PR and PR stunts are now at the forefront of any marketing strategy.

Because of the sheer amount of digital content being created, people are being very picky about what they’re reading and what they’ll paying attention to. Thanks to technology, customers have never been so accessible. But that brings about its own danger: because we’re engaging on different social media platforms at all times of the day, even minor gaffes can ruin businesses in seconds. However, a well-placed endorsement or a well-timed PR stunt can launch a brand into the stratosphere.

There have been some brilliant PR stunts over the years. Here are 3 of Hotcow’s favourites:

1. Tiger Woods and the Dubai Desert Classic.

The Dubai Desert Classic was a golf tournament in desperate need of a coup. In 2004, they managed to convince Tiger Woods (then at the peak of his success) to play in their event. Although it cost them $1million to ‘convince’ the American golf star to attend, they certainly made the most of it.

Their PR stunt was to stage a media call to launch the tournament and get Woods to practice his tee shots from the helipad of the Burj Al Arab, the world’s tallest free-standing hotel.

The result was spectacular and one that thrilled and amazed people around the world, whether they were sports fans or not.

Tiger

2. The power of the people.

On May 26, 1986, more than 7million people (including Ronald Reagan) joined hands in a human chain across 16 states in the US. Participants were asked to pay $10 to reserve their place in the line. They did so and raised a huge amount of money for the hungry and the homeless of America.

This PR stunt achieved a few things. At its most fundamental level, it raised funds for a worthy cause. It also showed how PR stunts can actively involve a massive number of people. And on top of that, it illustrated how PR stunts can deliver an astonishing impact when you have a lot of small contributing facets.

hands

3. The best job in the world?

The tourist board of Hamilton in Queensland came up with a novel and effective way of advertising their amazing suburb of Australia and attracting lots of new visitors.

They designed a fictional advert for an ‘island caretaker’ and planted it in several different places. It was well-crafted with compelling copy. The ‘job’ was billed as ‘the best job in the world’, and asked for someone to spend six months around the land and waters of the Great Barrier Reef in exchange for a ‘salary’ of £70,000. The successful applicant would also be able to stay in a three-bedroom villa, rent-free.

Whilst the job didn’t exist, it allowed them to use words and images to convey the beauty of Hamilton. And because the ‘story behind the story’ made the headlines, it generated massive tourist interest in the area. They benefitted from avoiding clichéd brochures and taglines.

job

Hotcow is a non-traditional creative agency that specialises in experiential marketing that goes viral. Our campaigns generate buzz through crowd participation, PR and content sharing. Contact us on 0207 5030442 or email us on info@hotcow.co.uk.