The PR Warrior

Want to Cut Through the Clutter & Generate Buzz? Try Getting Off the 'Stage'!

During Coldplay's performance at the Sydney Sound Relief Concert last Saturday, band leader Chris Martin left the stage and went for a joyous run through the crowd.

He embraced the crowd and in turn, the crowd embraced him back. It was a cool moment, indeed, a defining moment in what was a pretty amazing concert. And people are still talking about it.

No wonder Coldplay is such a major act. They're unpretentious and genuine. Oh yeah, and their music ain't half bad either.

What about your brand? Does it 'get off the stage' and mix it with the public? 

Try it some time. Who knows, you might actually 'cut through' and people may talk positively about you!

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!

| View | Upload your own

| View | Upload your own

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).

Are Events 'Yin' to Social Media's 'Yang'?

I helped a client today run a CEO level 'roundtable' luncheon. We had as the theme business leadership and the environment, and while we stuck to the topic generally (and there were some fascinating views from around the table), we also discussed other 'hot' topics/issues such as Gen Y and corporate ethics.

All in all, it was a very successful event.

There were 12 of us - a really great mix of people, including several Australian CEOs of global companies, heads of professional representative bodies plus a CSR expert and members of the media.

What today's activity really brought home to me was how powerful face-to-face communication really is.

In an industry that's moving at light-speed, with the advent of 'social media' and various internet technologies being introduced seemingly on a daily basis, it's great to see there's still plenty of room for good old-fashioned conversation, eyeball-to-eyeball.

In fact, I'll go out on a limb and suggest that the deeper companies and organisations go in terms of communicating with their constituents via the internet, the greater the need to also get face-to-face with the people who matter most to their business.

I like to call it 'marketing balance'.

Any thoughts?

Media Runs Amok as Corey Thumbs Nose

A pair of over-sized yellow sunglasses, a pink doona and an 'up yours' attitude has turned one young Melbourne lad into a media sensation overnight.

Corey Delaney is the 16-year-old self-confessed party animal who organised a street party in the Melbourne outer suburb of Narre Warren, only to see it - and his life shortly after - spin out of control.

Firstly the party, which Corey organised while his parents were away on holiday. It attracted - if you believe media reports - up to 500 rampaging, drunken youths. Damage was caused to neighbouring property and the police were called.

Then came the inevitable follow-up - the media pack in full force! Corey and his mates, far from being shy, retiring types, lapped up the attention. Check out TV show A Current Affair on YouTube, where interviewee Corey is pressured into apologising. Despite being asked to remove his sunglasses, he refuses. A classic moment where a TV interviewer - in this case Leila McKinnon - has met her match in the form of a 16-year-old kid!

The story quickly hit the Australian news pages and airwaves as every tub-thumping columnist and radio commentator weighed into the situation; within no time, Corey's story had spread internationally, where media outlets such as The Guardian, BBC, Channel 4 plus Reuters news agency covered it.

According to The Age newspaper, the party made front news page of the BBC website (where it was described as a teen riot), and became the site's second most read story.

The social media network has also gone into overdrive and no doubt has helped to fuel the story and giving it legs, although Corey's unrepentant stance (he's refusing to meet with his parents who quit their holiday to come home and confront their young son) and outlandish dress sense hasn't hurt either. Opinion is generally divided as to whether Corey is an idiot (chances are you're over 25), or legend (chances are you're under 25). Now that we're into media overkill, it's likely public sympathy will swing Corey's way as the community implores everyone to simply leave the poor kid alone.

In the interim, celebrity managers and party promoters Australia-wide have implored the youngster to give them a call. This story is not going away in a hurry - well, a week, anyway!

Think Big, Take a Risk to Generate Brand Buzz

Two ‘big’ promotional stunts caught my attention this weekend.

Both were for global brands (adidas and Ikea) and both required a leap of faith by each company’s respective PR and/or marketing department.

ADIDAS

To launch its latest shoe, the Barricade V, adidas constructed a three-quarter sized tennis court on top of the scoreboard at the Melbourne Cricket Ground.

Glamour girl Ana Ivanovic, Marcos Baghdatis, Alicia Molik and up-and-coming Aussie player Brydan Klein – hit up on the adidas-branded sky-high court in front of TV cameras and news photographers, resulting in some strong post-event publicity for the brand.

IKEA

The second stunt was in Paramus, New Jersey, where comedian Mark Malkoff took up residence in an Ikea store while his New York apartment was being fumigated.

Malkoff, an audience coordinator for Comedy Central’s The Colbert Report, put the idea to the company but reportedly thought that “never in a million years (would) Ikea go for it, but miraculously they have agreed.”

Good on Ikea! How many brands would have frozen at the prospect of having a comedian move into their branded ‘space’ and film the experience for the world to see?

Sure, Malkoff had credentials behind him – his short film project 171 Starbucks garnered media attention – but it was still a potentially chancy proposition on Ikea’s part.

In his latest project, Malkoff has turned a showroom mock-up of an Ikea bedroom into his temporary home.

Malkoff reportedly told the New York Post he thought of living at Ikea because 80 percent of his furniture was from the store…“so I figured I’d be pretty comfortable. I may ask them for a part-time job if I start to get bored.”

In videos posted to Malkoff’s website, viewers can view updates from his temporary home where his morning routine includes putting on a terry towelling dressing gown to shuffle off to the Ikea cafeteria for breakfast.

The stunt has generated strong buzz globally, with TV, press and the blogosphere all getting in on the act.

Nike Connects With Your Life

Have just stumbled on to this article in the New York Times (The New Advertising Outlet: Your Life) - it crams in a lot of good stuff on the trend towards big brands spending money on marketing activities that better connect with consumers.

In the article, Nike executives say that much of the company’s future advertising spending will take the form of services for consumers, like workout advice, online communities and local sports competitions.

Here are some interesting points, as mentioned in the article:

• Last year, Nike spent just 33 percent of its $678 million United States advertising budget on ads with television networks and other traditional media companies. That’s down from 55 percent 10 years ago (SOURCE: Advertising Age).
• Companies like Nike have been experimenting with alternative forms of marketing since the 1990s. But now, even the most conventional marketers are making these alternatives a permanent — and ever bigger — part of their advertising budgets.
• The amount of money flowing out of the traditional media is huge — even at a time when ad budgets in general are growing, advertising research shows.
• Behind the shift is a fundamental change in Nike’s view of the role of advertising. No longer are ads primarily meant to grab a person’s attention while they’re trying to do something else.
• “We want to find a way to enhance the experience and services, rather than looking for a way to interrupt people from getting to where they want to go,” said Stefan Olander, global director for brand connections at Nike. “How can we provide a service that the consumer goes, ‘Wow, you really made this easier for me’?”

Now there's a title I like: 'Global Director of Brand Connections'!

According to the article, a number of well-known brands are also trying new approaches, hoping to generate buzz both online and off.

• Procter & Gamble opened a temporary Charmin-brand public bathroom in Manhattan.
• Microsoft dropped thousands of parachutes holding software onto a town in Illinois last year.
• Target suspended the magician David Blaine in a gyroscope above Times Square for two days.

World's First Unlimited Website Launches

UK telecommunications brand, Orange, has launched a 'never-ending website' to underpin its new £6m marketing campaign for its unlimited mobile phone call packages in the lead-up to Christmas.

The campaign, dubbed "Good things should never end", promotes Orange's portfolio of "unlimited" pay-as-you-go and pay-monthly packages launched earlier this year, which allow users to make unlimited weekend calls and/or texts, depending on how much they spend.

The focal point of the three-month campaign is what Orange describes as "the world's first unlimited web page".

The 'Good Things Should Never End' website was developed by London digital agency, Poke.

According to Brand Republic, the website has been designed to make it impossible for users to scroll down to the very bottom of the page. Instead, they are presented with a never-ending rainbow graphic offering games, downloads and giveaways.

Cool idea, very buzzworthy, and strategically  sound as it strongly reinforces Orange's 'unlimited' proposition.

Don't log on to the website though if you don't like the colour orange!