We are all familiar with the way business is bombarded with advertising on daily basis. Television , radio , internet , newspapers , magazines , billboards you can scarcely go 10 minutes without running into some sort of advertising separating you from your hard earn cash. Well it’s surprising to learn that in addition to ad we clearly recognize as marketing, we are also subjected to a controversial marketing technique known as STEALTH MARKETING.

Stealth marketing also known as undercover or buzz marketing is a technique that advertises products to people without them even realizing it. Many people consider it as deceptive or unethical and there may be backlash against companies who uses it on them. Consumer don’t recognize advertising for what it is. They don’t have an opportunity to opt out if they don’t want to be with. Still many experts believe that it is a very effective marketing tool and there are plenty of businesses willing to take that chance.

Stealth marketing take many forms some of them more acceptable by consumers than others. Let’s take a look at the following examples:

· Product placement — showing or referring to a particular product in movies or television is a very common form of stealth marketing. For e.g. — a computer manufacturer pays to have their laptops used in a movie and their brand logo is plainly visible when the camera pans the opening cover. Product placement is less likely to be taken negative by consumers than some other forms of stealth marketing.

· Covert agents — Some companies use other type of stealth marketing known as covert agents. This marketing uses people agents who appear to be just going about their daily lives, but are actually paid workers promoting a business or product. For example, spot figures paid to wear a particular brand of clothing when going out in public.

Sony Ericsson holds the distinction of having launched the most notorious stealth marketing campaign. When the company first came out with camera phone in 2002, it hired actors in 10 cities to pretend to be tourists who would stop passersby and ask to have their photos taken.

Dee Dutta, Sony Ericsson’s corporate vice president of global marketing considered the fake tourist campaign a success due mostly to the media attention the stunt gathered from the likes of “60 minutes” and “ABC News.”

Today, stealth marketing has transitioned online. Companies often hire marketers to post positive reviews of their products on appropriate message boards or in chat rooms without revealing their affiliations. The practice became so common that savvy shoppers learned to snuff out the masquerading marketers.