People driving through small Czech towns during the next few weeks will see an inordinate number of hitchhikers trying to get to their local banks.

Actors hired by Poštovní spořitelna are posing as travelers looking to find the nearest Česká spořitelna branch. A few kilometers down the road, drivers will see other hitchhikers seeking the nearest Poštovní spořitelna, which — conveniently — is located closer than their competitor.

"The first hitchhiker, a desperate one, wishes to get to the nearest Česká spořitelna outlet that is far away," said Poštovní spořitelna spokesman Martin Orság. "Meanwhile, a happy one standing in behind is asking for a ride to our bank, located nearby."

The campaign is a concentrated effort to steal a share of Česká spořitelna's 5.3 million customers, and it is an example of the unconventional promotion known as guerilla marketing — a practice that advertising companies say is just now taking hold in the Czech Republic.

The bank has also posted street signs to show how much closer its branches are compared to Česká spořitelna and is paying 400 Kč ($18.50) to people found wearing its logo around town.

Under-the-radar marketing campaigns are still a novelty in the Czech Republic, said Martin Vyhnánek, account manager at Ju-Turn Advertising, the marketing agency that developed the Poštovní spořitelna pitch. He said the bank launched a similar campaign last summer targeting Česká spořitelna's operating hours.

"Basically, we got a request to develop an atypical campaign, so we came up with this," Vyhnánek said.

Following suit

Nonbanking companies also say guerilla marketing is a step into the future.

"We are not going to be running into the streets with SIM cards to attract clients, but we do want to be different from the mainstream in the way we promote our services," said Vodafone spokesman Jakub Hrabovský.

Vyhnánek said that several large firms are currently considering guerilla-marketing campaigns.

"Companies from different sectors are calling to find out whether it could be tailored for their products, too," Vyhnánek said. "Now, we are developing a campaign for a major food company."

Tomáš Macků, sales director with the market research company Factum Invenio, said guerilla marketing has good business potential on the Czech market.

"Catching one's eye is a crucial sales factor nowadays," Macků said, "And guerilla marketing provides a good tool for this."

The approach is already a standard promotional tool in Western Europe, and Czech companies have taken notice.

"There haven't been so many of these campaigns here so far," said Pavel Kurýl, executive director of the Advertising Council. "They've become fashionable only recently."

Among the most recognized so far was Vodafone's red-handprint campaign in January and early February, which preceded the telecommunications company's re-branding of Oskar.

Telecommunications provider Volný organized rallies in major towns in October in order to evoke the atmosphere of revolution. Instead of political banners, however, participants carried banners announcing the "revolutionary" launch of free Internet connections.

Cheap covert commercials

Managers and analysts both agreed that the biggest advantage for an advertiser is that guerilla campaigns are usually quite cheap but still very effective.

"It is especially advantageous for smaller companies that want to provoke or to attract attention, but that would not otherwise be able to finance a classic campaign with such an impact," Vyhnánek said.

Strangely though, it is the large corporations and not the small ones that are adopting the strategy, said Filip Humplík, an executive of Point2Point Media agency, which specializes in guerilla marketing.

"The big companies are seeing that people here are already overloaded with information from TV commercials and printed advertisements," Humplík said.

Guerilla tactics are not often recognized as real marketing, and so people are more susceptible to it, Humplík said, adding that it can even be done without peoples' knowledge.

"It can take place at a squash arena, for example, where an attractive girl can join in a conversation with executives and offer them some promotional drink, too," he said.

No comment?

Such campaigns don't rely solely on public perception, and competitors can unwittingly feed a company's campaign, marketing experts said.

"In fact, a response from the targeted opponent is desirable because it attracts even more attention to the campaign," said Vyhnánek, Ju-Turn Advertising account manager.

Česká spořitelna's reaction has so far confirmed Vyhnánek's sentiment. The bank has publicly ignored Poštovní spořitelna's campaign.

"We do not want to comment on the new campaign too much," said Česká spořitelna spokeswoman Kristýna Havligerová. "If it doesn't violate the law, we will not take any action against it."

Other banks said that they are considering similar campaigns as a result of the Poštovní spořitelna pitch.

"Being in direct touch with customers is important for us, and we will consider it the future," said HVB Bank's spokeswoman Petra Kopecká.

Citibank's Marketing Communications Manager Pavel Kusý said that, while pointing out a competitor's weaknesses, a company could end up pestering the very people it's trying to lure.