It is, you may have noticed, a year of elections…bumbling Boris has just managed to get himself elected as London’s mayor (and, as some predicted, has started to seem less and less bumbling in the aftermath It is, you may have noticed, a year of elections…bumbling Boris has just managed to get himself elected as London’s mayor (and, as some predicted, has started to seem less and less bumbling in the aftermath– have we been hoodwinked by a masterful piece of self-promotion?) and in the US the whole circus is well underway with one of the most interesting – and potentially significant – democratic party nomination races in many a year reaching the finishing line…and next up is the Whitehouse race itself.
So it’s hardly surprising that we in the office have been rather preoccupied of late with the idea of linking promotional and marketing activity into these huge public interest stories. That’s not to say that we’re trying to get involved in the races themselves some way with publicity stunts…okay, that’s not true – we’ve been working with the theme and have decided that more than a little involvement is necessary.
And so we bring you the Hotcow Campaign Manifesto.
We’ll start with the proviso that this kind of campaign doesn’t have to take place in an election year – it’s incredibly handy if it can but there are also merits to it standing alone as it were. To delve slightly deeper; if it runs in an election year it’s certain to gain press coverage and comment by the bucket though it may eventually get lost in the serious business of democracy. If, however, it’s run in a non-election year then the campaign will draw more attention as it can’t be mixed up with other campaign goings on – this might sacrifice a bit of the press coverage however. Like we said there are bonuses to both scenarios.
It must also be said that this idea suits a branded product (and even more narrow angle; a branded food product) better than other items – but with a little tweaking anything is possible.
Like all good campaigns this one starts with a good bit of ground level preparation. The idea here is to build momentum over time. If we take the actual day of product launch as the crescendo of our marketing activities then the campaign itself must start some six weeks earlier.
So, to the start!
Our six weeks of marketing activity would begin with the sudden and mysterious appearance all over the capital of campaign posters. These initial posters would feature no more than a slogan and a date. Indeed, we’d go further and bypass the slogan for a simple statement of fact, “It’s Coming. September 16th” (as an example).
These first bill posters would be bolstered by a simultaneous and extensive flyer campaign throughout the capital.
The second stage of the poster campaign would come into play one week later. This time the slogan would come into operation so the new run of posters would read, “The Choice of the Nation. September 16th”.
At this stage we would hope the press would start picking up on the ongoing – and mysterious – campaign and, to give them a little push, we would also target relevant media headquarters. Not through the traditional channels with press releases but with a far odder and more involved method. Our hired operatives would ring to arrange a meeting with a researcher under the pretence of having “explosive political information”. When the meeting was convened they would arrive in a grey suit (linking to the famous “men in grey suits” adage in politics) and would, furtively, present the researcher with a tape containing a recorded conversation. They would refuse to go into any further detail or, indeed, give a name and would then leave.
On the tape would be a scratchy conversation with the only audible words being ones that reinforced the launch date and the statement “choice of the nation”.
One week further on (week three if you’ve lost track already) we would move into a higher gear and supplement the poster campaign with ground work. At first we would simply mobilise an army of volunteers wearing sandwich-boards emblazoned with the existing slogans.
However, as time went on and week four came round we would start to use branded taxis, buses and hired blimps to get our message to saturate the capital.
Interest would now be at a fever pitch and as the final week’s efforts got underway we would be making sure that we kept things boiling. Mysterious calls to primetime radio shows would feature evangelical callers heralding a golden age or ferociously opposed callers predicting the end of days – think the polar opposites of the Marmite campaigns.
At this point the war-bus would come out and open top tours of the capital with the “faithful” campaigning hard and distributing all manner of pro-product literature would get underway.
With 24 hours to go before product launch a whole new run of promotional posters with the slogan “Tomorrow The Future Arrives” would be put up all over the city. Our operatives would attempt to jam station switchboards with a frenzy of calls…
As the day itself dawned our Judgement Day Cavalcade would be assembled (like previous open top activity but with much more prominence) and begin the trip into the centre of the capital – only at this stage would the name and image of the product be emblazoned everywhere available on the procession.
Finally, the circus would reach the flagship store chosen for launch (or Trafalgar Square perhaps…) where a dais would be erected and a “campaign manager” for the product would give an impassioned speech to the crowds about how history was being made and that with the release of this inspirational product a brighter future beckoned. The speech would culminate in the announcement that the nation had chosen, the votes had been cast and that the new product was the landslide victor.
This final move would be the signal for fireworks, music and, frankly, a hell of a party…the last step in our six week campaign.
And that’s how you make an impact.