Key Takeaways:
- They implement this technique to attract people in huge numbers and influence and let them develop an interest in the product or service in Stealth marketing.
- One of the primary purposes of this marketing technique is not to generate immediate sales but to create interest and excitement among the target customers.
- When the product is not launched in the market, the brands show their product or service into the market or adversities without getting out their name of the brand or the product.
- When the brand showcases their product, they create a buzz in the market from which they know what their target audience is and who would be willing to buy their product or service.
Have you ever thought that whenever we look at an Aston Martin car on the streets, we recognize it as a James bond car but not an Astron martin car? This is because of Stealth Marketing. When advertising is done without telling the customer, it is called Stealth Marketing.
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Here, Stealth Marketing lets the consumers go with the flow, and they develop a keen interest in the product or service shown. Because of the technique used and the nature of promotion and marketing, it is also called “Undercover” or “Guerrilla Marketing”. They implement this technique to attract people in huge numbers and influence and let them develop an interest in the product or service in stealth marketing.
Now let us look at an example where we talked about a movie called James Bond. So, starting from 1964, in a movie named “Goldfinger” they have been using the Astron martin car.
While looking at the Movie and the products they are using, the consumer becomes more interested in the product. They tend to look more for the product. Eventually, they start talking about that with the people around them, which helps the brands to do marketing more easily with the word-of-mouth technique. Here, the Brand Astron Martin has specially built a car for the James bond movie- “Spectre” Astron Martin DB10.
One of the primary purposes of stealth marketing is not to generate immediate sales but to create interest and excitement among the target customers. This marketing technique will create interest and excitement among the customers for the product.
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Now we have understood what Stealth marketing is, let’s look at what benefits or advantage does brand gets if they use this type of technique.
- One of the primary and utmost advantages of this is the marketing technique that helps promote the product without advertising directly to the customers. It allows the brands to draw attention to the product without asking for attention for the product. When the product is placed in the background, it is placed uniquely and has an uncommon presentation. Here the target customer gets attracted, and they pull other customers also for the product. Let’s look at another example where the brand had telecasted their product in such an attractive way that customers will tend to buy the product.
Here in this picture, we can see actor- Vin Diesel drinking a beer named- Corona. Here in the series of movies called “Fast and Furious”, the actor is consuming the same beer brand. It helped the brand advertise its product without talking about it. The brand would target the customers as they would be more attracted to try this beer. As they would think if the product is used in the Movie, it would be good. So, this technique helps the brands promote development without glorifying it.
- Another advantage of stealth marketing is that it helps the brands build a solid customer base. When the brand advertises its product, it allows them to understand its target consumers. When the brand showcases its product, they create a buzz in the market from which they know what is their target audience and who would be willing to buy its product or service. Now let us understand from another example how this helps the brand.
Here in this picture actor named Tom Cruise wore sunglasses from a brand called “Ray-Ban”. They launched their “Aviator” series sunglasses at that time. So, when the movie “Top Gun” came, the craze for aviator sunglasses rose. The brand created hype in the market for the product, and through this, sales increased by 50% after the Movie was released.
- Another advantage the brand has is that it helps build a brand image among the target customers. When a known personality uses the product or service, it creates trust among the customer that they can also trust the product or service. When they show how they have a good experience while using that product/service, consumers are more attracted to use or even go and look at that brand’s offerings. To understand more clearly, let us look at another example.
In one of the Bollywood movies, the Brand name “MakeMyTrip” has placed their service of providing trips to its customers. So, in the movie “Yeh Jawani hai Deewani” they showed how travelling was easy and fun with the brand. They showed in the Movie how trip organizers took their customers to different places, and they had fun on each day of the trip. In this, it helped the brand build Brand image among the target customers who are travelling regularly and could use or even look at the services given by “MakeMyTrip”.
When the product is not launched in the market, the brands show their product or service into the market or adversities without getting out their name of the brand or the product. They start to create a buzz in the market. Once the buzz is created, the consumer will surely be more interested in that product or service when it is launched. To understand more clearly, let’s look at another example,
In this picture, we can see footprints and the crushed vehicle on the beach, so this campaign was started by the makers of a movie called “King Kong 3D”. This colossal footprint was left in the sand on Santa Monica beach, US, with a crushed lifeguard SUV alongside them. This created a buzz on social media and among the people living over there that is what it is. When the Movie was launched, people saw the Movie in huge numbers. This created a buzz and gave them a pre-launch interest in the Movie.
We have now clearly understood the advantages of Stealth Marketing, but everything has its two sides. So, lets us now discuss some of the few points of using stealth marketing as their advertisement technique.
- Sometimes what the brand wants to project about its product is not entirely understood by the public, so sometimes, this strategy works as a reverse wheel and may damage its reputation. As the audience realizes that this is done as the marketing of the product or service, the negative image spreads like fire. It is not easy to control the bad publicity, damaging the brand status.
- When the product or service is shown as a background object or in a wholly ignored situation, the marketing goes to waste as the customer does not notice the product or service. This led to a waste of the brand’s resources in terms of money and time.
- Stealth marketing is done in the way of undercover marketing, so sometimes things do not work as they are needed to be. Some marketing techniques or products are shown then were not ethical. At that time, legal risks arise for the brands. The beer shown in the movie could show how good the beer is, but some people may think that they are promoting drinking alcohol. So, in stealth marketing, there are chances of getting legal risks.
We have understood the pro and cons of this technique, but how do they use or what is their technique for using this type of strategy. Let us now look at that.
One of the popular techniques of using this is placing the product. So that product references are made for a specific product or service in someone’s tv show, movies, or any other media channel. In this, the brand places the product so that its audience viewing the ads or movie will take a look at the product or service he or she is using. To understand more clearly, let’s look at an example,
Here in this picture called “Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara,” the cold drink product is visible in many different scenes of the movie. So, the idea of showing the brand is perfect as the phrase is “Darr ke age jeet hai” perfectly placed with the scene in which the product was used.
- Sometimes brands need to advertise so that the product or service introduced to the target customer does not look like traditional advertising. It is very subtle and often sometimes missed by many people. This can include Word of mouth marketing or reviews from the people who have already used the product or service, which helps the brands to build curiosity from others to try that. Now let us look at another example where this is used.
Here in this picture, we can see how the brand name KitKat has made the public bench their form of advertising. So, in this, brands have subtlety placed their product marketing on a public bench where people would notice. However, it will not feel more direct advertisement of the product/ service.
- Nowadays, brands have come up with a net method of advertising used online that brand starts a fake controversy to create a buzz or bring attention to the market. In this, the brans start to make feuds about the product or service to draw attention to their target customer to promote their product or service. These types of controversies about the product or service will not impact the material quality of the product or service. To understand more clearly, let us look at another example.
Here, we can see how the brand-named Burger King has shown their burger covered in fungus. They did this because they wanted to show how their products are preservative-free. They do not last as long as the other competitor’s products last as they have added preservatives. So, this may be a disturbing image and may create controversy. However, it also helps the brand build trust among their customers to trust their product which would be healthy for them to try out the product or service.
- Brands use Subliminal messages as a technique for marketing and influencing the choices and opinions of the target customer. In this, it involves split-second flashes of text in the product/images/hidden messages or the cues that can impact the decision-making power of the target customer. Let us look at another example to understand this point.
In the above picture, you can see as Pepsi was the first brand to unveil the ad in which they were playing up the “horror” of receiving Coke when you want to drink a Pepsi.
So, in this, Coke gave a fantastic response where they capitalized on the caped Coke can like the real hero of the story. It worked so well as both the brands are competitors, and they always manage to make their consumers see their product in a positive light, which shows a clear shadow over the competition. So, this subliminal message helps the brands attract the attention of the target consumers through buzz or by creating hype in the market.
Sometimes talking about a product in a voice or video format, not just marketing the product but the experience they can have if they use the product known as Podcast. It is a very extremely valuable technique for stealth marketing. In the past year, podcast culture has grown at an astronomical rate. People have started listening and have desired to consume long-form, in-depth content in conversation in audio form. This provides the brands with a vast opportunity to market their product or service. Now let us look at an example.
Podcasters like “Joe Rogan” talk about some of their experience with the product in every dept. This dept helps the brand build curiosity among the target customer to try the product at least once. Most people who listen to podcasts do not realize that they are being marketed to the product or service. They are directly into the Podcast and enjoy it as an experience.
Aditya Mathur
Content writer
Vignesh
Graphic designer
Swathi Sharma
Editor