10 creative guerrilla marketing examples to inspire your next campaign

If you represent a small brand with an even smaller marketing budget, how do you stand out in today’s noisy and crowded marketplace? The answer may lie in guerrilla marketing. 

Today, more than ever, creative professionals have more opportunities to carry out guerrilla marketing. Big advertising budgets are not required; you only need your mobile phone and some smart social media marketing to make a splash. You can stand out through guerrilla marketing with a bold idea and some hustle.

But what is guerrilla marketing, and how can it work for your brand? Let’s explore the concept by looking at ten creative guerrilla marketing examples.

First, what is guerrilla marketing? Popularised in 1984 in Jay Conrad Levinson’s book of the same name, guerrilla marketing refers to unconventional, low-cost, yet high-impact marketing methods. The word “guerrilla” literally translates to “small war.”

Levinson encouraged smaller brands to use their connection with their audience, imagination, and street smarts to break out of traditional marketing tactics and outsmart more prominent brands.

Back in 1984, guerrilla marketing often included posters, murals, street theater, flyers, and other in-person DIY tactics. These days, it may still use those in-person techniques, but social media also gives brands a whole new range of creative opportunities. Let’s get some inspiration from brands that have created unforgettable campaigns through smart guerrilla marketing tactics.

The Ordinary is a skincare brand known for its high-quality, research-based products at affordable prices. When egg prices went sky-high in the United States, The Ordinary offered a dozen eggs in two of its New York City stores for $3.37—the cost of its signature skincare product.

This unusual marketing stunt sparked curiosity, conversation, and media coverage. Not everyone thought it was a great idea. The brand is known for its vegan products, so why was it now selling eggs? The company was staying true to its mission of offering inexpensive products by keeping production costs low. It was so successful that its egg price was cheaper than Trader Joe’s.

While controversial, the stunt worked because it was timely and relevant. It got people talking about what The Ordinary’s brand is truly about. This guerrilla marketing example generated exposure and foot traffic for The Ordinary.

DUDE Wipes are simply wipes for dudes after they go number two. Simple, right? The founders unapologetically say they founded the business to “have fun, make sh&t jokes, and kick a%*.” They run away with cheeky posts on X like this:

What makes this a successful guerrilla marketing example is that the humor, while crude, is totally relatable and on-brand. The posts are entertaining, which makes them highly shareable. DUDE Wipes’ presence on X is a good model of how guerrilla marketing doesn’t have to be physical. It can be an edgy voice and a personality that resonates with your target audience.

When South Australian coffee chain CIBO Espresso announced it would rebrand to Gloria Jeans, a collective of independent coffee shops grabbed the opportunity to promote small, homegrown cafes.

The campaign included outdoor ads at bus stops and billboards at no cost to the participating cafes. Topbunk, a marketing and communications agency, produced the creative and underwrote the media buying costs.

This series of guerrilla marketing ads personifies the David vs. Goliath narrative. It also showcases small cafes’ personality, uniqueness, and stellar customer service—things chain coffee shops can’t offer.

The Bushwick Book Club is “not your mother’s book club.” It organizes literature-themed live shows featuring musicians, writers, visual artists, and performance artists.

Bushwick Book Club’s events are a terrific example of how making unexpected combinations attracts a unique audience; it builds a whole new community of fans and followers.

TikTok is for young people, right? Wrong! People of all ages are getting great results on the platform, including older couple Lydia Kramer and her boyfriend Gary. They had a simple idea for a business: make T-shirts and showcase the works of local artists on them. Nothing mind-blowing, right? What makes this a good guerrilla guerrilla marketing example is their unexpected choice of platform: TikTok.

And it worked! They didn’t dance or use fancy transitions. They just went on camera and let their personalities and art shine through. This is a great example of how guerrilla marketing resonates with the audience by creating authentic and heartfelt content.

Lauren Berlingeri, co-founder and CEO of Higher Dose, admits that the brand doesn’t have the budget for celebrity endorsements. But its space-agey products and glamorous saunas are irresistible for celebrities and aspiring influencers to take selfies with. 

This works because authentic user-generated content (UGC) demonstrates real experiences and fosters trust. This can be much more credible than paid product endorsements. In addition, the intriguing appearance of Higher Dose’s products makes the selfies all the more shareable.

Thanks to social media and inexpensive video cameras, everyone can produce their own video series. That includes Mohawk Chevrolet, a car dealer in New York. The brand produced a series of TikTok videos parodying The Office for its guerrilla marketing campaign. The company’s employee influencers enacted funny scenarios at the dealership.

The result? A car dealership has never been as engaging and relatable as Mohawk Chevrolet. “The Dealership” worked because it played off a popular and much-loved piece of pop culture. The entertaining content humanized the company and made it more approachable. High views and engagement led to a boost in its online presence.

Connecting with your audience helps you sell more stuff? Who knew? Lauren Nelda Pascal, for one. And she maximizes the power of TikTok to engage her audience with funny, trendy content, pitches of her satin bonnets, and, most of all, videos that answer customers’ questions.

Pascal’s channel shows that she’s not only fun and funny—she also really knows her product and audience and cares for them. Her approach has allowed her to reach a broader audience, attract people who resonate with her, and sell more stuff!

Chewy, the pet food company, knows how to win its customers’ hearts. It surprises them with portraits of their pets! Their customers love the portraits and talk about them all over social media. We’re pretty sure they spread the word in face-to-face conversations, too.

Chewy teaches us that it pays to reward your most loyal customers with sincere and thoughtful gifts. The company doesn’t even have to tell the public about it—its customers do the marketing for it.

When Roy Wier, owner of two businesses, was wrongfully accused of shoplifting a mug while chaperoning his eight-year-old son’s field trip, he responded like a true entrepreneur: he turned it into a marketing opportunity. He set things straight with the gift shop and then bought 64 mugs from them. He then added a sticker on each one that said, “Definitely not stolen from: Vigilant Home Inspections & Adios Radon Mitigation.”

This guerrilla marketing tactic works because, aside from being unexpected, it has a great story behind it. This kind of thing goes viral on social media, and Wier made a good call by posting about it on TikTok. This led to views and shares, which means his little stunt went far beyond the recipients of the mugs. Smart, right?

Creative ideas need creative materials. Here’s some inspo for your next guerrilla marketing campaign:

If you ever feel like your marketing has grown stale, it’s time to get inspiration from these guerrilla marketing examples. As you’ve seen, creating a high-impact marketing campaign doesn’t take a big budget. What it takes is creativity and a real connection with your audience—so you know what will connect and resonate with them.

Make standout marketing materials to match your guerrilla marketing tactics. You will need eye-catching designs, from guerrilla marketing ads to social media posts and printed materials. Get templates and other creative assets from Envato. Kickstart your next bold idea — we’ve got your back”. Check out the latest social media marketing trends or this week’s TikTok trends for more ideas.