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Guerilla Marketing Why it’s so cool
I read an article the other day about the guy (name temporarily misplaced) who brought Red Bull to NZ. Fascinating. He basically built a brand around the fact that this can of drink was barely legal in most countries, if legal at all. He took it from a tiny skiing community somewhere in Europe and helped make it the massive global brand it is today. And he did it all the guerrilla way. Instead of trying to cut prices or cram into vending machines beside rows of Coca Cola, Red Bull became the hot commodity of the underground, until it emerged above ground with a critical mass large enough to give it ‘wings’.
- Turn your disadvantage to your advantage: You would think it would be a struggle to get a fairly illegal drink off the ground… Unless you proclaim it from the rooftops! What pill popping club goer is not going to race to the next illicit substance? Red Bull were forced to spend many man hours manually relabeling hundreds of thousands of cans with more accurate information. The result? Those little labels were ripped off cans and stuck on every surface in every bar Red Bull was sold - hmm easy way to get noticed.
- Don’t get caught up in pricing: You will never beat the big guys. They will waste you. Why not go the opposite extreme and proudly proclaim your status as the highest price non-alcoholic beverage available? Like 42 Below, this air of luxury and exclusivity drives the public crazy.
- KNow your market and make them see you: Who are your target market? Where do they hang out? What do they like? Be there giving it to them. Whether it’s sporting events, anti-conferences, the beach, at the train station, dance parties, offices. Know where your kind of people are and make them see you.
The day of the little guy has come. It’s all about being unique and small, knowing who you are and not being afraid to show it. It’s about being smarter than the big guys and flying under the radar, taking every hit and turning it into a home run. Marketing shouldn’t be boring, there is always something you can do to become the next big thing - if a soft drink can do it, believe me, you can too.
February 21st, 2007 at 4:43 pm
Wow that was really inspiring Nat! Nice read :)
February 21st, 2007 at 5:52 pm
Well, Red Bull were guerilla marketers at first, but these days they’re much more mainstream - spending most of their marketing budget on sports sponsorship and branded cars. See Wikipedia for a great history of the company and the origins of the drink (Thailand, not Europe.)
February 21st, 2007 at 8:05 pm
I completely agree, that is why I found the roots so interesting, these days RedBull is like another Coke, which is why I’ve never really been interested.
RedBull was definitely started in Thailand (which is funnily enough, the first place I tried it), I was talking about a small group of people in Europe who had embraced the drink, outside of it’s homeland. That was a little bit misleading though sorry…
Thanks for the link :)
March 7th, 2007 at 9:52 pm
Nice article nat.
Guerilla Marketing is cool, especially when you’re small and trying to get noticed. It can allow you to build up a really passionate group of people around you to support your brand, tell your story and make it big and cross the chasm from niche to mass market.
Red Bull certainly has crossed the Chasm from niche to mass market. In the same way a war vet named Ray Krok got into the burger business by the cut of his fries and turned that into one of the world’s largest cultural phenomenon.
I think you missed one massively important point in your takeaways.
Authenticity. Red Bull had it in its Thai roots, 42 has it in the quality of it production environment. Authenticity builds subculture, at its most extereme in Tokyo you see companies producing vintage gear, to amazingly exacting specs. Because the passionate few, those who line the edge and help your leap into the mainstream value it above everything else.
http://www.buzzricksons.jp/top.html