This guerrilla marketing stunt helped a brand save over USD 12 million in ad spending!
For today’s issue, we’re thrilled to talk about a brilliant guerrilla marketing stunt from a bottled water brand. Continue reading to know more about this campaign.
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This guerrilla marketing stunt helped a brand save over USD 12 million in ad spending! In 2019, Fiji Water conducted a guerrilla marketing stunt that saw its brand garner widespread social media attention and press coverage. The interesting thing about the stunt was it generated buzz for the bottled water brand through the sidelines of a high-profile event. How did Fiji Water pull off this feat? Fiji Water served as the Golden Globes Awards’ official water partner in 2019. This was in line with its previous efforts of maintaining a presence at high-profile events like award shows, international film festivals, and movie premieres. As part of its partnership with the award show, Fiji Water had its brand ambassadors provide water to the guests. Additionally, the firm commissioned Getty Images to take photos of celebrities holding or sipping the company’s products. While the brand’s brand promotion efforts at the 2019 Golden Globes Awards seemed like a typical advertising campaign, things took an interesting turn.
This is due to the fact that Kelleth Cuthbert, a model and one the brand ambassadors, was spotted as she posed behind celebrities who had their photos taken by the press. Since the photobombing was hilarious, Cuthbert and Fiji Water effectively stole the show during the Golden Globes Awards and the stunt quickly went viral on social media.
In fact, the bottled water brand immediately took advantage of the situation by directly referencing Cuthbert through a Twitter post.
When asked about whether the photobombing was deliberate or not, Cuthbert was coy, stating that what she did was “all strategic.” How effective was the guerrilla marketing campaign? Fiji Water and Cuthbert were the talk of the town on social media, with tweets about both reaching more than 50,000. Additionally, the stunt was featured on various YouTube videos whose total viewership numbered in millions. Aside from being talked about online, the guerrilla marketing stunt was featured on notable publications such as TIME, Business Insider, CNN, The Guardian, Yahoo Finance, BBC, and more. The marketing tactic also earned the brand over USD 12 million in ad impressions across television, radio, digital, and social media mentions. What else? By undertaking a guerilla marketing campaign to generate buzz for its brand, Fiji Water saved lots of money. According to Eric Smallwood, president of consulting firm Apex Marketing Group, the bottled water brand would have had to spend more than USD 12 million on traditional advertising to generate the same amount of buzz that its guerrilla marketing stunt achieved. These results show that all in all, Fiji Water’s guerrilla marketing stunt was a success. So, what made the campaign work? The answer is simple: It caught everyone by surprise! While photobombing was common in 2019, no one had thought of doing it during a marquee event. Because of the surprise factor of such an act, those who noticed the stunt talked about it immediately and spread the word through social media and the Internet. Cuthbert’s amusing expression also added to the appeal and hilariousness of the guerrilla marketing stunt, enabling audiences to actively remember the bottled water brand. Remember: A business does not need to be the center of attention to garner media recognition and promote its brand. Sometimes, all it takes is a guerrilla marketing campaign that can capture the attention of audiences through unconventional means. Hope you’ve found this week’s guerrilla marketing insight interesting and helpful. Stay tuned for next Thursday’s Gorillas of Guerrilla Marketing! Do you want to learn how one automotive brand hijacked a 3-minute ad break in Australian TVs in 2021? See it in next week’s article! |
