July 18 (Reuters) - Abbott Laboratories ( ABT ) will use

a mix of TV advertisements and guerilla marketing as well as

seek to personalize health data to tap people without diabetes

for the U.S. launch of its glucose monitoring device, CEO Robert

Ford said on Thursday.

The company plans to launch the over-the-counter device,

Lingo, this year. It could be a multi-billion-dollar product for

Abbott, Ford estimated, adding it was still in its early days.

Lingo and Libre Rio, another of Abbott's devices, received

clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's last

month.

Lingo targets consumers who want to better understand their

health, while Libre Rio is for adults with type 2 diabetes who

do not need insulin.

Abbott is a key player in the market for continuous glucose

monitors sold under prescription to diabetes patients, along

with rivals DexCom ( DXCM ) and Medtronic ( MDT ).

FreeStyle Libre, Abbott's blood sugar monitor, generated

$1.6 billion in sales globally in the second quarter. However,

the company said the marketing for a consumer product would

greatly differ from that for a medical device.

"I don't think, given our experience here, that you can just

go on TV, blast TV advertising and you'll get this big uptake.

You are going to have to do some on-the-ground kind of guerilla

marketing," Ford said during an analyst conference call.

Guerilla marketing uses tactics such as on-ground outreach,

social media campaigns, among others, and usually involve low

budgets.

Ford expects sales growth for Lingo to ramp up over time as

the company builds the market.

RBC Capital Markets analyst Shagun Singh does not currently

model much in sales of Abbott and Dexcom's ( DXCM ) OTC products, but

believes the market would be significant.

Abbott is "literally just launching it this summer. So there

will be a lot to learn for us, but substantial opportunities for

both companies," said Singh.