guerrilla marketing
n. A marketing campaign that uses non-mainstream tactics and locations, often in defiance of local laws or statutes.
Examples
2000
College campuses provide the perfect venue for guerrilla marketing — which runs the gamut from sidewalk chalking, biodegradable tree postings and stenciling to product give-aways and spray painting logos around campuses — since students by nature are open to nontraditional marketing schemes, say experts.
—Erik Gruenwedel & Mary Power, “Street Fighters,” ADWEEK, August 07, 2000
2000
It's called guerrilla marketing, or ''in-field marketing,'' and is becoming more common in cities across Canada as companies push the limits in order to get noticed.
—Derek Sankey, “Guerrilla marketing comes to town,” Calgary Herald (Alberta, Canada), June 24, 2000
1983 (earliest)
Guerrilla marketing requires finding a market segment small enough to defend, but quietly. The guerrilla can never act like a leader. Finally, in guerrilla marketing, an institution must be able to abandon a position on a moment's notice, either because a mistake has been made or because a major competitor swamps that particular market.
—Sig Front, “Marketing: Strategies of War and Salesmanship Among Key Elements the CEO Must Embrace,” United States Banker, May 01, 1983
Filed Under