Guerilla Tactics and Startegy in Marketing

Guerilla strategy in Marketing

It is used against a larger, stronger and well entrenched opponent who cannot be attacked directly
without great losses. Surprise, Speed and Stealth are essential prerequisites of a guerilla attack, just like in flanking. It is also industry specific. If you are in the automobile industry and if you want to take on Toyota in some market segment, you will need very much larger resources for launching a guerilla attack. However, if you want to be a guerilla player in the wet shaving
market to fight against Gillette, then you may not require so much of resources. However, all
guerillas will be required to follow the principles of guerilla marketing.

Since low end guerilla marketers generally do not have much resource, it is necessary to defend
the small turf at all costs. It needs concentration and focus. A Guerilla marketer must not try to
get into other established markets dominated by bigger players.

A guerilla marketer must be very frugal and keep the overheads absolutely low. No private jets,
fancy cars and private parking. A guerilla organization must never behave like a big company. A
guerilla marketer must be lean and mean, literally. Most guerilla marketers move into areas
vacated by large companies because the volumes are not economical for the big ones.

Low end guerilla marketing was possible in the past but has become increasingly difficult
because of global economies of scale. China with its vast human resources, low costs and huge
manufacturing base can afford to carryon this strategy in many low cost and mundane products.

Amongst all guerilla options, high end offers maximum opportunities but requires larger
resources. Rolls Royce, Bentley and Ferrari are the high end guerillas in the auto industry. The
Swiss manufacturers like Rolex, Tag Heur, Tissot and Omega are such guerillas in the watch
industry. Every industry has a high end guerilla. The usual positioning is the perceived appeal to
status and vanity in people, especially the ‘nouveau riche’. It is used in a derogatory manner
about people who have become suddenly rich but not rich traditionally. However, it is not
necessary to be dealing with super luxury automobiles or watches to be called a high end guerilla.
There are sufficient people in the world who fall for such gimmicks, out of snob value.

Large food chains like Pizza Hut, Dominos, McDonalds, KFC and Hotel Chains like Quality and
Days Inns generally use local and regional guerillas to expand their markets. It is a win-win
strategy for both the giant as well as the local guerilla. The guerilla gets the marketing support of
a big brand. Guerillas can join together and fight the big ones in some areas by surrounding,
snapping and biting all the time. One advantage most guerillas have is that big players leave them
alone not out of compassion but due to the fear of guerillas hollering blue murder. As a result,
strong arm tactics are never used against the guerillas by the giants. The various options for
guerilla marketing are: Geographical, Demographics, Products both -low end and high end
products and Franchising.

The guerillas do not survive in the long run. They will invariably sell out to larger companies or
get taken over because they have become big guerillas. After a certain stage in size, the small
companies have to think big. Guerilla marketing is suitable only for small niche players.

© May, 2007. www.madgopes.com. All rights reserved.

Guerilla Tactics and Startegy in Marketing - To learn more about this author, visit Madhavan T Gopalachary's Website.

Like this article? Share it with your friends

E-Mail | Print | More

Related Articles
Guerilla Tactics and Startegy in Marketing
	This article briefly outlines the tactics and strategy that can be applied when competing with bigger and stronger competitors.
Internet Guerilla Marketing Tactics
	Guerilla marketing is basically the use of more radical methods to gain traffic to your website and generate sales and profits. The guerilla marketer is usually one of the most active marketers because, as a marketi...
Patience for Entrepreneurs
	Over the years, I have witnessed small business owners make one of the most harmful mistakes of all; they do not have adequate patience when it comes to their marketing efforts. This lack of patience can be detrime...
Blue Ocean Strategy
	Tactics shapes Strategy but Strategy drives Tactics. Both cannot be learnt in class rooms. It has to be learnt in the battlefield. What is taught is only theory by people who know all the directions but have never c...
Fusion Marketing: Two Businesses Are Better Than One
	Just as two heads can be better than one, two companies can be too.

---

Related Forum Posts
	Joint Venture Bootcamp 30% Off - Toronto
	Re: Best Internet Marketing Strategy
	Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f
	Re: Let’s talk about the ways of marketing your products, servic
	Re: Should Evan add a "Social Media Marketing" category to the f
	SES Toronto Next Week
	Online Sales and Marketing vs Traditional
	Offline Marketing V/S Online Marketing

---

Related Businesses - Evan Elite Authors

Dave Kurlan Dave Kurlan is the founder and CEO of Objective Management Group, Inc., the industry leader in sales assessments and sales force evaluations, and the CEO of David Kurlan & Associates, Inc., a consulting firm specializing in sales force development. Dave has been a top rated speaker at Inc. Magazine's Conference on Growing the Company, the Sales & Marketing Management Conference and the Gazelles Sales & Marketing Summit. He has been featured on radio and TV, including World Business Review with General Norman Schwarzkopf, in Inc. Magazine, Selling Power Magazine, Sales & Marketing Management Magazine and Incentive Magazine. He is the author of Mindless Selling and Baseline Selling – How to Become a Sales Superstar by Using What You Already Know about the Game of Baseball. He created and wrote STAR, a proprietary recruiting process for hiring great salespeople, and he writes Understanding the Sales Force, a popular business Blog and is a contributing author to The Death of 20th Century Selling and 101 Great Ways to Improve Your Life, Volume 2. - Visit Dave Kurlan's Website

Accessible Business Consultants Dave Turkin, President, of Accessible Business Consultants is a full service business consultant that has over 32 years of experience working with small-medium size businesses. Dave has designed and implemented numerous business and marketing plans, designed internal programs for accounting and operational procedures. He has analyzed businesses and prepared strategic plans setting budgets for growth, expansion and business restructuring. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of various corporations as an advisor. For many years he has been the Business Coach to many executives offering advice and guidance from old and established companies as well as new companies just getting started. Dave has the ability to analyze a business quickly and get a strong indication as to the necessary steps to improve operations, productivity and profitability. - Visit Accessible Business Consultants's Website

Anne Barr Anne Barr has over 26 years experience in sales and marketing, six years as a franchisee. She has assisted over 367 business owners and purchasers to achieve their goals in career change, transition and exit strategy. She holds the designation of Certified Franchise Executive from the International Franchise Association, Certified Business Intermediary from the International Business Brokers Association and Board Certified Broker from the Texas Association of Business Brokers. Anne is active in professional organizations, networking groups and volunteers for non-profit entities. As owner/operator of four successful businesses, Anne has proven people skills and enjoys helping clients find the right "fit" in business ownership. Visit www.FranchiseOpportunitySpecialist.com for more information about me and my company. - Visit Anne Barr's Website

The Evan Elite Authors program is currently in beta phase. For details please contact us.