Guerilla Marketing - Cheap, Easy, Fun, Effective

The term guerilla, according to Merriam-Webster is derived from the Spanish word, "guerra" meaning "war." So, the word, guerilla, is the boiled down version of guerrilla, or, one who engages in war. Over the years, the term has been used to describe those small bands of fighters who use unconventional tactics of hit and run to harass and demoralize a larger, opposing force.
If you believe a ton of higher educated people than me who are just a Guerilla Marketing Google search away claim that Guerilla Marketing was invented by Jay Conrad Levinson in and around 1983. I think NOT.
Levinson may have coined the phrase in his 1983 book Guerrilla Marketing, but, come on... we've been guerilla marketing since the ice age.
When the first muktuk maker started handing out free samples in front of his igloo, guerilla marketing was born.
What is it?
It's viral, buzzy and when pushed to it's most extreme form, is extremely effective.
If you have your logo on the side of your company car, you are a guerilla marketer. Which reminds me of a funny tale, one that works along the lines of my previous entry that talks about never allowing the owner to dictate your marketing. I worked marketing for a guy who had a fleet of company trucks, he spent a good deal of money placing his logo's catch phrases and contact information on all his trucks. He allowed his staff to take the vehicles home with the understanding that they were allowed to . He wanted me to come up with a plan to help him brand his company. I suggested a blitz of local boards, some corporate sponsorships of local events, a solid pr campaign, all efforts to get more visibility for the company. Then, one day he saw one of his trucks at Wal-Mart on a Saturday and decided that his employees were taking advantage of the company truck privilege and it was costing him money. So, he installed GPS trackers on every truck and subscribed to a tracking service. This was all very expensive. Much more expensive than the cost of an occasional trip to the local market, or a side trip to Pizza Hut on the way home. Anyway, he tripped over a dollar to pick up a dime. Having his highly visible trucks all over town, in busy parking lots, at high school sporting events and rolling through busy intersections was the best branding opportunity he had. Never let the owner of the company dictate marketing.
I digress... Guerilla marketing... I saw a paintless dent repair company out in the Lowes parking lot after a major hailstorm sticking waterproof business cards under windshield wipers. Genius!!
A newly-opened restaurant in my old home town set up a booth on the opening morning at a local three day bike rally. They claimed to have the "best breakfast burritos in town". They must have given away thousands of them. They walked through the crowd with a little red wagon, just handing them out. For the next two days, the restaurant was packed, and whenever someone rides through town on their bike, guess where they stop to eat?
Guerilla marketing... it's cheap, it's easy, and it's effective.
Maybe I'll post some ideas. Please leave your ideas in the comments section.