Amazon's Guerrilla Marketing

Last night’s episode of 60 Minutes featured an interview with Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon. The timing was perfect for Amazon. Black Friday was a few days ago. Cyber Monday is today. Online retailers want to be top-of-mind when people are inclined to spend money.

Amazon’s Surprise: Drones

Bezos unveiled a surprise for interviewer Charlie Rose: Amazon Prime Air, a service that will deliver most Amazon products in thirty minutes or less using a fleet of octocopter drones.

Guerrilla Marketing

Jay Conrad Levinson, author of Guerrilla Marketing, would applaud this move by Amazon. Amazon Prime Air is two years away at the earliest. The flying drones require Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) approval, and that takes time. By unveiling the drones now, before approval, Amazon reaps several benefits:

• Buzz. Everybody is talking about Amazon on Cyber Monday.
• Political influence. Some of the people feeling the buzz are FAA officials.
• Continued top-of-mind awareness. Long after Cyber Monday, the excitement of the drone idea will carry on.

Congrats to the Amazon team for a well-executed Guerrilla Marketing move.