Terminological and Historical Background of Guerilla Marketing as a Marketing Communication Strategy

Abstract

Abstract This article deals with guerilla marketing and/or guerilla marketing strategy on the background of military attack strategies. The aim of this article is to grasp guerrilla marketing in a broader context, starting from the marketing and communication strategy, which is historically and terminology inspired by the military strategy of guerrilla attacks and/or by military strategy in general. The theoretical study is a meta-analysis of five scientific publications dealing with the overlays of military strategies and marketing to identify useful marketing and communication strategies. Guerilla marketing as an offensive-defensive strategy present among the attack strategies and it is described as a way for small and weaker businesses to compete with large corporations in the existing conflict and to act as challengers in the battle. An emphasis will be put on the primary characteristic of guerrilla warfare: it is a typical competitive struggle based on a series of small intermittent attacks and withdrawals.