Theres no not unlike materiality as bad publicity, the old saying goes. If an flurry or function puts your brands john doe in the forefront of your target markets minds, it longing be commendable. Never conception if the episode has absolutely no connection with the product youre selling. What matters is pet name recall.
Having oral that, here are five of the most undefeated PR stunts that have made their brands and subjects homey words:
1. The Guinness Book of World Records. Who hasnt heard of this book? We hear of it in the TV information, we read about it in the newspapers, and ok, a lot of us dote on declaiming the book itself terrifically. Children as unpracticed as nine second childhood old are known with the pseudonym Guinness.
And what, you may inquire, is it promoting ( if you havent guessed yet )? Why, Guinness beer, of course!
It all started when Sir Hugh Beaver, managing director of Guinness Brewery, went on a plover - hunting trip and failed to shoot a single one. He mentioned to his companion that the golden plover must be the fastest bird in Europe. The friend disagreed, and there was nothing to settle the argument as there were no reference books that did that sort of thing at the time.
So Sir Beaver had the idea of publishing a book that would settle such bar bets, and the rest, as we all know, is history.
2. The Hollywood sign. It was the challenge of a lifetime for Harry Chandler. He built an expensive housing development in the middle of a dirty desert town, and now he had to sell it. Of course, people first had to notice it and who would look at that place when looking for an expensive home?
His idea was to create a gigantic billboard. Billboards are effective ways of getting public attention, right? A 50 - foot billboard should do the trick.
He was right. It did. That 50 - foot PR stunt to sell overpriced real estate is now known all over the world as the Hollywood sign.
3. David Beckhams hair. Even people who dont watch football know David Beckham. What made this celebrity footballers name a household word even if hes not the greatest football player the world has ever seen? ( For people who disagree, please refer to the Guinness Book of World Records. )
Its his hair. Like Madonna in her heyday, David Beckham constantly reinvents himself by sporting a shall we say outrageous? well, lets call it head - turning new do from time to time, keeping himself in the media eye.
4. Doves Real Beauty campaign. It may not exactly be a stunt, but its one heck of a brave thing to do. Instead of using picture - perfect models Photoshopped to further perfection, Dove took real women with real body fat and used them as their models instead. Granted all that these models were still thinner than the average British and American woman, they were still meatier than the average ad model, and many hailed that as a step in the right direction. For one, it boosted Doves sales by 700 %.
5. Richard Branson, the Virgin bride. Richard Branson is, of course, the unchallenged king of PR stunts. He has driven a tank down Fifth Avenue to launch Virgin Cola. He mooned the world in the Canadian Launch of Virgin Atlantic. He went around the world in a hot air balloon to promote the Virgin brand in general.
But his most outrageous stunt to date was when he went out in drag as the Virgin bride to launch the Virgin Brides wedding venture.
Did it work? Not much, as far as Virgin Brides was concerned. The venture closed in 2007. But it certainly made Richard Branson and the Virgin brand quite well known.
Yes indeed, whether were talking about beer, real estate, sports, or Hair and beauty, public relations stunts work. And you can bet on that and win, Sir Beaver.
Author Bio:
Hair and Beauty public relations by Catalyst Consultancy.
