The point of a PR stunt is to generate lots and lots of attention. But what happens when the stunt backfires and the coverage is negative?

There have been a few doozies recently.

The best of the worst

You may have heard about the company charged with promoting South Australia to businesses. They came up with a catchy tagline: Be a big fish in a small pond. Then they developed a memorable PR stunt to go along with it – delivery of live goldfish to select targets.

And it was memorable, and it did get lots of coverage. Because most of the fish died.

By the time the debacle was over, the campaign had been slammed by everyone from marketing commentators to the RSPCA.

More recently, car maker BMW paid to sponsor a storm cell in Europe, naming it ‘Cooper’ as part of a campaign to promote its Mini Cooper model. When the weather turned bad, so did the PR stunt, as the freezing conditions led to more than 100 deaths.

Obviously, the company can’t control the weather, but it doesn’t look good to tie your brand to such a terrible human tragedy.

Even worse are the stunts that go beyond bad luck and poor planning and leave you wondering ‘what were they thinking?’

Last year, a cafe in Brisbane promoted itself by producing pens designed to look like syringes filled with blood. We’re still scratching our heads over that one. How on earth did that ever seem like a good idea?

Golden rules for a PR stunt

The easiest way to avoid a PR stunt disaster is to avoid the stunt. So first, think about what you’re really trying to achieve. If you’re in a niche space with a defined audience, a big-scale stunt is rarely necessary, even though a big media hit can feel great.

A PR stunt might be worthwhile if you’re trying to break into an established market, launching a new product that’s outside your usual scope or if you are hoping to drastically revise your public perception.

If you decide you want to go down the path of the PR stunt:

- Make sure the stunt ties in with your messaging. Otherwise, people will remember the stunt but won’t remember you. The goldfish example above actually worked well in terms of supporting the message. You might call it a good idea poorly executed.

- Think about the risks. Don’t get so excited by a big idea that you forget to look at the ways it could go wrong. Plan to eliminate as many risks as possible. Be prepared to deal with the ones you can’t eliminate.

- Go hard. If you’re going to do it, make it worth your while. Although you need to choose a stunt that is unlikely to backfire in a way that will seriously damage your brand, you don’t want to choose something so lukewarm that no one will be interested.

Most importantly – make sure any PR stunt is part of a bigger campaign. If you are going to generate all that buzz, make sure you keep it working for you as long and hard as possible.

What’s the worst PR disaster you’ve heard of? Tell us in the comments!

Ask us about the best way to get your message out.

Awkward just because it is and surprising because you’d think seasoned professional entertainers  like The Wiggles, with thousands of media interviews under their belt, might have been better prepared for the obvious question: “Where is Sam?”.

This train wreck of a media interview just goes from bad to worse. Poor Anthony. Did he not see it coming? Such an obvious angle. Or were they so caught up in the excitement of Greg’s comeback announcement that they were blind to the big question?

It’s important to remember there are always two sides to every story. In reporting, nothing works better than the juxtaposition of winners and losers, good and bad, rich and poor. When preparing for media interviews and announcements make sure you have thought through both sides of your story and prepared appropriately.

This was never going to be an easy announcement. On one side, there is the joy of Greg’s return after having suffered ill health. On the other side, Greg’s return means Sam is being pushed aside, despite many preschoolers only ever having known him as the yellow Wiggle. But you can’t run and hide from the hard stuff.

Work the hard messages well and really think them through. Above all, be genuine, upfront and honest and you won’t have a train wreck on your hands.

If you have an impending announcement with some tough messages to sell, why not take advantage of one our guerrilla brainstorming sessions to work it through.

What is a successful media campaign?

It seems like a pretty straightforward question. A successful media campaign is one that generates heaps of coverage, right?

Well, yes.

And…no.

It really depends on what you’re trying to achieve, and who you’re trying to reach.

On the surface, most of our clients will identify their aims as selling more product. But is that really your goal? Are you really expecting a PR campaign to result directly in increased sales?

Maybe your true goal is to ensure your dealer or distributor network feels supported. Maybe it’s to position your brand with a key government agency ahead of an upcoming funding round. Or is it to raise your profile with a key journalist who is going to be vital to your future plans?

So, to the first tip:

Tip 1: KNOW YOUR GOAL

It seems obvious, but it often isn’t. Think about whether a huge number of media hits is truly what you’re trying to achieve.

Once you know what you want to get out of your campaign, you can work out how to get it.

It might seem like a good idea to send your media release far and wide, but a scattergun approach is rarely the best way to go. It means you waste time sending material to journalists who probably won’t use it, or worse, who will use it before your key targets do, making it less newsworthy for them. Bombarding busy journalists with releases they’re not interested in will not win you any friends, either. So:

Tip 2: CHOOSE WISELY

Send your releases to the media you value most for the campaign. And that’s all.

Think about your timing, look at what special features your key publications are running and do your homework so you can make the most of your opportunity.

And speaking of opportunity – make sure it’s a good opportunity for the journalist, too.  Make sure your message is suitable for your target media’s audience. If what you really want to do is tell your team what a nice job they’re doing in their sales presentations, that’s an internal message, not a media release.

Which brings us to

Tip 3: IT AIN’T ABOUT YOU

Well, it’s sort of about you. But only if what you have to say is interesting to the media and their audiences. A good story is one that has a really strong news angle, and a really strong news angle is one that has industry relevance. It needs to be interesting to people outside your own organisation. Finding a strong angle means allowing time to research industry trends and determining how your message can hook into a newsy topic.

Once you’ve got the right message and the right angle, you can develop a targeted and engaging media release. But don’t relax yet. Journalists are flooded with more media releases than they can deal with. You need to make sure yours is noticed.

Tip 4: PITCH, PITCH, PITCH

The most compelling media release ever written is worth little if no one notices it. Many media outlets have slashed the size of their newsrooms in recent years which mean journalists have less time than ever to look at the dozens – if not hundreds – of releases they receive each week. Building up excellent relationships with the right media and investing in pitching will help turn a beautifully-written release into a successful release.

And on that note:

Tip 5: PROOF, OR IT NEVER HAPPENED

No matter how you define success for your campaign, there’s only one way to tell if you’ve achieved your aim, and that’s through measurement. A successful campaign is one that is demonstrably successful.

So work out what success means, set your benchmarks and measure against them.

Want to know more about media campaigns? Look at our case studies or contact us.

As Hardman Communications approaches its 10th anniversary, we’re excited to be launching our new website and blog.

We’re looking forward to sharing some tips and ideas and also showcasing some of the great projects we’re working on with our clients.

Our blog will be officially launched early next year, so be sure to check back, or subscribe to be automatically notified when we post something new.

We’d love to hear from you if there are topics you’re particularly interested in, from engaging the media to building networks to new innovations in communications.

Meanwhile, take a look around the new site and let us know what you think. We’ll be tweaking it a bit and adding new content over the next few weeks.

We’ll be closing the office over the Christmas break, and will back on deck, refreshed and ready to take on the world from 9 January.

Best wishes to all for a happy, safe and relaxing holiday. We’re looking forward to some great projects next year!