Guerrilla Marketing: You’re Doing it Right

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’re pretty much guaranteed to have seen one of the many hilarious GIFs floating around the internet.  Like this one of Jennifer Lawrence at the Met Gala a few weeks ago.

GIF stands for “Graphics Interchange Format” and it’s what makes animated images.  Invented in 1987 by Steve Wilhite, both the GIF and its inventor were honored this week at the Webby Awards.  Wilhite’s 5-word acceptance speech (delivered as a GIF) sparked a debate all over the internet.

“It’s pronounced ‘Jif’. NOT ‘GIF’.” -Steve Wilhite

Cue: OUTRAGE!!  “But we’ve been pronouncing it ‘gif’ this whole time!”  “Bah, you fools, everyone knows it’s pronounced ‘jif’!”

This is where the guerrilla marketing comes in.  Like Oreos did so brilliantly at the Superbowl, the folks over at Jif peanut butter had a marketing creative on hand who was struck with a genius idea.

It's pronounced Jif® #Jif #GIF http://t.co/zJl0QMSdYS

— Jif® Peanut Butter (@Jif) May 22, 2013

And, of course, that link takes you to this:

Don’t stare too long, you might have a seizure.

GENIUS!!  Timely, apt, clever and très à propos!

This tweet got nearly 2,000 retweets and garnered new followers for Jif on Twitter.  They still don’t have an enormous following, but if they continue to engage in awesome guerrilla marketing tactics like this, it won’t take long for their fan base to grow.

This and the Oreo ad from the Superbowl show the value of having a connected and empowered social media team.  When brands invest in social media monitoring and allow their social media managers to take action (within guidelines, of course), they open the door to these moments of creativity that give their brand visibility and popularity.

Build social media strategies, give employees free reign to come up with engaging content, and your brand will come out a winner.

Well done, Jif.  Next time I’m in the market for some peanut butter, you will certainly get my dollar!