Stealth marketing as a strategy

Marketing in the new millennium continues to present challenges and opportunities for organizations. The new consumer who is emerging today is becoming savvier about demanding greater quality in products and services, and placing greater emphasis upon receiving value for his or her money. As customers continue to demonstrate higher levels of price awareness and price sensitivity, and exhibit little brand loyalty and a greater willingness to switch between brands, marketers face the daunting task of making the appropriate adjustments to meet these new and emerging needs. Simultaneously, the marketplace continues to become crowded, and marketers are finding it more challenging to be heard and seen above the crowd. As summed up by Kotler, ''Marketing correctly interpreted and practiced will be the key to company adaptability and profitability'' (Kotler, p. 5). Two broad generic strategies can help marketers achieve their goal. Organizations can practice the ''in your face'' marketing described by Johansson (2005), which involves marketing relentlessly to customers, as practiced by major corporations such as Nike, McDonald's, Coca-Cola, and Disney. Alternatively , they can use a ''guerilla'' approach as described by Levinson (1984), using unconventional marketing strategies that may involve catching the Abstract Stealth marketing has gained increasing attention as a strategy during the past few years. We begin by providing a brief historical review to provide some perspective on how this strategy has been practiced in a myriad of ways in various parts of the world, and how it has consequently evolved in the emerging new marketplace. A more inclusive definition of stealth marketing is then proposed to conceptually understand its use in various contexts. Specifically, we propose a new typology of stealth marketing strategies based on whether businesses or competitors are aware of them, and whether they are visible to the targeted customers. We further provide suggestions of how firms can counter the stealth marketing strategies used by their competitors. Contrary to conventional wisdom, evidence is also provided about how such strategies can be used for ''doing good'' for society. Finally, the assessment of efficiency and effectiveness of stealth marketing strategies, and their related ethical implications, are discussed.