Guerilla Marketing

Guerrilla marketing uses unexpected, inventive methods to engage audiences directly, often relying on high visibility and viral potential rather than traditional advertising. Your students will enjoy using their imagination and creativity to achieve more with less.  It can be a dose of reality for your entrepreneurship students and students in your marketing classes. (Here's an example: Flash Mob Marketing Campaign)

Guerrilla Marketing Campaign Plan: Have students design a complete guerrilla marketing campaign for a small local business, including objectives, target audience, budget, and promotional activities.

Street Art as Marketing: Ask students to research examples of street art being used for marketing (such as Banksy-style murals or sidewalk chalk art) and propose a similar idea for a business or cause.

Flash Mob Creation: Assign students to plan a flash mob that promotes a brand or message, specifying the location, message, and execution details, while keeping the budget low.

Social Media Guerrilla Campaign: Have students create a guerrilla marketing campaign that utilizes only social media platforms like Instagram, TikTok, or Twitter, with no ad budget. They must explain how they’ll generate buzz.

Viral Video Challenge: Challenge students to storyboard a viral video idea for a product or event using only everyday materials. The video concept must be creative, engaging, and low-cost.

Sticker Marketing Strategy: Students design a series of creative, attention-grabbing stickers that could be placed in high-traffic areas to promote a brand or event. They should explain where they would distribute them and why.

Ambush Marketing Case Study: Ask students to research a real-world example of ambush marketing (where a brand takes advantage of an event without paying sponsorship fees) and present their findings.

Scavenger Hunt Promotion: Students design a city-wide scavenger hunt to promote a product or event. They must include clues, locations, and how this strategy will engage the target audience.

Product Sampling Guerrilla Tactics: Have students create a plan for distributing free samples of a product in a creative, unexpected way that would generate social media buzz or media coverage.

Guerilla Marketing Budget Plan: Students develop a guerrilla marketing campaign for a local nonprofit organization, with a strict $100 budget. They must break down costs and justify each expense.

Unexpected Partnerships: Assign students to come up with creative, low-cost partnerships between two non-competing businesses. They must describe how the partnership will benefit both brands using guerrilla tactics.

Hidden Message Campaign: Students design a campaign that hides the brand message in plain sight, such as in everyday locations (e.g., bus stops, benches, urban spaces) but gets people talking about the discovery.

Pop-Up Marketing Event: Have students plan a pop-up event in an unexpected location, including how they’ll drive traffic and keep costs low. This can involve sampling, performances, or interactive elements.

Influencer Guerrilla Tactic: Ask students to design a guerrilla marketing strategy involving micro-influencers or local figures who could promote a brand for free or in exchange for a product.

Public Stunt Campaign: Students plan a public stunt (like a freeze mob or a creative outdoor installation) that would draw attention to a product or cause. They must explain how they’d ensure it stays low-budget but high-impact.

Repurpose Everyday Objects: Challenge students to develop a guerrilla marketing strategy where they repurpose everyday objects (benches, bus stops, escalators, etc.) to subtly advertise a product.

Environmental Guerrilla Marketing: Ask students to create a campaign that promotes a business or product through eco-friendly or sustainable guerrilla tactics, such as using recycled materials or planting guerrilla gardens.

Projection Mapping Campaign: Students research projection mapping (using light projections on buildings) and design a low-cost version of this tactic for a brand, using simple technology or creative alternatives.

Random Acts of Kindness: Guerrilla Campaign: Have students design a campaign where a brand surprises people with random acts of kindness (e.g., free coffee, paying for parking), and explain how this will generate word-of-mouth.

Guerrilla Marketing Pitch: Students pitch their guerrilla marketing idea for a fictional product in a Shark Tank-style presentation. They must include a budget, creative execution, and expected outcomes.