More and more companies are struggling to gain exposure for products and services. With PR agencies looking to craft and communicate your brand’s message effectively, PR stunts are often implemented to attract attention to your brand and gain free media exposure. However, publicity stunts backfire almost as often as they succeed. They require accurate planning and preparation to achieve positive media exposure and communicate your brand’s message effectively, to the correct audience.
At Hotcow we get a lot of calls from PR agencies looking to incorporate an “experiential” element into their campaigns. As PR specialists they have the know-how to sell a media story and can prove invaluable for brands in this way. But as experiential specialists, we have the experience and skills to execute experiential from the outset, creating the best solution for your brand, which will give people something worth talking about.
PR stunts can be used to announce activities and events, ranging from launches to social responsibility. I myself worked in PR and journalism for nine years, and believe that the greatest type of PR stunt is one that is so cleverly crafted, it does not stand out as being a stunt at all.
They need to have a ‘call to action’ effect; generating a captivating story to create a memorable brand identity. If performed successfully, a PR stunt can rapidly feed both off-line and online media with amazing content and generate a great buzz and exposure far beyond the campaign’s original platform.
We have some great examples of PR stunts that you can check out in our case studies, such as I Love Carr’s ‘naked butlers’, Thomson’s ‘Great Baggage Robbery’, and the Aer Lingus ‘999 Nudes’. We also love celebrating the creativity of brands and bring you some great examples of innovation and originality.
Below is our top selection of the greatest PR stunts from around the world
Michael Jackson down the Thames
A ten metre statue of Michael Jackson floated down the Thames to promote the launch of his ‘HIStory” album in 1995.
The Blair Witch Project
The film was presented in 1999 as a real ‘found’ footage and turned into one of the most famous piece of movie publicity.
Homer Simpson being painted next to Cerne Abbas chalk giant
A doughnut-brandishing Homer Simpson was painted next to the giant on the hill above Cerne Abbas, Dorset, to promote the new Simpsons film in 2007.
Tourism Queensland’s ‘Best Job In The World’
To promote the tourism in Queensland, a world wide campaign was launched in january 2009 to recruit an ‘island caretaker’ and promote the ‘Best Job In The World’.
Iphone Jonny
Featuring our celebrating creativity 49, Jonny Gladwell accepted a challenge to be the first kiwi to get the new iPhone 3G in New Zealand in 2009, but in reality it was a campaign to promote Yellow Pages.
IKEA’s Bondi Book Stunt
In January 2011, for one day Ikea placed 30 bookshelves on the Bondi beach in Sydney and invited beach-goers to choose a book from the shelves in exchange for a charitable donation.
Hotcow is a multi-award winning brand engagement agency specialising in experiential marketing. Our mission is simple: to help brands understand the power of “experience-based marketing” and create effective two way communication by offering expertise in how to develop, plan and execute campaigns in the right way to get the right results. For more information or a free consultation, contact us.