Top 10 Guerrilla Marketing Examples to Inspire You in 2025

What do Stanley water bottles, fidget spinners, and Pokemon Go have in common? They’re all guerrilla marketing examples with great results.
By using surprise, humor, or interactive experiences, brands can capture attention without relying on traditional advertising methods. This unconventional approach is especially effective for small businesses; a great brand experience can help stand out in crowded markets.
It can even work wonders as a B2B customer acquisition strategy and help build a customer base.
Below, we’ll explore some of the most memorable guerrilla marketing examples that successfully captured the public’s imagination. These examples will show you how creativity and bold ideas can turn a simple concept into a viral sensation.
Read on for more insights into these clever campaigns and uncover the strategies behind them.
What is Guerrilla Marketing?
Guerrilla marketing is an unconventional and low-cost marketing strategy relying on creativity, surprise, and innovation to capture attention and generate buzz.
Unlike traditional advertising methods, guerrilla marketing aims to create memorable and impactful experiences engaging audiences in unexpected ways. The goal is to reach potential customers in high-traffic locations, using elements of shock, humor, or intrigue to make the brand stand out. Guerrilla marketing can help businesses speed up business growth.
Traits of a Guerrilla Marketing Campaign
A good guerrilla campaign can have one or all of these characteristics:
Element | Description |
---|---|
Surprise or disruption | Guerrilla marketing often surprises the audience with its unexpectedness, creating excitement or curiosity. |
Low-cost creativity | It focuses on clever ideas and engaging experiences rather than large financial investments. |
Word-of-mouth and social media | Campaigns thrive on organic word-of-mouth and viral content shared through social media. |
Experiential and interactive elements | The campaign can include physical or virtual experiences encouraging audience participation, such as email gamification. |
Top 10 Guerrilla Marketing Examples
To showcase how well guerrilla marketing works, we picked 10 recent campaigns:
- Adidas Adizero Campaign,
- KFC’s No Turkey Christmas Ad,
- RyanAir on Twitter,
- The Paris Olympics opening ceremony,
- Coca-Cola’s AI ad,
- Duolingo mascot’s appearance at a concert,
- Heinz’s AI-centric ad,
- Billie Eilish’s album promotion on Instagram,
- Specsavers’s Parking Violations Campaign,
- The Michael Cera and Cerave collaboration.
Excited to learn more about these campaigns? We have detailed breakdowns below.
Adidas Launched Adizero Desert Runner With a Guerrilla Art Public Installation

To promote the launch of its Adizero Desert Runner shoe, Adidas executed a bold and visually striking guerrilla marketing campaign in the middle of the desert. The campaign’s centerpiece was an anamorphic art installation, appearing like a massive mirage when viewed from a specific angle.
This innovative structure highlighted the shoe’s lightweight and durable design, perfectly suited for extreme environments like deserts. The campaign aimed to capture attention through the unexpected and immersive nature of the art, aligning with Adidas’ ethos of pushing boundaries in athletic innovation.
It effectively leveraged social media by combining influencer marketing with user-generated content, creating a ripple effect of engagement and awareness.
What Marketers Can Learn
While a large-scale desert installation may not be feasible for small businesses, the key takeaway is to think creatively about how to align marketing efforts with brand identity.
For instance:
- Use public spaces creatively; consider pop-up art or interactive installations in local parks or high-traffic areas.
- Leverage user-generated content by encouraging customers to share their interactions on social media.
- Focus on storytelling by tying your marketing to a compelling narrative to resonate with your audience.
Guerrilla marketing doesn’t require a massive budget; it requires creativity, boldness, and a strategy to amplify your efforts through social media and word of mouth.
KFC Fans Loved Its “No Turkey” Christmas Campaign

KFC’s 2023 anti-turkey Christmas campaign humorously teased the seasonal obsession with turkey meat by promoting fried chicken as the perfect festive alternative.
The campaign featured playful, attention-grabbing ads. It emphasized the brand’s confidence in its signature product — no turkey required. By leaning into the holiday season’s quirks and offering a humorous contrast to traditional Christmas meals, KFC aimed to position itself as a go-to choice for holiday dining.
The campaign used a solid holiday marketing strategy — bold outdoor advertisements, engaging social media content, and clever email copywriting.
This sparked conversations and increased brand visibility during the festive period. Its self-aware tone resonated with audiences tired of conventional holiday ads, reinforcing KFC’s brand identity as fun and relatable while driving traffic to their restaurants.
What Marketers Can Learn
This campaign showcases how small businesses can effectively differentiate themselves by challenging traditions or norms with creativity.
Key takeaways include:
- Leverage humor: Tackle common frustrations or clichés in your industry and create content to connect with audiences emotionally.
- Capitalize on the holiday season: Use major holidays or events to craft outstanding campaigns. There’s a reason holiday email marketing works!
- Be confident in your product: Like KFC, embrace what makes your offer unique and position it as the ultimate solution.
- Be authentic: Even with a modest budget, a witty, timely, and well-executed campaign can drive customer engagement.
Ryanair is Snarky on Twitter and People Love It

Ryanair’s X (Twitter) account is known for its witty, unapologetic, and often self-deprecating humor. The goal is to make the brand approachable and memorable while standing out in the highly competitive airline industry.
By roasting people who mention it on Twitter, Ryanair has turned a mundane corporate account into a source of entertainment and engagement for millions.
The strategy revolves around reactive content, timely memes, and playful interactions with customers. Ryanair leans into its reputation for budget-friendly travel, often poking fun at its own quirks, such as strict baggage policies and low-cost fares.
This relatability helps the airline build brand awareness and loyalty among its audience while generating substantial organic reach through shares, likes, and comments. The account’s viral tweets even make it to print media, earning Ryanair free publicity.
What Marketers Can Learn
Ryanair’s Twitter success highlights the power of developing a unique brand voice.
Don’t insult your followers just yet; instead, focus on these guerrilla marketing principles:
- Don’t be afraid to use light-hearted or self-aware content to connect with your audience.
- Respond to comments and mentions to create a two-way conversation with customers.
- Use trending topics or memes to stay relevant and gain visibility.
The 2024 Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Shocked People

The Paris 2024 Olympics took the world by storm when it took an unconventional approach during its opening ceremony.
The highlight was a performance by French metal band Gojira, during which there was a reenactment of Marie Antoinette’s beheading. The performance blended France’s historical legacy with modern theatrical flair. The goal was to captivate a global audience while celebrating French culture in a bold, unexpected way.
The strategy was clear — create a spectacle to spark conversation and stand out in the history of Olympic ceremonies. By leveraging dramatic imagery and historical references, the event aimed to capture attention, evoke strong reactions, and generate massive media coverage.
While the act received mixed reactions, ranging from praise for creativity to criticism for insensitivity, it undeniably succeeded in making the ceremony a topic of global discussion. The campaign highlighted how memorable, thought-provoking content can drive publicity on an international scale.
What Marketers Can Learn
We don’t recommend your emulate beheadings, but there are thoughts you can take away from this example:
- Be bold: Don’t shy away from using striking imagery or unconventional ideas to capture attention.
- Leverage culture: Use elements from local culture or history to create campaigns both unique and relatable; local email marketing is founded on this idea.
- Embrace controversy: While risky, sparking debate can amplify visibility — just ensure the message aligns with your brand values.
A well-planned bold campaign can help small businesses make their brand unforgettable even in crowded markets. Remember to test your idea with a group of people before you take it public.
Coca-Cola’s Doubled Down on AI to Boost Engagement

While the world was busy discussing whether AI could replace creative professionals, Coca-Cola’s AI guerrilla video created a huge buzz.
The 2024 video ad aimed to showcase the potential of AI in creative industries while highlighting Coca-Cola’s innovative spirit. Featuring surreal and futuristic visuals, the campaign portrayed a Coca-Cola-filled universe that was simultaneously whimsical and thought-provoking.
The strategy was to leverage AI to stand out in a saturated advertising space, targeting a tech-savvy audience. While the ad drew criticism for sidelining human creatives, it sparked widespread discussion, achieving Coca-Cola’s goal of massive visibility and cultural relevance.
By tapping into the ongoing debate surrounding AI in art and marketing, the campaign successfully positioned Coca-Cola as a forward-thinking brand.
What Marketers Can Learn
Marketers can learn a couple of things from Coca-Cola’s bold experiment:
- Embrace emerging technologies: Integrating innovative tools like AI can make campaigns stand out and help build a VSL funnel.
- Spark conversations: Addressing trending topics or controversies thoughtfully can amplify engagement and media coverage.
The Duolingo Mascot Caused Chaos at a Concert

After wooing Dua Lipa all year, the marketing geniuses at Duolingo are at it again. This time, they got a team of mascots to crash a concert by Charli XCX and go viral.
A few months ago, Duolingo took its mascot, the iconic green owl, to a Charli XCX concert, creating an unexpected yet highly engaging guerrilla marketing moment. The owl appeared in the crowd and made playful, attention-grabbing appearances, capturing photos and videos fans eagerly shared on social media.
The goal of this campaign was to continue building Duolingo’s pop-culture presence and appeal to a young audience. By showing up at a major concert, Duolingo cleverly inserted itself into the ongoing conversation around pop music, further solidifying its image as a fun and relatable brand.
The strategy combined humor, and cultural relevance to turn an ordinary event into a viral marketing moment.
What Marketers Can Learn
Before you don your company mascot’s costume and buy a concert ticket, consider this:
- Leveraging collaborations with influencers can deepen brand recognition; they can help you grow your email list.
- Being a part of high-profile events connects your brand to current trends and cultural moments.
- Create experiences that are easy for fans to capture and share, amplifying your reach organically.
Heinz Used AI to Make a Powerful Statement

The 2023 Heinz AI Ketchup ad took a creative leap by blending artificial intelligence with consumer perceptions of its iconic product. The campaign asked AI tools to generate images of “ketchup,” and unsurprisingly, the results consistently resembled Heinz bottles.
This clever experiment aimed to reinforce the idea that Heinz is synonymous with ketchup, owning its category like no other brand. The strategy involved showcasing AI-generated visuals in digital ads and social media content, underscoring Heinz’s cultural relevance and iconic status. It also boosted email engagement for the company.
Heinz also invited fans to experiment with AI tools themselves, creating an interactive and participatory element, further deepening brand loyalty.
You can watch the ad below.
What Marketers Can Learn
The Heinz AI Ketchup campaign offers actionable insights for marketers:
- Leverage trends: Tapping into popular innovations like AI can make your campaign engaging.
- Own your niche: Highlight what makes your brand iconic and synonymous with its category.
- Encourage audience participation: Inviting customers to engage creatively builds stronger connections and extends the campaign’s reach.
Billie Eilish Fans Loved the Close Friends Instagram Stunt

In 2024, Billie Eilish executed a unique guerrilla marketing campaign by adding all her Instagram followers to her Close Friends list. Traditionally reserved for private content shared with a select group, Eilish flipped the feature on its head, giving her millions of followers an exclusive, behind-the-scenes glimpse into her world. The goal was to create excitement for her “Hit Me Hard and Soft” album launch.
The campaign deepened her connection with fans while creating an intimate atmosphere. Through this feature, she shared raw, unpolished moments, snippets of new music, and personal reflections.
This approach fostered a sense of exclusivity and made followers feel like insiders. The unexpected use of the Close Friends feature was well-received, leading to increased engagement and word-of-mouth as fans marveled at the personalized touch.
What Marketers Can Learn
Billie’s fun use of Instagram teaches us:
- To repurpose features creatively: Explore unconventional ways to use platform features for maximum impact; utilize targeted email marketing to connect with customers.
- People love exclusivity: Create campaigns to make audiences feel special and directly connected to your brand.
- Utilize personalization: Even at scale, personalized touches can make campaigns more meaningful and memorable; this is why email personalization works so well.
Specsavers Parking Violations Campaign Was Well-Received

Specsavers, known for its witty marketing, launched a clever guerrilla campaign in 2024 centered around parking violations.
The brand placed humorous stickers on poorly parked cars, reading: “Should’ve gone to Specsavers.” These stickers, designed to mimic actual parking tickets, caught the attention of both drivers and passersby, generating laughs and sparking conversations.
The goal of the campaign was to reinforce Specsavers’ long-standing tagline while creating a shareable moment to resonate with everyday frustrations.
The strategy leaned on guerrilla tactics:
- Minimal cost,
- Maximum impact.
By targeting a relatable scenario — poor parking — the campaign became instantly memorable. Social media amplified its reach as people shared photos of the stickers, tagging Specsavers and contributing to the campaign’s viral success.
What Marketers Can Learn
The success of the Specsavers campaign tells us:
- To be relatable: Addressing universal experiences, like bad parking, helps campaigns connect with broad audiences.
- Maximize humor: A well-placed joke can make your message more engaging and memorable.
Michael Cera and CeraVe Team Up

In a quirky and unexpected collaboration, Hollywood actor Michael Cera became the face of a CeraVe marketing campaign with a Super Bowl ad.
Known for his awkward charm and offbeat persona, Cera was an unconventional yet fitting choice to promote the skincare brand. The campaign played on his relatable image, featuring humorous, low-key ads mimicking everyday skincare routines.
The goal was to position CeraVe as a brand to resonate with younger, skincare-conscious audiences while maintaining its authenticity. The strategy leaned heavily on Cera’s awkward but endearing persona, making the campaign memorable and shareable.
The partnership extended to social media, where short clips and memes featuring Cera using CeraVe products sparked conversations. By combining humor, relatability, and an unexpected celebrity endorsement, the campaign achieved viral success.
What Marketers Can Learn
This Cerave campaign offers insight into how people think:
- Unconventional partnerships can work: Collaborating with unexpected personalities can make your campaign stand out.
- Relatability is important: Highlight simple, everyday moments to build a genuine connection with audiences.
- Use humor strategically: A touch of humor can make campaigns more engaging and shareable.
The Michael Cera and CeraVe campaign demonstrates how a well-matched personality and clever storytelling can transform an everyday product into a viral sensation.
Run Guerrilla Campaigns Using Email Marketing
If you want to achieve better engagement and use guerrilla tactics to generate a buzz with your email marketing subscribers, try one of these 7 ideas:
- Viral referral programs: Run a “Bring a Friend” email campaign where both parties get special perks if they visit your stores.
- Mystery campaigns: Send teaser emails with cryptic messages or puzzles revealing special offers. Like “We’re watching you….win our prizes” or “What’s in the box? Open daily for clues.”
- Interactive email games: Design email-based scavenger hunts where subscribers solve clues across your website to win prizes.
- A campaign for user-generated content: Launch photo-sharing contests on social media, where customers share your products in unusual places.
- Flash deals: Create urgency with ultra-short window offers.
- Social media integration: Send email campaigns encouraging social sharing and reward users who can refer the most friends.
- Location-based surprises: Utilize local email marketing; send special offers based on subscriber location data. An example would be, “The Boston Marathon is a week from now — here’s a discount on running shoes.”
Additional Reading
If you are driven to achieve better results from all types of email campaigns, we have various articles to help you become a superior email marketer.
Here are relevant topics for you to check out:
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