Something about Guerilla and Buzz...

The whole issue about Guerrilla and Buzz Marketing is very controversial because more people believe these forms are beneficial.  But we should be little bit critical and ask wether it brings just those benefits about which we read on Internet. It might be challenging to fight against these forms of marketing, so I rather just point out why I think that Guerrilla and Buzz brings risks and negatives as well.

Guerrilla marketing is promoted  in public places, intended to get maximum results from minimal resources. The term was defined by Jay Conrad Levinson in his book Guerrilla Marketing. It has become the most popular part of advertising and we are surrounded by its forms nearly everywhere. As Jay Conrad Levinson claims: “Guerrilla marketing is needed because it gives small businesses a delightfully unfair advantage: certainty in an uncertain world, economy in a high-priced world, simplicity in a complicated world, marketing awareness in a clueless world."( from gmarketing)

But it is important that a particular company which uses Guerrilla marketing actually understands what its exact meaning, because in some cases there are no beneficial effects but rather negative. As I have already mentioned in some cases  (articles below) Guerrilla marketing becomes expensive, not time saving and misunderstood by society where was used. There are cases where Guerrilla marketing uses non-ethical issues as you can see on the pictures near the text. Guerrilla marketing using the image of drowned kid in public swimming pool and a real woman packed in the suitcase at the airport is not really what society would considered as an art or attractive advertisement. Sometimes it is crucial to set a boarders and understand what would be really beneficial and what would be not.

Buzz Marketing might have negative effects in terms of presenting the information. As I have already mentioned, most common form of Buzz is distribution via Internet. For companies who wants to use Buzz marketing is important to understand its rules as well, because buzz campaigns usually ends in negative buzz which is very harmful for the company and most of the companies cannot deal with it in proper way. But I think that Buzz marketing is usually promoting false and distorted information. If is something promoted just via Internet then it is questionable whether we can trust it or not. As I said in the Ikea article, which you can find below, I have not find any evidence about the people who actually received their furniture for free. And I really think that interested customers received the product in a way it is distributed. 

Anyway, you might think that I am strongly against these two forms of marketing, but I have to mention that I do think that they bring some benefits but on the other hand I believe that they are harmful and their negative effects have to be discussed and pointed out.


Material used:

http://www.gmarketing.com/articles/4-what-is-guerrilla-marketing

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jay_Conrad_Levinson