Here’s something you simply couldn’t make up if you tried. Some Russian automotive manufacturer decides to upholster the seats of their latest blingmobile in – yes, obviously – whale penis leather. For the hard of thinking, that’s the tanned skin of a whale’s penis. For the puerile, yes, it came in four skin colours.

 Pamela Anderson gets involved, because, obviously (again) she can’t bear to think of the plight of the whales’ penises. Sends email to Russians. Russians decide not to use whale penis leather any more. Issue a retraction. Everyone happy.

 Now, listen up. The serious message in this is…………………..no, you’re right. Who cares. Enjoy it for what it is.

Following on from an earlier post about publicity and the rules of engagement. Taking it as read that publicity – in some form or other (publicity (n) – information that concerns a person, group, event, or product and that is disseminated through various media to attract public notice) – is the end goal of everything that we do as communicators, then – ergo - there must be rules that the professional communicator has at least an eye to when going about the task.

For my part, these include (but are not limited to) telling the truth (or at least a part of it), not misrepresenting, not insulting, not belittling and not demeaning – and, here’s a biggie, not saying anything that you cannot, if called upon to do so, back up.

Obviously, there’s a fine line here. Many moons ago, Tesco announced a new home delivery service – for those of its customers who lived in some splendour and didn’t wish to see a Tesco-branded van up their cul-de-sac (to coin a phrase). The new service involved delivery by dark green Range Rover, and the pictures of said Range Rover (along with the story) got square hectares of coverage.

I myself announced that a particular pub restaurant chain was to launch ‘Pincher’s Portions’ of chips – to solve the age old issue of wives, girlfriends and partners refusing to order their own chips and then pinching yours. (Ooooooh – it still irritates me.) Again, the story tapped into the zeitgeist and generated a decent footie pitch of coverage.

Of course, neither story was strictly based in complete fact. Tesco had one, perhaps two, Range Rovers, and the posh delivery service vanished as fast as the story did. My lovely pub restaurant chain put the Pincher’s Portion on the menu in a couple of its outlets, for a brief while. It didn’t matter at all, though – the ideas behind the stories were great and, if absolutely pushed (by some humourless killjoy) to prove they were true – well, we could.

Now the boxing metaphor. As you may know, dear blog snorkeller, on Saturday, one David Hayes is to step into the ring of pugilism and face Nikolai Valuev of Russia. Clearly, Mr Hayes’ fortune rests on the publicity he can generate around the fight, encouraging people to pay their subscriptions to watch it, and making himself more marketable. He has been most vociferous around how well he is going to do, and how is is going to knock his opponent out. There has been reams of coverage – the story has been wholly unavoidable, unless you’ve been living in an hermetically-sealed bunker somewhere for the past couple of weeks.

Unfortunately for Mr Hayes, he is going to be called upon to prove all the claims he has made. Also unfortunately, his opponent is seven foot two inches tall, and weighs 23 stone. He is – looking at it in a logical and balanced fashion – going to get spanked.

A company caught generating publicity on the back of a lie will lose the trust of its stakeholders and the impact on its corporate reputation may be mortal. If you squint a bit and look at Mr Hayes as a company, what’s going to happen to him on Saturday is exactly the same.

This next PR stunt speaks volumes about branding and the infiltration of iconic pop culture. A Colonel Saunders look-a-like managed to sneak past NYC UN security and pose for a photo with the new (perhaps soon-to-be old) president of the UN General Assembly, Ali Treki, before he was detected and ejected.

Let’s think about this for a moment…if someone had shown up in an unknown costume, would they have been so readily accepted into the crowd? How scary is that? I hope the bad guys aren’t watching. Better yet, I hope the good guys are.

Following on from yesterday’s commentary on things you wouldn’t spin, I came across something to day that made me think about things that you cannot spin, not matter how hard you try, and that, eventually you simply have to give up on and view as a lesson learned.

There is, I believe, a temptation for every communications practitioner to believe that everything can be promoted – that there must be a defining something somewhere, that there is a story hidden behind the hopeless exterior and (because we are all horribly insecure) that if we can’t spin it, then someone else will.

This prevents us from taking the obvious path, the one that would save us time, effort and sometimes cash, the one that involves us telling the prospective client that their lovely whateveritis simply isn’t going to fly. That it is, in fact, a horrible turkey, and that they should pack up now and go home. As I’ve said before, I can’t help but thinking that our industry would be in a better state if we weren’t so eager to say yes to everything (I’m generalising, obviously) and if there weren’t quite so many snake-oil salesmen around (and there are, there are) who have little in the way of pride and will counsel anyone on anything if it means they can submit an invoice at the end of the month.

(And before anyone has a pop – I am not making this up – I have seen it happen. I have worked in places where it was obvious that the prospective client was a hopeless basket case, and that the day we achieved significant results for their product or service would be the day that Satan puts on his gloves and scarf and skates to work – there’s a photo opp – yet we still took the brief, still took the cash and accepted the horrible, embarrasing sacking when, inevitably, it was a disaster.)

Recently, on a social network, I came across a bloke looking for help in devising a PR strategy for a new wine product. Now the wine marketplace is a crowded one. It’s price sensitive. It’s difficult to get traction. It’s even more difficult if your wine is made from pomegranates.

Luckily, I think I got to bloke first – I explained to him what he could do to publicise his product and I also explained to him why he’d be wasting his time – that it was unlikely ever to be more than a niche product which might, if he was lucky, become a fashion accessory or a fad for a very, very brief period. I also warned him about the snake oil salesmen and – hey presto – no sooner had I posted the advice, than there were two further posts, offering to help him make his product the new Jacob’s Creek. (I’m exaggerating slightly.)

My second example comes from many moons ago, when I was but a stripling PR person. One of my clients was the generic food promotion agency of a particular European country – while working for them we were not supposed to give one particular brand prominence over any other, however we were entitled to approach the brands that came under this organisation’s umbrella about their specific needs. And they were free to approach us. To cut a long story short, one day I took a call which turned out to be a request for assistance in the promotion of lard.

I didn’t say ‘no’ immediately – mainly because my director was one of those who simply saw the fee opportunity and not the world of pain that would have to be endured to get to the fee, or the inevitable loss of the fee opportunity as we failed to satisfy the client’s expectations. Lard, you see, is lovely – it is – but unfortunately it’s got a bad image, it’s got lots of calories, it contributes to raised blood cholesterol levels and it doesn’t look very nice. OK, I knew my food then, and there’s not doubt that I could have leveraged some coverage for it. But achieving the brief to increase levels of lard consumption across the board? Sorry. I’m good – but no-one’s that good.

Finally I manage to prise my director’s twisted little fingers away from the prospect of the fee, and we said no. And, because I haven’t noticed lard becoming a staple feature of my, or anyone else’s, diet, I can only presume that no-one was able to do a better job of it than the one we didn’t, in the end, decide to do. 

And so to today – and well done, my blog snorkellers, if you are still with me. Today I was alerted to this fantastic and immensely disturbing product. Ladies and gents – if you haven’t had it already, I give you – Meatwater!

This has a genuinely repellent fascination about it, and I for one will not be trying it any time soon. And yet, and yet, I can still see why someone thought it would be a good idea. Anyway, in brief, here’s one that makes you think about the whole ‘would you, wouldn’t you’ deal. For what it’s worth, and on balance, I wouldn’t. I’ll go further and nail my colours to the mast and say it will, sooner, rather than later, disappear without a trace.

If they’re listening, however – the blog’s not been updated, the Twitter feed’s not updated and, as far as I can see, one of the most important things about Meatwater – what actually goes into it – isn’t featured on the site. This says to me that the actual manufacturers don’t really care that much about it, which makes me think that longevity is something this product hasn’t got.

Let’s face it – Innocent Drinks it ain’t. But thinking laterally – as Innocent have recently launched their veg pots (in a break from fruit-only tradition), maybe there’s something they might consider doing in this arena.

And as I’m not a snake-oil salesman, I’ll let Meatwater and Innocent have this counsel for free.

Recording star Miley Cyrus, who had a couple million followers on Twitter, decided she’d had enough of the 140 character updates that kept her fans, friends and paparazzi updated on her comings and goings, and completely shut down her account this week.

She didn’t go quietly, creating a decently produced rap video explaining her decision. The gossip sites weren’t the only ones making this breaking news – even the social media hounds at Mashable reported on the diss, creating lots of media buzz for the young songstress.  Even her dad, country music star Billy Ray Cyrus hoped (publicly) that she would change her mind. While Ashton Kutcher drove tons of press for his Twitter antics, Miley got an equally passionate reception for her break-up with Twitter.

Miley isn’t the first person to make waves with a change in Twitter strategy. Web celebrity and renowned tech blogger Robert Scoble unfollowed thousands of followers and also received significant press coverage from the event.

So is a drastic Twitter overhaul the newest PR 2.0 stunt?  Do the long term benefits outweigh the short term attention?

Rachel Kay

Kalona, a rural town in Iowa, is making the national spotlight for a recent public relations campaign that involves pulling over unsuspecting out of state drivers.

The Chamber of Commerce and the town’s sheriff began pulling over out of state drivers last week. Once to the side of the road, the drivers are approached by the town’s sheriff and asked if they have about 20 hours to spend with us here in Kalona.

Drivers are then given a gift basket full of goodies from local Kalona businesses, a free night’s stay and a T-shirt that says, “Ask me about Kalona, Iowa.”

I think this is an interesting approach at stimulating tourism in rural America. However, it does raise a few questions regarding what happens in certain situations. For example, what happens if the driver they pull over has been drinking or has a warrant out for their arrest?

I’m not trying to be nit-picky and I’m sure the town has thought through all the details. These are just the first questions that come to mind.

But I’m from rural Minnesota, and I completely get what they are trying to do here. I’m sure Kalona is a nice family friendly place where everyone knows your name.

Cheap Cheers reference

Following on from the recent post on Dove’s creative take on the traditional media release, an article on Mumbrella reports a recent spike in attention grabbing PR gifts.

In the article, Mumbrella note an overwhelming response from PR agencies that have sent a number of gifts to journalists in order to grab their attention and encourage media coverage. Here are some of Mumbrella’s most creative:

• a didgeridoo
• bottle of Absolut vodka
• cupcakes

The Cabana Boys' coconut.

This week’s (almost) winner of the ‘Most attention grabbing PR gift’ came in the form of a coconut from new Sydney-based creative consultancy, Cabana Boys. The coconut was stamped with the website – YouveBeenHit.com.au. The website is an interesting read, especially if you are interested in finding out your chances of ‘death by coconut’ as opposed to ‘death by lightning strike’!

However, despite the ingenious creativity behind the coconut, it was trumped by a pink vibrator from lifestyle agency, Red PR. The vibrator came with a note: “A vibrating exercise you can do in front of your nana”. The stunt was actually to flog a vibrating exercise machine called the Power Plate.

The winner of the 'Most attention grabbing PR gift' goes to Red PR for the pink vibrator.

The vibrator was a rather cheeky way to grab attention, but is undoubtedly highly effective. It just goes to show – creativity can go a long way to make you stand out from the crowd!

Exhibit A: hair crime victim, Zoe.

A creative take on the traditional media release has seen PR agency, One Green Bean, transform an upmarket hair salon in Sydney’s Walsh Bay into a crime scene for a day.

Dove’s new range of Heat Defence Therapy hair products was launched with a crime scene theme in an effort to engage beauty editors with the products, and position them as the solution to the “self-harm epidemic taking place across the nation’s bedrooms and bathrooms.”

One Green Bean creatively used the launch as a way to “create a memorable experience for editors, who are bombarded with new product launches.”

The media component of this launch successfully leveraged support from the key publics’ most likely to report on the efficacy of the products, instead of blanketing many journalists – they even included beauty bloggers.

The launch was a great length to go to instead of just sending out a media release, but I think it speaks volumes about the dwindling effectiveness of the out-dated release format. Also, creating a memorable experience for the targeted beauty journalists/writers is a great relationship building tool that will serve Dove well in the future. I ask you, what beauty editor wouldn’t love to be chauffeured to a salon set up as a ‘Hair Crime Unit’ complete with coffee and cinnamon doughnuts?

To set the scene further, staff from Dove and One Green Bean dressed up as crime scene investigators and handed out ‘evidence’ of hair crimes, that included images of mutilated hair shafts as seen through a microscope and then showing a solution, as well as a demonstration to prove the results.

Exhibit B: hair crime victim, Yasemin.

The outcome of the launch was many editorial leads for the brand, including a story on beauty website www.primped.com.au, and coverage in a range of weekly and monthly publications.

The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) has forced many PR agencies to come up with creative, cost-effective campaigns. Here’s a campaign that’s sure to peak your interest!

999 nudes bared their no hidden extras.

A recent campaign by the Irish Airline, Aer Lingus, used a flash mob of 999 nudes to parade through central London wearing shamrock string bikinis (yes, there were men and women – and even a group of over 60’s that took part on the day). The shamrocks were also symbolic of St Patrick’s Day which occurred a few days after the launch on 15 March, 2009.

It was hoped that the parade of nudes would launch two things:

*The £9.99 cheap fare offer that was developed to counter the impact the recession has had on overseas travel; and

* The airline would be flying to eight new destinations from April 2009 including Nice, Malaga and Vienna.

In an effort to engage the British public and raise the profile of the brand, the PR team at Golley Slater, set up a recruitment campaign on social networking sites allowing members of the public to register their interest in attending the launch to bare all – this worked on a first-in-best-dressed basis – or should I say, a not-dressed-at-all basis!  

Participants were offered free flights to one of the eight new destinations as an incentive, further promoting the new destination. A total of 1,400 had registered to attend before the event.

Several newspapers were alerted to the stunt via the social media sites. A few outlets contacted the PR team in advance in attempt to get pre-event exclusives, but the media were not informed of the stunt location until the morning of the event. This was also done to ensure it was not intercepted by the authorities.

On the day of the stunt, a photographer from every national tabloid and London newspaper attended along with the Press Association, Getty Images, and other news and picture agencies. Capital Radio, XFM and Absolute Radio interviewed participants and several TV crews including London Tonight attended. A video was uploaded onto the BBC website and YouTube.

Overall, this campaign was successful in promoting the cheap £9.99 fare, and it also appealed to the sensibilities and humour of the British public – you only need to look at British comedy to detect their penchant for nudity i.e. Little Britain, Benny Hill. However, I don’t think Aer Lingus’ new base at London’s Gatwick, or the new international flight destinations came through in the campaign. Another campaign could have been used to gain focus on the other aspects of the campaign, as these other important details got lost in the buzz of the stunt.

The Candy Cane Forest and Lollipop Woods have never tasted so sweet. King Kandy and Princess Frostine have never seemed so real.

The world’s most crooked street was transformed into an enormous Candy Land for the game’s 60^th birthday. The curves of San Francisco’s Lombard Street were paved with colorful game board tiles, while patients from a nearby children’s hospital stepped in as live players and helped the birthday bash turn out to be a delightful success.

What a fantastic, magical PR stunt for the children who love Candy Land and the adults whose childhood memories may very well reside there.

Sorry. I’ve been reading PR Week again.

I know I shouldn’t, and there’s nothing to be gained, and that if I continue to do it, I’ll end up as a bearded, wild-eyed, string-shoelaced, shambling apparition, destined to ride on the Circle Line forever, muttering ‘buggrit, buggrem, I told ‘em it weren’t right, ‘advertising value equivalent’, they says to me, buggrit, what, says I, I do, it means nothing, shrimp and spanners, buggrem’.

Probably.

Anyway, PR Week. It makes me cross. Sometimes it makes me REALLY cross. It is distinctly possible that I shouldn’t take it so seriously. It is even possible that the magazine is staffed by a bunch of post-modern ironists who are so clever, so sharp, that what, on the surface, can appear inane drivel is, in fact, the most telling commentary and satire, but so finely-honed that its real message is hidden from all but an enlightened few. Right.

This week, the thing that’s made me cross is one of the biggest issues facing our industry. I’m assuming I’m right in saying this because it’s certainly something that better minds that mine have been discussing since I first sat in a chair and made a weak attempt at trying to interest a journalist in the ‘news’ of a revolutionary hair removal system. (Don’t ask.)

It’s the issue of why isn’t PR taken seriously? Why doesn’t PR have (very often) a seat at the top table? Why, when PR is described as a ‘profession’ is there always an echoing of sniggering in the background? (Even when there’s no-one there.) Why is PR described as ‘lightweight’ and ‘fluffy’ – and why do people believe that it is? Why is PR not seen as a ‘proper job’? Why is it, at worst, ignored and at best, barely tolerated?

(And before anyone starts, you know this is, in the main, true. Yes, there are some organisations where PR is given the respect it should command - but they are few and far between.)

There are many possible answers – and maybe I’ll come back to them. Today, let’s concentrate on one of the biggest culprits – in fact a load of the biggest culprits – us – the industry itself. How is anyone going to take PR seriously if we persist in perpetuating the myths and prancing around like a bunch of knobs.

Yes, we don’t all do it. In fact, I’d imagine, very few of us do it. But. But. And this is why PR Week makes me cross this week. You see, according to the rules of communication, it only takes one incident to ruin the reputation of the industry. Especially if that incident is kindly emblazoned in the pages of what purports to be the voice of the industry. So, this week, step foward Deborah Clark Associates ‘celebrating the launch of the ‘Cornwall Twestival” – what were you thinking of?

I’m not going to link to the picture here. Suffice it say it smacks of ill-conceived sixth-form amateur dramatics. It was lightweight AND it was fluffy. But, ignoring for the moment the obvious question of what possessed these people to do this in the first place, the other obvious question is what in the name of all that’s holy were PR Week thinking of when they decided to print it?

It’s tough times for PR. We all know that. But with friends like PR Week, who needs enemies?

Could this possibly be creativity at its worst?

Let the games begin: a conceptual depiction of the Midnight Gaming Championships.

The Midnight Gaming Championships (MGC), presented by the healthful food giant known as McDonalds, is a free and open-to-the-public tournament that helps raise awareness and acceptance of gaming – yes, gaming.

Participants compete in one of four games, including Guitar Hero World Tour, Madden NFL 09, Super Smash Brothers Brawl, and the Fast and the Furious, at various McDonalds and Walmart locations in Philadelphia and across the USA.

The video clip that appears on the MGC website really says it all, check it out.

Kudos for creativity really does have to go to McDonalds for promoting the worthy cause of the poor, underserved gaming community. As the website indicates, the MGC is ultimately about ‘making casual and competitive gaming more accessible by offering more tournaments in more cities’.

Of course McDonalds would never shamelessly promote the fact that they are open until midnight, and in some locations 24/7. And, only to ‘aid the gamers throughout the night, McDonald’s will offer free McCafe specialty coffees and samples of the new Angus Third Pounders’.

A representative (owner/operator) from McDonalds in Philadelphia had this to say:

“McDonald’s is excited to present this gaming competition,” said Mike Anton, president of the Greater Philadelphia Area McDonald’s Owner/Operator Association. “McDonald’s is committed to our Philadelphia Region customers. Recognizing that many of them share a passion for gaming, we wanted to be able to provide them with a safe, comfortable, and convenient environment in which to compete while having fun!”

With McDonalds zealously driving the healthy-menu-options-bus around the world, this competition runs counter to what McDonalds is purporting to be. But let’s face it, it’s a great way to flog a new product (Angus Third Pounder) and promote other products (McCafe). McDonalds’ recipe for disaster is actually a recipe for success!

How’s this for creative – and sexy! Created by Glue London, visitors to Philips’ Sextalk website are greeted with an intimate image of a couple engaged in a loving pose.

The Philips Sex Talk website complete with sexy talk provided by Twitter.

Over the image, a collection of hundreds of different words that people use when talking about sex in their tweets, are displayed on screen.

When a user rolls over a word, the total number of times that particular word has been tweeted that day is displayed.

Also on the site, are the results of a recent, in-depth survey conducted by PR agency OneVoice, which monitors European couple’s attitudes towards sex.  

The Philips branding is hardly even visible on the website, are social media tools – such as Twitter –steering branding away in an attempt t make a social, personal connection with its publics? Do you think this is effective?

Alright, I’m not one to write about Hollywood misfits, but celebrities, or at least their PR reps, are the boldness when it comes to spinning a story the press while explode on.  Here’s a litte piece wondering if Paula’s recent decline of coming back to American Idol is just a PR stunt or a true decision.

Educating teenagers and young adults about STDs (Sexually Transmissible Diseases) presents a challenge. It’s an embarrassing subject but someone’s got to tackle it.

In New York, MTV recently teamed up with Planned Parenthood and the Kaiser Family Foundation to launch the “GYT: Get Yourself Tested” campaign, aimed at reducing the embarrassment around getting tested for sexually transmitted diseases”.

On April 2, a pre-launch guerilla marketing effort stunt on the American TV breakfast show,  Today, in which MTV interns rushed at host Matt Lauer wearing T-shirts with the slogan, “WTF is GYT?” but refused to explain what the slogan meant. The idea behind this was to leave the GYT explanation vague initially, in the hope that it would build buzz.

Creatively, I like the way they used limited information to create “buzz”. In a world of so much information, it’s refreshing to shift away from our information-obsessed ways to raise awareness of an important issue.  

An interesting article about creating buzz can be found on the Visual Adviser website.  The article suggests a number of ways in which to create buzz for your organisation. One way is by using a stunt, just like the “GYT: Get Yourself Tested” campaign mentioned above.

I believe that stunts are an effective PR tactic to create buzz and interest about a company or product. Can you think of any PR stunts that have gone wrong and still created buzz? And, can there be such a thing as ‘bad buzz’?

References

Washkuch, F.. (2009, April). MTV aligns with groups to promote STD testing. PRweek, 12(15), 3.  Retrieved August 10, 2009, from ABI/INFORM Trade & Industry. (Document ID: 1708652561).

Creating Buzz About Your Company. Retrieved 10 August, 2009 from http://www.va-interactive.com/inbusiness/editorial/sales/articles/creatingbuzz.html

A 267-pound, 3-foot high matzo ball that was made with 1,000 eggs, 200 pounds of matzo meal, 80 pounds of margarine and 20 pounds of chicken base was up for serving yesterday morning at a NYC deli.

Why the mountain of matzo? On October 18, the New York Knicks will host the Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team at Madison Square Garden for a charity game. What a publicity stunt!

It’s the perfect way to mesh Israeli and New York culture and cause quite the stir. There’s probably not much that can stop a New Yorker dead in their busy, fast-paced, seen-it-all tracks, but I’m sure this did it. The matzo ball even had its own NYPD escort. Hopefully, Knicks fans will hurry to the ticket office (proceeds benefit Migdal Ohr, an orphanage in Israel) and Noah’s Ark Original Deli will see some traffic, too.

Go Knicks!?!

Bit of a rant, I’m afraid.

I think I’ve already stated on this blog that I’m something of a fan of what I would term PR stunts – bit fluffy, bit wheeey, bit whoooar – but, actually quite effective while they last. I think I mentioned Aleksandr the Meerkat from comparethemeerkat.com (a search engine dedicated to meerkat paraphernalia and accessories, as far as I can see) as a particular example of how something fairly silly and with low relevance to anything and with an undeniably ‘cheap’ feel to it can be extremely successful and tap into the zeitgeist. Simples! (And cross all sorts of media divides – digital, print, experiential, broadcast etc etc  etc.)

Anyway – peeping out from under my stone the other day I came across another one – you probably all know about this, but anyway – it was the absolutkindness.com campaign, ‘Give Kindness Not Cash!’, on behalf of Absolut Vodka. I only read a case history, but I quite liked the idea of giving smiles, hugs or high-fives in exchange for food, drink, whatever. I don’t know whether it was a success – but it deserved to be – it had legs, it had digital, it had experiential and it had the possibility of print as well. Hooray for whoever it was who came up with it. Silly, yes, foolish, perhaps, short-lived, most definitely – but attention-grabbing and thought-provoking.

So why did some clown let the Absolut head of marketing ruin it with this quotation: “We wanted to put a smile on people’s faces. Absolut is more than just a vodka, it’s a way of life, and this seemed like a good way to communicate that attitude to people.”

Aaaaaaaaaagh. It reminds me of something I might have written when I was young and stupid. No, Absolut marketing and PR bunnies, Absolut is not more than just a vodka. It is actually, quite plainly, just a vodka. Nothing wrong with that, and I’m sure it’s very nice, but it’s just a vodka. It most certainly is not a way of life – that would be a worry – but luckily, most of those who see spirits as a way of life cannot actually afford them, which is why they drink Special Brew.

(Also, and it’s a side issue – ‘a good way to communicate that attitude’ – well, is it an attitude, or a way of life? Make up your minds, guys.)

This is a plea – and an object lesson, perhaps – never give your spokespeople words, or allow them to use words, that will jar with, or patronise, or offput your audience. The quotation above runs the risk of achieving all of those things – I’m not stupid, and therefore I don’t presume that anyone else is.

‘We wanted to put a smile on people’s faces. – your choice of Absolut Vodka says something about you – and this was a great way of communicating that something to people.’

See where I’m coming from?

9 Inch Axiom – Value and Maintenance

‘The goal of marketing is for your target audience to regard you as high value and low maintenance’

Back in college I used to have a theory when determining if a co-ed was girlfriend material.  There were two basic criteria that created a basic matrix:  value and maintenance.  The ideal scenario was someone who was high value and low maintenance.  On the matrix that was the second quadrant.  The worse case scenario was the dreaded quadrant 4 . . . low value and high maintenance. 

The more I think about marketing, the more I keep coming back to the value/maintenance matrix.  Here is my breakdown of both:

Value – What are tangible and intangible benefits that your service or product provides?  (Note: Price factors into value, but only as it relates to the level of benefits and how effective the product or service is.)  What is the level of design, craftsmanship and service?  Is the product or service fulfilling its brand promise?  

Maintenance – What was the buying experience like?  Do you enjoy working with the brand or service provider?  Do they make things turnkey or simple?  Are they responsive to problems / issues?  Do they demonstrate initiative and the ability to go above and beyond?  

Do you agree with the vm matrix? Any good examples to share?  

Today’s Lagniappe  (a little something extra) - a great case study about Tourism Queensland

I had the privilege of spending a year of my college in Queensland, Australia (see photo of me and me mates drinking a few tinnies of XXXX).  The home of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland is located in the Northeast of Australia.  It’s the second largest state in Oz (only about 3x’s the size of Texas).  

Anywho . . . the folks from Tourism Queensland just did something unprecedented.  They just swept the 3 grand prix’s at the biggest advertising awards festival in the world, the  Cannes Lions (digital, direct and pr).  Here is an excerpt from a great post that talks about the feat and the importance that this was a PR based campaign.  

According to AdAge, the winning campaigns this year strived to “engage consumers and deeply involve them in brands, or a movement, rather than whack them over the head with canned message time and again.”

Done well, PR campaigns can garner the type of coverage most media buyers would charge millions to secure. These campaigns can provide more successful results than traditional marketing efforts. However, as we enter into a new era of communications dominated by digital media and social mediums, some experts predict we will see an increasing number of campaigns that leverage and combine advertising, PR and marketing efforts. This year’s Cannes Festival could be seen as early proof of the convergence between marketing, PR and advertising. The shifting media landscape coupled with the current economic climate, are causing organizations to consider integrating their advertising and PR activities.

Here is the video case study on the ‘The Best Job in the World’:

I had the opportunity to be a guest on Tom Cosentino’s Blog Talk Radio show yesterday.  Click on the microphone above to have a listen to the half hour show.  We discussed experiential marketing and the importance of taking an integrated approach.

If it doesn't get all over the place, it doesn't belong in your face! Oh wait, wrong burger chain

Whoever is naming the burgers and making the ads for Burger King has got some big brass ones.  And some serious woman issues.  And a tiny dick.

If they somehow manage to combine this burger with the Angry Whopper, what will we have then?

Now at Burger King the WIFE BEATER!  Whopper upside the head with a full half pounding of anus beef!  Shove it in her mouth and get her to STFU (Something Tasty For U).
This shit writes itself.  Class act guys.  Way to make everyone who just wants a burger to feel like a skeeze.

9 INCH AXIOM – Branded Acts of Kindness

‘Free is not a bad four letter word.  Proactively engage your target by offering them a complimentary experience’

Sandra O’Loughlin of Event Marketer wrote a great piece entitled ‘Branded Acts of Kindness’

The article covers how brand are putting together programs that tap into ‘acts of kindness’.  Sandra gives 5 great examples from the likes of HSBC, FedEx, Staples, Mars and Denny’s.

I especially like the title of the article. Most people refer to ‘acts of kindness’ as random as opposed to branded. Branded reflects the next generation or 2.0 version of  ’acts of kindness’. Here is where I see the difference:

Random 1.0                 vs.                    Branded 2.0

Unpromoted                                             Promoted

Untargeted                                                Targeted

One off promotion                                 Recurring or Consistent

Opportunistic                                           Planned

Relevant only to the recipient            Relevant to recipient + the brand

In the field                                                 At Retail

PR focused                                                Integrated

It doesn’t just need to be random anymore.  Executed correctly, as part of an integrated strategy, ‘branded’ acts of kindness or ‘lagniappe’ can create brand awareness and more importantly drive brand loyalty.

Today’s Lagniappe  (a little something extra) – A common form of lagniappe is the ‘bakers dozen’.  Here is some trivia on its origin courtesy of Wikipedia:

The oldest known source and most probable origin for the expression “baker’s dozen” dates to the 13th century in one of the earliest English statutes, instituted during the reign of Henry III (r. 1216-1272), called the Assize of Bread and Ale. Bakers who were found to have shortchanged customers could be liable to severe punishment. To guard against the punishment of losing a hand to an axe, a baker would give 13 for the price of 12, to be certain of not being known as a cheat.

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Electronic Arts stages fake protest of game at E3.

Sometimes PR accidentally tells the truth

In another exciting episode of “everything has become marketing”, we find this.  Really it kinda speaks for itself.

 An axiom is a proposition that is not proved or demonstrated but considered to be self evident. Therefore, its truth is taken for granted, and serves as a starting point for deducing and inferring other truths.

9 INCH AXIOMS are the premises that my posts are based on:

Click here to see numbers #1 to #20.  Here is a summary of #21 to #28:

#21.  Integrated Marketing

‘The key to integrated marketing communications (IMC) is threefold:  

1. First is researching to find the appropriate idea / concept that is both relevant and sticky
2. Second is determining the right mix of traditional + social media
3. Last is determining the appropriate weight of each medium in order to reach the RIGHT3 . . the right people . . . in the right places . . . .  at the right times’ 

[My definition of integrated marketing and the comparison between IMC 1.0 vs. IMC 2.0]

#22.  STORYTELLING

‘People respond to stories. The ability for your marketing to tell a story is vital in capturing the mind and the heart of your consumer’  

[How narrative is fundamental to communication]

#23.  TRADITIONS / SYMBOLS

‘The ability to create either traditions or symbols that make a sensory connection with your target audience is key to creating a strong brand’

[A look at Wimbledon, Churchill Downs, Wrigley and Augusta National.  How they invoke ritual to create strong sensory bonds]

#24.  OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS

‘The time to hit the gas pedal in marketing is not when everyone else is speeding, but when your competitors are downshifting or sitting on the curb’  

[The notion that this is time to cut through the clutter.  Discussion of how PR stunts are effective in moving the needle]

#25.  ADVERTISING AND CONTENT

‘Advertising only works when it has the ability to engage.  It must be targeted, relevant and not seen as an intrusion’  

[Is Advertising Dead? An interesting glimpse into the future through the final scene of the Matrix]

#26.  SHOPPER MARKETING

‘Don’t forget about the shopper.  There is a difference between the buyer and the end consumer.  A majority of purchase decisions are made in store and therefore you need to cater to the shopper and their retail experience’

[A look at the importance of the buyer / shopper.  It's about the shopper . . . stupid]

#27.  PULL MARKETING

‘It is important to understand the difference between push and pull marketing.  Doing both effectively has the net effect of 1 + 1 = 3.’  

[Defining outbound vs. inbound marketing and discussing how pull marketing allows you to connect with the RIGHT3]

#28 PERSONALITY

‘Personality is the 5th ‘P’ in marketing.  There needs to be a face, a name and an engaging presence behind the brand’  

[The importance of personality in marketing.  A great case on Brad Benson Hyundai]

Today’s Lagniappe  (a little something extra) – A great event by T-Mobile. Check out this video:

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