OnTap Magazine

This is where guerilla marketing tactics might help. First described in a book of the same name by Jay Conrad Levinson in 1984, guerilla marketing is the use of unconventional, highly innovative tactics that bring sellers closer to consumers without falling prey to cliched, tried-and- trodden-to-death marketing strategies. Key advantages of guerilla marketing are that it is far more affordable than conventional marketing (e.g. television ads, billboards, etc.) and takes far less time to plan, set up, and implement. Another important plus is that guerilla tactics tend to favour honesty and authenticity over flashy marketing gimmicks, which, if you've been reading our past articles on beer marketing, should be music to your ears. Let’s check out a few tactics. Conventional marketing wisdom will always advise you to focus exclusively on getting your own brand message out to potential customers. But guerilla marketing turns that on its head by suggesting that you can get loads of mileage out of helping other brands as well. One way craft brewers can get in on this is to align with causes and interests they share with fellow crafters and small businesses in their communities. Think of mutual struggles or target markets that you all share, then create a marketing campaign to address these. Perhaps like many small business owners, you are concerned about the impact of large, faceless corporations and brands drowning out the unique voice of community-based businesses. A guerilla approach could be to record short snippets of folks visiting local businesses and talking about what they love about these brands and products. Posting these videos on your social channels could spark debate and love for your brand (along with everyone else's). To make this work, spend some time thinking of other craft businesses that you could help by marketing their products and services alongside yours. Be brave and unconventional in your approach and don't be afraid to work with other craft brewers, even if you are technically competitors. While traditional marketers will spend a lot of time analysing statistics on how to give brands the widest possible reach for the best possible price, the guerilla marketer doesn't mind getting down to the grassroots. What that means is that sometimes, targeting a small group of people in a creative way can generate a lot of word- of-mouth energy for your brand. Ideally, this energy takes on a life of its own as your fanbase within such groups grows. An example would be to identify a group that has a connection with your beer or with you. Maybe you are a keen cyclist and have been thinking of getting your beer into one of your cycling group's favourite pitstop cafes or diners. To launch a grassroots campaign you have to ask yourself about what small groups of cyclists would connect with. What would they find awesome, amusing, or compelling? Perhaps a free water bottle giveaway with your branding and the message, "I wish this was [insert your brand here]'s beer!" Or a pop-up beer tasting at the end of a long ride? Let your imagination roam free. The key is to connect to the grassroots community and have them become advocates and fans of your brand, essentially turning them into a powerful marketing voice that gets you noticed. When you’re guerilla marketing, it makes sense to subvert some of big beer’s marketing strategies. Why? Because more often than not, corporates are under pressure to appear as if they are connected with communities, causes, and social upliftment. A way to use guerilla tactics is to make sure you actually support causes and communities through your good works. Small craft brands can go guerilla SO WHAT TO DO IF RESOURCES, BOTH CASH AND TIME WISE, ARE SCARCE? GUERILLA TACTIC #1 DO SOMEONE ELSE'S WORK FOR THEM GUERILLA TACTIC #2 GET DOWN IN THE GRASS GUERILLA TACTIC #3 DO SOME REAL GOOD BUT OF COURSE, EVEN THE VERY BEST BEERWILL NOT SELL ITSELF. 46 | Summer 2022 | ontapmag.co.za