Sahil Bloom Profile picture
Sep 15, 2021 14 tweets 5 min read Read on X
Guerrilla marketing is fascinating.

THREAD: 10 genius guerrilla marketing campaigns (to spark your marketing creativity):
The Blair Witch Project

Prior to its release, the movie's creators released credible-looking "missing" posters to stoke intrigue around the legend.

The Blair Witch Project had a total budget of less than $500,000 and ended up with almost $250 million in box office revenues.
The IHOP Rebrand

The famous pancake chain released a series of videos indicating they were changing their name to IHOB (International House of Burgers).

The ploy worked.

It drove millions of social media impressions and they sold 4x as many burgers in the weeks that followed.
GoldToe Gets Bullish

In the middle of New York Fashion Week, GoldToe underwear put a pair of its (size XXXL) underwear in an unlikely place to steal the spotlight for their 2010 line launch: on the Wall Street Bull.

The campaign went completely viral.

Very bullish.
King Kong’s Beach

In advance of the launch of a new King Kong theme park attraction, Santa Monica residents and tourists woke up one morning to find huge footprints (and a crushed vehicle) in the sand on Santa Monica Beach.

It went wild on social media, with millions of hits.
Fiji Water Photobombs

The Golden Globes are supposed to be about the celebrities on the red carpet—but in 2019, someone else stole the show.

"The Fiji Water Girl"

The woman handing out refreshing Fiji Water strategically photobombed photos and was an instant viral success.
Red Bull Gives You Wings

Red Bull's sponsorship of Felix Baumgartner's record-setting jump was far from cheap, with an estimated price tag of ~$30 million.

But with >45m views, hundreds of millions of impressions, and an estimated $500m in new sales, it was surely a success.
Bounty's Massive Messes

Bounty installed massive messes throughout NYC in a creative awareness campaign.

From an enormous, knocked-over coffee cup to a giant melted popsicle, Bounty's campaign took over social media and cut through all the marketing noise in their category.
The Dracula Billboard

As a promotion for its new Dracula show, BBC put up a billboard with an ingenious, creative twist.

Strategically-placed bloody stakes that transformed the billboard at night—revealing a shadow of Count Dracula himself.
Deadpool Tinder Account

Marvel is known for its marketing genius, and the efforts for the Deadpool launch in 2012 were no exception.

Some Tinder users found the masked character on their list of potential matches.

Swipe right? You were taken to a page to buy tickets.
The Taco Liberty Bell

On April 1, 1996, Taco Bell took out ads in 6 major newspapers to announce an acquisition: The Liberty Bell.

The prank cost Taco Bell $300K, but was estimated to have generated over $25 million in free publicity.

Sales spiked in the weeks that followed.
What is the greatest guerrilla marketing campaign of all time?

I’m going down the rabbit hole…

Join me: Follow along @SahilBloom as I explore my curiosity and share my learnings along the way.
It appears there is a lot of debate over whether all 10 of these qualify as guerrilla marketing — in any case, just enjoy them for whatever they are.
Also, don’t be this cat.

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More from @SahilBloom

Jul 26
John Wooden was a treasure trove of wisdom.

My favorite piece of Wooden wisdom: 9 promises for a life well-lived.

These 9 promises create the foundation for happiness and success: Image
1. I promise to talk health, happiness, and prosperity as often as possible.

Your thoughts and language shape your reality. Choose them wisely.
2. I promise to make all my friends know there is something in them that is special and that I value.

It's a shame that we wait until a person's funeral to say all of the nice things we thought about them.

When you think something nice about someone, tell them.
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Jun 17
The silent productivity killer you've never heard of...

Attention Residue (and 4 strategies to fight back): Image
The concept of "attention residue" was identified by Dr. Sophie Leroy in 2009.

The idea is simple:

There is a cognitive cost to shifting your attention from one task to another. When our attention is shifted, a "residue" remains and impairs our performance on the new task.
It's relatively easy to find examples of this effect in your own life:

You get on a call but are still thinking about the prior call.

An email pops up during meeting and derails your focus.

You check your phone during a lecture and can't refocus afterwards.
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Jun 10
In 1958, a 20-year-old Hunter S. Thompson wrote a letter to a friend with his advice on finding his life purpose.

It is a work of art.

5 brilliant lessons on finding purpose (everyone should read this): Image
Lesson 1: Avoid the Perils of Advice

Using someone else's map of reality to navigate your terrain is risky.

My advice (ironic, I know): When giving or receiving advice, focus on the general, not the specific.

Take the general, wrestle with it, and make it specific to you. Image
Lesson 2: Seek Perspective-Altering Experiences

The concept of neuroplasticity says that experiences can actually change the structure and function of your brain.

Seek out the perspective-altering experiences.

Every single one contributes to your growth and change. Image
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May 24
This is the best thing you will read all week...

A beautiful true story, written by a woman named Pam Kearney, on the impact of even the most tiny, inconsequential actions... Image
Teddy Roosevelt once said, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Every single day, you will face moments when you'll feel completely helpless—unable to move or create the necessary momentum to improve the situation.

In these moments, you have a decision to make:
A. You can freeze, paralyzed by the imperfection of your options...

OR

B. You can act. You can do what you can, with what you have, where you are. You can make the coffee.

It is the most important decision of your life.
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May 19
Ok, random interesting experience yesterday that I want to share:

Playing in the backyard with my son, when I notice some bees flying around a tree.

Take my son inside and get closer to investigate.

Here's what I saw (and what I learned):
Let me preface this by saying two things:

1. I hate bees. Got stung by too many wasps and hornets while playing barefoot as a kid.

2. I know nothing about the different types of bees.

Worried about my kid getting stung, so I start looking for exterminators.
Apparently it's really hard to find an exterminator willing to come out on a Saturday to deal with a bunch of bees.

Go figure.

I get one on the phone who is willing to do it.

Asks for a picture, so I send him one.

He replies:
Image
Image
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May 18
10 differences between amateurs and professionals:

1. Amateurs make it look effortful, Professionals make it look effortless.

Effortless, elegant performances are the result of a large volume of effortful, gritty practice. Small things become big things.

(thread)
2. Amateurs love the prize, Professionals love the process.

You’ll never make it if the view at the summit is the only thing motivating you to climb. The hunt has to be just as exciting as the meal at the end.

Professionals truly fall in love with the process.
3. Amateurs blame others, Professionals are accountable.

The Amateur looks outward: Bad luck, unfair circumstances, a cheating opponent.

The Professional looks inward: Lack of preparation, gaps in routine, uneven intensity.

Accountability breeds progress.
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