group of ants bringing down an elephant.

· Guerilla is characterized by agility, deception, surprise, ambush, camouflage and intelligence.

In India Shivaji Bhonsale, who founded the Maratha empire in 1674 in western India, employed guerrilla warfare successfully against the Muhgals in the hilly terrain of the Sahyadaris. He faced daunting challenges such as repeated invasions by huge enemy armies, notably the Mughals and the regional Sultanates, which would have defeated a lesser leader. Shivaji coped and survived and eventually emerged triumphant by using innovative tactics including hit-and-run, strategic expansion of territories and forts, by constantly keeping on the move, by being highly mobile and by always keeping one step ahead of his pursuers. Shivaji brilliantly overcame disadvantages of size and resources by adopting intelligent strategies and tactics, including taking advantage of their intimate familiarity of the mountainous and rugged Maharashtra terrain, by being highly mobile and lightning fast, and by adopting hit-and-run tactics.

Now lets see how marketing scrounged guerrilla warfare. Guerrilla marketing is an innovative way to compete against a market leader, who has more financial muscle. It involves time, energy and innovation to reach the masses rather than a big advertising budget. It is all about getting the maximum impact at minimum cost. Such promotions are sometimes designed so that the target audience is left unaware they have been marketed to and may therefore be a form of undercover marketing (also called stealth marketing). The ethics of guerrilla marketing have often been called into question due to an alleged deceptive, misleading, or subtle nature of the campaigns.

Forms of guerrilla

Viral marketing is a promotional tactics which spreads the word about your product like a virus. The marketer relies on the customers to promote the product.

Ambient marketing is using unconventional media i.e. apart from the classic generic group( TV, print, radio, posters and cinema). It is done in places where people generally wait and have idle time, like in queues or places having high traffic.

Buzz marketing -- word of mouth marketing

Undercover marketing -- subtle product placement

Astroturfing -- releasing company news to imitate grassroots popularity

Experiential marketing -- interaction with product

A Guerrilla marketer must be flexible. They must be able to change tactics very quickly; this may include abandoning a market segment, product, product line, brand, business model, or objective. Guerrillas are not ashamed to make a strategic withdrawal.

Guerrilla is suitable when:

· the target competitor has relatively strong resources and is well able to withstand a head-on attack.

· the attacker has moderately weak resources.

Related article

Alexander: the supreme strategist

Guerrilla blogs

http://www.gmarketingcoach.com/blog/

http://blog.guerrillacomm.com/