• Brandweek, Monday, January 11, 2010 10:36 AM

The essential ingredients of guerrilla marketing -- an unusual idea, an irreverent execution, the element of surprise -- remain constant, but technology is taking the fine craft of turning heads with a "gotcha" gimmick to new levels. This roundup takes a look at four developments in the field.

Todd Wasserman examines how marketers are using technology such as GPS, QR ("Quick Response") codes and augmented reality. Robert Clara looks at how marketers on both coasts are commandeering rundown buildings for installations that seem like street art. Noreen O'Leary shines a light on "guerrilla do-gooding" -- a trend toward altruistic projects that, perhaps, began in 2006 with the Charmin public rest room in New York City and extends to social causes such as Tide "Loads of Hope" promotion after Hurricane Katrina.

Then, of course, there's the increasing use of social media. "Community experience became a happening with guerrilla things like T-Mobile with its 'Hey Jude' sing-along," Sam Ewen, founder and CEO of guerrilla firm Interference, tells O'Leary, who points out that social media is becoming a natural extension of guerrilla strategies everywhere.

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