Have you tried employing guerrilla marketing techniques? In today’s socially engaged and networked marketplace, amazing word of mouth marketing examples has moved to the top of marketing campaign elements at your disposal. Here we will discuss Verizon guerrilla marketing lessons and examples.
Guerrilla marketing campaigns are one of the best ways to get potential customers talking about you.
Related: 12 Lessons from Ben and Jerry’s Marketing Strategies
Guerrilla marketing takes consumers by surprise, makes an indelible impression1, and pops up where and when people least expect it. It often has a large targeted audience and often can be accomplished at reduced cost. That should be important to you, yes?
By being a little more clever and unpredictable, you challenge consumers who appreciate a little fun in their products.
Guerrilla marketing was made for small business owners. It requires creativity, flexibility and a willingness to take a little risk. We use Guerrilla programs usually when a client says to us, we don’t have much budget, but we’d like to get some media attention.
They can be an awesome way to get you noticed, set you apart from your competition and earn you a reputation for being fun and different–all tailored to whatever budget you desire.
A small business should ask themselves, what’s their essence–what’s the core message that can be distilled into a 5-second exchange or in a clever installation?
In defining guerrilla or viral marketing, many creative descriptions have been put forward.
At its core, this form of marketing is simply the “spread of an idea” that helps market your business or cause. It’s putting material out there that by its very nature attracts attention and being talked about.
The best method to look at the practice of guerrilla marketing is to examine the research of some highly intelligent folks who have dedicated years to deciphering the elements of its content.
The best we could find was an associate professor at the Wharton School of Business, Jonah Berger, who studied some classic viral marketing examples to see what lessons can be had from those example campaigns.
His first article to attract attention was his now famous joint paper with Katherine Milkman called What Makes Online Content Go Viral? Where Milkman and Berger found that online content often went viral when:
It was positive, dwelling on positive issues or topics.
It evoked a strong emotional reaction (joy, fear, anger).
It was practically useful.
Later, Berger would take a more in-depth look at this type of marketing in his book Contagious: Why Things Catch On. Here he outlines the more comprehensive STEPPS system which serves to examine common elements in viral pieces of content:
Verizon guerrilla marketing … social currency
People enjoy sharing things that compliment them, either by making them look “in the know” or by showcasing their good taste or opinion on something. As an example, I’ve regularly found that customer service stories are the most viral types of customer service content, because sharing a list of great stories makes you a thought leader.
Verizon guerrilla marketing … triggers
Reading Berger’s book, you’ll be surprised to hear about how often very common brands are talked about (people talk about Cheerios more than Disney World? Who would’ve thought?).
That’s because some topics/brands/products have more common triggers. Many viral pieces of content rely on this; remember how popular the Budweiser “Waaassssuuuuuuup?!” commercials were? That’s because they could be used as a greeting, a very common trigger.
“When we care, we share,” or in other words, as Berger’s findings from his earlier paper show, people tend to share content that evokes a strong emotional reaction.
Surprisingly (as depressing as the news often seems), the most viral pieces of online content didn’t focus on low-energy emotions like “sadness.”
These findings are (almost) exactly mirrored by more recent research published in the Harvard Business Review, which echoes the fact that high-energy emotions are what truly stir discussion.
Verizon guerrilla marketing … public usage
In essence, social proof. People need to see others doing something to embrace it easily. As psychologist Robert Cialdini revealed in this book Influence, sometimes people “fake it before they make it” to achieve this, such as mega-churches putting in money before they pass the donation plate around (people see the bills placed in and base their donation on what is there).
Practical value
Great news for content marketers, practically useful material was shown to be highly viral. People like sharing “news you can use” because they want to help others and look good for doing so.
Verizon guerrilla marketing … stories
As I’ve mentioned previously, in the world of marketing, stories lead to persuasion, because it’s so easy for us to get wrapped up in a good tale. If you’ll recall the viral attention that the Red Paperclip story received, it was all because people simply had to know what happened next in the tale.
The “why” of a viral success story is not so easily explained through this sort of examination, however. And certainly hard to duplicate, isn’t it?
Another great way to learn about the practice of viral marketing is to look closely at successful campaigns that have been run in the past.
Let me show you some of my favorite examples of guerrilla marketing.
Viral Marketing Examples
The general public most often associates a “viral” piece of content with a hilarious YouTube video, such as Gangnam Style. While videos certainly are a big subset of viral content, many more mediums and methods apply.
Word of mouth marketing … WePay
One of my favorite examples of a company going “guerilla” and creating a story worth talking about is WePay and their stunt of leaving a 600-pound block of ice in front of a PayPal conference.
WePay’s execution here was brilliant: for years, people had been complaining about how PayPal would “freeze” their accounts, locking them out from withdrawing the money they earned. If you sell goods online, your PayPal account could be a big part of your livelihood, so to be locked out and ignored was obviously enraging for many people.
No surprise, then, that WePay’s jab at PayPal’s willingness to freeze your money was so well received! Press around the story was whirling, starting with coverage on TechCrunch:
Since some of the biggest points of difference that WePay offered were dependability, security, and customer service that PayPal has often been accused of lacking, taking a jab at their competitor with this stunt wasn’t just for the random, pointless press; it got people talking about a problem WePay truly hoped to address.
Blendtec will it blend?
How the heck do you promote a line of blenders? That’s the question Blendtec found itself asking when it wanted to promote its new line of blenders. It’s tough for a blender to have “social currency,” so what could they do?
Funny. Memorable. Manly. The keys for success from the ‘Will It Blend’ marketing campaign. Any certainly something you’ll want to do for a networked market. Like Blendtec did very successfully.
Check out more on Blendtec marketing from one of earlier blogs.
‘Will It Blend’ is a marketing campaign consisting of a series of infomercials demonstrating the Blendtec line of blenders. In the show, Tom Dickson, the Blendtec founder, attempts to blend various unusual items to show off the toughness and power of his blender.
As a little background, George Wright, Blendtec’s vice president of marketing and sales created a YouTube and marketing campaign called “Will it Blend”? He happened to witness CEO, Tom Dickson feeding a 2×2 inch wooden board into a commercial blender as part of his destructive test and found it fascinating, hence thought others might get a kick out of watching the process, and the idea of creating a video was born.
The brilliant answer was found in the series called Will It Blend?, a video collection of Blendtec blenders destroying (or not destroying) popular items that definitely should not be in a blender.
The genius of this series was not only in how it made blenders a discussion topic (seriously, kudos) but in how the videos showcased just how rugged Blendtec blenders were.
The showmanship may have been great, but these videos were also moving products. If a blender can spit up and chew out an airsoft pistol, it can most certainly handle any fruits and vegetables that you’ll throw at it.
Dove
The Dove Evolution viral ad is effective because it sends a unique, positive message about the true definition of beauty. And this video did spread like a virus. Not only did it get nearly 2 million hits within a month’s time, but it also received attention from top TV shows Ellen, The View, and Entertainment Tonight.
Kmart
With revenue continuing its long, steady decline, Kmart teamed with ad agency FCB to reenergize its much-maligned brand, promoting its product delivery program by appealing to the giggly personality in all of us.
The “Ship My Pants” online video embraces sophomoric wordplay to inform customers that items that are out of stock in Kmart stores may now be shipped directly to their homes for free.
“I just shipped my pants, and it’s very convenient!” enthuses one elderly shopper; another proclaims, “I just shipped my bed!”
While some viewers called it “gross” and “vulgar,” the spot racked up some 20 million YouTube views by the end of last year, at one point yielding one share for every nine views–proof positive that schoolyard humor never goes out of style.
FCB followed “Ship My Pants” with the equally ‘punny’ “Big Gas Savings” spot, as well as commercials that revived “Yo Mama” jokes and featured a branded Kmart rap.
The tongue-in-cheek approach convinced Kmart to retain FCB as its agency of record but wasn’t enough to boost the retail chain’s flagging fortunes: Despite the widely viewed campaigns, revenue sagged 3.7 percent in 2013.
The bottom line
“You just can’t say it. You have to get people to say it to each other”
– James Farley, CMO Ford
When was the last time you employed word of mouth marketing messaging?
So much of marketing is about psychology. This simple exercise of observation has convinced me that observing human behavior is as important as reading books, attending conferences and classes when it comes to learning how to create effective marketing.
So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is completely up to you. But believe in the effectiveness of word of mouth marketing created by remarkable customer service. And put it to good use.
It’s up to you to keep improving your creative marketing strategies. Lessons are all around you. In this case, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.
When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.
Try. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy improving your marketing, branding, and advertising?
Do you have a lesson about making your marketing strategy better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed how reasonable we will be.
More reading on marketing strategy from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
Is your marketing strategy focused mostly on word of mouth marketing? It definitely should be. It is the best marketing technique in my mind, hands down. The key to its success is the way to get people to talk about you and start the buzz. These are called word of mouth triggers and word of mouth marketing examples will be the focus of this article.
The first thing you need to know about word-of-mouth marketing is this: generating consumers to talk about your business isn’t as random as you think. There’s a science to creating a marketing buzz, and it’s something you can learn to do.
Remember, the main goal of your business is not just to create customers. It is to create customers who then will also create customers (that is, customer advocates). This is the perfect marketing solution for 99 % of all businesses and is why we believe word of mouth marketing is your most important marketing campaign tool.
Word of mouth marketing takes consumers by surprise, makes an indelible impression, and pops up where and when people least expect it. It often has a large targeted audience and often can be accomplished at reduced cost.
By being a little more clever and unpredictable, you challenge consumers who appreciate a little fun in their products.
Let’s examine some excellent ways others have created a marketing buzz. Many of these can be easily copied by your company.
Word of mouth marketing examples … weird experiences
At Catbird Creamery in Maine, when you order a conventional flavor, they’ll insist that you sample something a little more adventurous. And even if you’re going to order vanilla anyway, they want you to at least try the strawberry balsamic, or green tea ginger. Catbird knows that anyone can make a good vanilla, but what makes them stand out is helping their customers see all of the other fantastic flavors they also make.
They’re giving their customers an experience to talk about. Even if the customer doesn’t order the hot pepper flavor they just sampled, they will likely tell others they tried it.
Headsets.com sells headsets and phone accessories, but they are most likely remembered for adding Tootsie Rolls to every order they ship. It’s a great word of mouth tactic and they like feedback. They use it to do something even more special. When customers thank their operator for the Tootsie Rolls received in an order and mentioned their favorite flavor, you can guess that information is noted for the next time.
Little actions to surprise and delight your customers can easily be created all the time. Follow Headsets.com example and treat feedback like a well-oiled machine, carefully gathering the information and doing something about it every time.
Word of mouth ads … mystery
Are you mysterious? Do you think you can be? We looked at how people delight in the puzzle-solving aspect of pattern recognition. Now, let’s go a bit deeper and explore what drives this pattern seeking behavior: curiosity.
Great storytellers know how to turn an ordinary event—say, a trip to the grocer—into a suspenseful one by withholding information. In new relationships, flirtation often involves some element of playful teasing, whether through conversation or more sensual revelations.
And newsrooms have made a science out of crafting irresistible headlines: “Your PC might be infected!” or “Are you prepared for the tax law changes?”
We are captivated by unanswered questions. So try and put this mystery to good use.
Make people feel special
Comodo restaurant in New York encourages customers to snap pictures of their meals and contribute them to an “Instagram Menu” by adding #ComodoMenu to their posts. It’s a great way to collect all of their recommendations and photos in one place, but more importantly, it makes those contributors feel like a part of the restaurant.
Customers are often going to take Instagram photos of their fancy dinners. Why not make the most of that word of mouth by making those customers feel special?
Fleur, a florist shop in Chicago, puts a bucket full of bright balloons by the door of their shop both inside and out, with a handwritten sign that says: “Take a balloon.” That’s all. No logos, no catch. It is just a small action to make people smile. Inside the store, it makes a pretty display, and outside the store, people are likely to ask where you got the balloon.
That’s a simple, fun way to get a conversation started without a marketing message. A bucket full of balloons is a bucket full of word of mouth memories waiting to happen. It doesn’t have to be branded or a part of a larger campaign — in fact, the simpler you make it, the better.
Have you ever tried to create conversation starters? Consider this technique by Krochel Kids Intl. Every product they make has a tag that is signed by the person who made it. They are not the standard garment tag. They are large and prominently displayed on the outside of the clothing. It makes each product one of a kind that makes the clothing stand out.
With this kind of visual message, your customers don’t have to bring up the subject because their friends usually ask about it.
Word of mouth marketing examples … demonstrate synergy
Synergy is a quality that often gets overlooked, isn’t it? But it can be a very valuable tool in many ways. You don’t have to be a genius to know that student housing is frequently in demand. Likewise, you’d guess that seniors in nursing homes like to have companionship. So to solve both problems, one nursing home in the Netherlands provides a place to stay for college students, rent free, in exchange for visiting with the elderly for 30 hours per month.
Not much in common, you say? At least they have similar needs. Perhaps your customers who seem very different may have more in common than you think.
Surely you have seen the tear-jerker commercials for abused or abandoned puppies or kittens. Not something you’ll often share with friends, is it? North Carolina’s Wake County SPCA tried a very different approach to this problem. They made a lip-synching music video to ABBA’s song “Take a Chance on Me”, with the entire shelter staff and most of the adoptable animals.
A success? It was watched on YouTube over 3.4 million times the last time we looked. Just because others do the standard tear jerking videos doesn’t mean they are popular. Surprise your audience with original things that are fun and approachable like this SPCA did. It may even surprise you.
The typical thrift store or vintage shop isn’t all that glamorous. But they do have one thing on their side when it comes to fashion: lots of rare and one-of-a-kind clothes. Goodwill capitalized on that concept by revamping some of their stores to look like upscale boutiques instead of the place you drop off your oldest clothes. Their new Rare by Goodwill stores are smaller, and they collect some of the more trendy vintage or antique stuff their regular stores have to offer.
Perhaps your business has more in common with your upscale competitors than you think, yes? What can you learn from them about attracting new customers?
Learn more: Small Business Trends
Do something different
Restaurants have a lot of overhead: plates, utensils, pots, pans, glassware, and the like. And this doesn’t last forever either. As table cloths wear out or coffee mugs chip, restaurants have to replace them. But at Cotogna and Quince, two neighboring restaurants in San Francisco, they use this aging inventory as an opportunity. They set out this type of used material for their annual “Smallwares Sidewalk Sale” and invite the community to shop, catch some brunch, and help them clean house.
Now that’s a fantastic way to address a standard problem and turn it into clever marketing. They’re saving a little money, bringing people into their restaurant, and getting rid of stuff they don’t want all at the same time.
When several guys had to give up the 1957 Land Rover they bought together in college, they were disappointed. So when Land Rover saw the boys’ ad for the sale, they bought the car and restored it down to the smallest of details.
But before surprising the guys with the return as a gift, they created a video commercial. Each place in the commercial reflected a memory of a car adventure from the group.
Your customers will often surprise you with many more great memories than you can build yourself. Look for them and put them to good use.
Learn more: Brains on Fire
The bottom line
The triggers of word-of-mouth marketing are all around us. All we have to do is be open-minded in how we look.
Our world is in flux. There is no part of the consumer experience that is untouched. Digital technology is disrupting the marketplace, while changes in our understanding of the psychology of decision-making have overturned centuries of conventional wisdom. Even a brief summary such as this one can make the challenges seem overwhelming.
So what to do? First, start somewhere. It can be one place or the other, but at least start. The change will be unfolding for years and everyone else is as confused as you are.
Now it’s your turn. What is the creative word of mouth marketing ideas from your business?
Need some help in capturing more customers from your social media marketing or advertising? Creative ideas to help the differentiation with your customers?
All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.
When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.
Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.
Are you devoting enough energy to innovate your social media strategy?
Do you have a lesson about making your advertising better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?
Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.
More inspirational stories from Digital Spark Marketing’s Library:
Mike Schoultz is a digital marketing and customer service expert. With 48 years of business experience, he consults on and writes about topics to help improve the performance of small business. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, and LinkedIn.
