The PR Warrior

WARNING: Guerrilla Marketers Stalk Streets For Maximum Buzz

This will keep you amused if you're into really clever guerrilla marketing tactics. Strong creative ideas and solid execution = positive buzz and 'talkability'. 

Hat tip to Rogier van Wagtendonk who compiled the presentation (along with various sources, as acknowledged by Rogier).

I recommend you view full screen via Slideshare for full effect.

Enjoy!

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What Brands Can Learn From Pamela Anderson

What can brands learn from Pamela Anderson, she of Baywatch/Tommy Lee/Playboy and, more recently (i.e. this week), Big Brother fame?

Well, here you go!

1. Put yourself out there. Be loud, sexy, colourful...and get noticed!

2. Maintain the visual branding and regularly update the packaging.

3. Have fun, and don't take yourself too seriously.

4. Understand that PR is your most potent weapon.

Oh yeah, and it doesn't hurt to front a cause that you strongly believe in.

What Brands Can Learn From Working Dog

* Rob Sitch in The Hollowmen

Companies, brands and marketers could learn a thing or two from Melbourne-based entertainment production house, Working Dog.

Working Dog is back making satirical comedy on the ABC, this week enjoying big ratings for the first episode of The Hollowmen (and a funny show it is too).

In an industry where most producers churn out more misses than hits, Rob Sitch, Tommy Gleisner & Co have an enviable and consistent track record in producing TV shows and movies (and the occasional book) that strike a chord with consumers.

Think Frontline/The Castle/The Panel/Thank God You're Here etc - plenty of winners...and with The Hollowmen, Working Dog again generated another wave of buzz in anticipation for one of their shows.

SO WHAT CAN BRANDS LEARN FROM THE WORKING DOG TEAM?

Go with your heart and stand by your convictions. Don't try and second guess the public or use research as a crutch. I may be wrong but I am 99.9% confident that Working Dog has never held a focus group for one of its shows. Ever! The team is highly independent and free-spirited, and it shows.

Ensure quality control and set high standards. Everything you hear or read about Working Dog is that they are perfectionists who strive for excellence in everything they do. Sure, that might cause angst at times, but the final product generally speaks for itself.

Don't release product for the hell of it. Unfortunately, companies today are under extreme pressure by shareholders to continue to pump the bottom line, and that often means releasing new products and developing new services, often when they probably shouldn't (brand dilution, anyone?). The Working Dog guys simply produce stuff when they feel like it and the creative juices are flowing. It ensures output of consistently high quality product and people don't get sick of their offering, but hey, I'm a pragmatic guy and I know this is a tough rule for any brand to swallow! 

Let your fans do the talking. Working Dog is in an enviable position whereby pre-release (whether book, film or TV show) media and consumer buzz tends to ensure a strong 'opening night'. Build a community of hardcore fans, make sure your product is up to scratch, and word of mouth will often take care of the rest (with a little help from the PR team).

Thinking Big Pays Off For Ten's Big Brother

As an uninspiring Big Brother trudged through its umpteenth Australian season, Channel Ten knew it needed a BIG IDEA that would demand attention, create buzz and draw in an audience that, until now, had stayed away in droves (compared to earlier BB seasons).

Enter former Baywatch babe and ex-Playboy pin-up, Pamela Anderson. Literally.

Anderson, who at 41 is heading towards exalted 'yummy grandma' status, entered the Big Brother house to shake things up a bit, and ratings for the show jumped as a result (1.4 million viewers tuned in to see Pammy, making it the first time this year that BB had beaten all competitors and won every major demographic, according to news.com.au).

It may have cost Big Brother $500,000 to bring out the blonde bombshell and whether it makes a return on the investment longer term is yet to be seen, but as far as a publicity stunt goes, it worked its ass off (literally), so congrats to Ten for having a go. 

* Pamela Anderson on the set of Big Brother (Pic: China Daily)

Pammy Vs the Might of the ABC

Wednesday night this week was an interesting one in terms of Australians' television viewing habits.

While some would argue (quite convincingly) that Pammy and Big Brother is proof that the dumbing down of Australian television continues at an alarming rate, at the other end of the spectrum, the ABC had one of its biggest nights ratings-wise.

According to The Australian, the ABC had the three top-rating shows in Melbourne, with Spicks & Specks, The Gruen Transfer and the new Working Dog political satire, The Hollowmen, all excelling (and no doubt helping each other out audience-wise).

The Hollowmen pulled in 1.1 million viewers while 1.3 million people tuned in to watch The Gruen Transfer, it's biggest audience to date. Later in the night, At The Movies lapped up the overflow of viewers, attracting over 700,000+ sets of eyeballs - reportedly the best figure of Margaret Pomeranz & David Stratton's 23-year of a movie reviewing partnership,

All this goes to prove that, while the appearance of a big-time blonde celebrity still works as an effective publicity strategy, there is still a significant audience for quality shows on a channel with no advertising. 

Nominations for Cool Company Names

Like most people, I'm a sucker for a really cool company name.

In the space in which I operate - public relations and marketing communications - there's a bit of a dearth of creative names, but when you see one, it really sticks out.

Here are two that have caught my eye recently. Not only are they great names (in my humble opinion only), but they also have catchy and relevant taglines.

Interestingly, both are based in the UK. Something to do with the cold weather perhaps?

Man Bites Dog - PR With Teeth. (Doubly cool because it's a B2B/corporate agency - you can't say they're not setting themselves apart).

Cow PR - Not the Usual Bull (but wait for it, they also have a second tagline - We're Not Sheep. Love it!). Their website is a lot of fun and features a game called 'Smack the Sheep' where you, errrr, smack an animated sheep. The agency also has a number of cleverly-named off-shoots i.e. Milk (creative teams), Cowshed (media content production), Cow Wow (bespoke evaluation system) and Field View (research).

Love to hear any other suggestions of cool company names...

Sydney Writers' Centre Serves Up Facebook Lesson

If you want to check out a great example of an entrepreneurial business utilising Facebook as a means of interacting with consumers, building a community and promoting itself, then check out the Sydney Writers' Centre's page.

Sure, the centre promotes itself and its courses on the page, but it also allows people to subscribe to its newsletter, contains relevant photo albums (student success stories and pics of its training rooms)...plus it uploads info re writing competitions and other relevant topics.

Importantly, the page allows people to ask questions and put forth their views (including their reviews of the course - very powerful! - which part of "I highly recommend it.." and "Loved it, loved it, loved it" wouldn't resonate with prospective students??). 

Oh, and 172 fans have subscribed to the page. 

Mmmm. Positive interaction with current/past/prospective students intertwined with relevant brand promotion. How good is that? And the cost? Stuff all!

Click here for more information on the Sydney Writers' Centre. By the way, the centre also writes a regularly updated blog and has its own Twitter page.

Here endeth the lesson!

Download this eBook For Your Social Media Library

Technology has revolutionised communications,  massively and irrevocably, to the benefit of the consumer, the adaptive and agile organisation, and those who cherish an open society. 

So says Philip Sheldrake in the introduction to his new Social Web Analytics eBook.

Sheldrake, who is director of Racepoint UK, says:

"If you could go back to the mid-90s and offer a marketer a little box that could sit on her desk and let her listen in on thousands of customer conversations and participate in those discussions regardless of geography or time zone, it would appear so far- fetched that she’d probably call security. This eBook is about that reality."

At close to 100 pages, the eBook briefly squares away the 'early days' of the social web before delving deeper into what Sheldrake calls 'social web analytics' -- "... the application of search, indexing, semantic analysis and business intelligence technologies to the task of identifying, tracking, listening to and participating in the distributed conversations about a particular brand, product or issue, with emphasis on quantifying the trend in each conversation's sentiment and influence". 

Don't let the tech speak put you off. 

This is a good resource to have sitting on your computer desktop. I downloaded it today and, while I've only managed to skip through it at this stage (I got caught up with the many external links on offer!), I will definitely re-visit it in more detail as well as keep it on-hand as a 'go-to' manual.

Social Web Analytics eBook can be downloaded here.

LinkedIn Made Simple

The guys at CommonCraft have done it again, this time with an excellent two-and-a-half minute 'made simple' video that may help get you thinking differently about LinkedIn.

Hat tip to Marketing Nirvana via Communication Overtones. 

What is LinkedIn? from LinkedIn Marketing on Vimeo.

Bill Gates Video Spoof Softens Microsoft's Image

The continuing 'softening' of Microsoft's corporate image continues as head honcho Bill Gates yesterday officially finished up day-to-day duties at the software giant.

For decades Gates has been cast as a monopolist capitalist villain. However, in more recent years his philanthropic efforts have taken centre stage via the foundation he runs with wife Melinda.

Now comes the coup de grace - and it has nothing to do with philanthropy and everything to with taking the piss out of one's self. 

As Gates steps away from his day-to-day role at Microsoft, this spoof documentary video about his last day at the office (it was originally presented at an industry event earlier this year) is doing the rounds of the internet; ironically, it has probably done more for 'humanising' the Microsoft brand than any of the thousands of PR and marketing activities undertaken by the company over the years.

The film features appearances by names such as George Clooney, Bono, Jay Z, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Matthew McConaughey and Steven Spielberg. Hilarious stuff!

Social whaaaaat??

I dunno, it might just be me, but in recent chats I've had with a variety of people from within the broader marketing communications industry - clients and agency practitioners of various persuasions - I start banging on about social media and we have the beginnings of a good conversation, but...

...more often than not, while I'm blabbering about all things social media, my partner in conversation is actually got their head in the social marketing space! 

Talk about confusing - we're actually having a conversation about totally different topics! No-one's fault - it's really easy to confuse the two, obviously...and we haven't even touched on social networking!

Aaaarrgh!