A lot of things have changed since the advent of the Internet. Communication is much different than it used to be. Consumers have a lot more access to information. But, is everything as it seems on the Web? Guerilla marketing is the practice of applying unconventional marketing techniques in order to get maximum results from minimal resources. In many ways, the Internet has provided numerous opportunities for companies to engage in very effective guerilla marketing. But are all guerilla techniques ethical? Consider the following two examples and be the judge.
• Dodge's Ram truck made a splash with a Web site that fans supposedly generated to organize drag races in several cities. The site features amateurishly shot footage of a drag race and contains no reference to the Dodge connection, just a shot of the Ram's grill. Staged drag races were held where, of course, only Ram trucks emerged victorious. To enhance the "outlaw" image of this activity, the company sent bogus letters to editors of local newspapers protesting the rise in street racing and mentioning the Dodge Ram involvement. Supposedly, the guerrilla campaign was so hush-hush even the top brass at the car company were kept in the dark.
• When RCA records wanted to create a buzz around then new-on-the-scene pop singer Christina Aguilera, it hired a team of young people to swarm the Web and chat about her on popular teen Web sites. Posing as fans, they posted entries raving about her new material. Just before one of her CDs debuted, RCA also hired a direct-marketing company to e-mail electronic postcards filled with song snippets and biographical information to 50,000 Web addresses. The CD quickly went to number one on the charts.