We spend a lot of our time as a business working out ways to communicate our clients’ core values and messages in different representations to different audiences. In light of that, I enjoyed this article about a circus troupe of Colombian street kids who now tour the world and thrill people with their skills, and in particular a quote from their trainer, who said: “What we do is change the representation of these kids … because when somebody who before maybe sniffed glue or begged on a corner is suddenly doing a double somersault, you’re not looking any more at a poor, illiterate delinquent, but you’re saying, ‘Wow, that’s a double somersault.’?”
A huge sign on a hill shouting out Wellington’s high-standing in the movie industry seems a good idea but the slang word chosen — ‘Wellywood’ — has long been a slightly juvenile, throw-away and ironic term that has somehow crept into the mainstream.
And as a PR opportunity for the capital’s undoubted world-class skills and success in international move-making, the Miramar hill is a great site for incoming tourist flights, but Wellywood is an opportunity wasted. It may be familiar and humorous to some ‘in the know’ but I’m siding with the growing number of voices calling it tacky.
But at Facttactic we’re not in the business of criticising things without offering positive solutions so it was great to see the guys at online-design outfit Skull and Bones with their interactive Wellywood Sign Generator. Type in your own word or phrase and see what it looks like on the side of the hill!
A good read here about the marketing efforts of the Big Day Out organisers and whether their ‘controlled kaos’ is really giving the finger to mainstream society as inferred, or is just another slick commercial money-making machine in poor disguise; and in today’s marketplace, where ‘authenticity’ is the name of the game, the article is a good dissection of where the BDO’s marketing authenticity really lies.
Back in the day, it used to pretty much be the only music festival in the country. These days, outdoor summer music festivals are cropping up everywhere: from the highly lauded low-key, lo-fi Camp A Low Hum in the hills behind Wainuiomata to the increasingly mainstream sounds coming from Gisborne’s popular Rhythm and Vines and a myriad of other events of all musical flavours. Choosing your dates and saving your dollars for your favourite events must be no small decision for festival fans.
And it’s the same in the UK where the behemoth that is Glastonbury is now rivaled by a summer calendar packed full of outdoor events. Attracting the punters in such a crowded market place means concert promoters must be as adept at marketing as they are at finding the right sounds.
Which is way I like the concept of this festival - Indietracks: a mix of indie bands and steam trains, and quite possibly the mostly the most eccentric festival theme ever. I wouldn’t want to go to it but as an example of a niche product and a fund raising event (for steam train restoration) finding and connecting with an audience, I like it.
iPhone and computer company Apple has made an art out of getting huge publicity by saying nothing at all. Where others work their butt off to get their business noticed in the media, Apple has the silent, cool guy role down perfectly, getting non-stop media that other companies can only dream about.
One of the standard rules of PR is to fill an information void with your own messages before others fill it with their version of what your message might be. Apple’s skill is in embracing the void and letting PR messages find their own path.
It helps, of course, that they have absolutely world-beating products such as the iPod and iPhone; and when they do decide to advertise something their messages are as well-crafted as any-one’s; but we like them for their confidence to take on the market by saying nothing at all.
Unconventional approaches to PR can only be good in a hugely crowded market place.
The other unconventional approach to PR that we have enjoyed this year is the Unites States food-PR guy who lets the media actually choose if they want to receive information from him, rather than hammering with them with press releases and phone calls. Like Apple, he has enough confidence in his offering that he reasons people will come to him to find out more.
Could you publicise your product or service by saying … nothing at all about it?!
Seems like us Kiwis trust people with a medal. Similarly, if you can get external recognition for your products or services it can be a helpful differentiator in the market.
Though not, it seems, for much longer in the United States if you are claiming green credentials: 98% of supposedly environmentally friendly products in US supermarkets reportedly make false or confusing claims.
I often get asked, “how would you spin that?” Both by clients wanting advice and people simply having a conversation when they find out what I do for a living.
But, rather than being a spin doctor, any good PR person knows that the best results for clients lie in helping people to more clearly and transparently understand a client’s business. Knowledge = power, for everyone. Spin simply confuses and obscures.
Below is a doctor of another kind, who definitely understands that honesty is the best marketing/PR policy. His marketing of his ‘Heart Attack Grill’ leaves no sacred cow - food-wise - untouched and he is pulling in the customers because of it.
You may find cynical the grill’s apparent mocking of obesity health issues, but it is simply a burger joint that makes no attempt to pass off its regular burger joint food as other than what it is … and, yes, warning: high-fat content!
Should your business embrace Twitter and start tweeting? Not always!
It can offer good promotional and marketing opportuntities, but to be effective, you’ll need to set clear guidelines for how to use it. If your business has a PR team, you should be looking into using it. If you’re a small business without resources to do it well, give it a miss, no big deal. This story explains why and what not to do.
But, even if you do not intend using Twitter, you should definitely register Twitter accounts for your brands to stop other people using them for their own purposes. This is becoming a major problem on the Twitter service where anyone can register any name or brand word. Tons of firms are finding their names used in bogus Twitter accounts.
Registering on Twitter is free, quick and easy to do — and I would suggest you get in quick and register your important brand names before some one else does.
It’s been interesting to read the media furore today over New Zealanders getting antsy with Canadians getting antsy with New Zealanders eating sweets called Eskimos, which are shaped as, well, Eskimos - er, make that Inuits.
Last year Kiwis ate nearly 19 million of them, making the Eskimo one of our most-loved lollies. Some Canadians have called the sweets offensive, saying Eskimo is no longer used as a term and, regardless, eating sweets shaped as Inuits is just not on and carries hints of cannabilism.
NZers have voiced their opinions in the hundreds on web and news sites, largely telling the Canadians to bog off. Email discussions at the client where I have been working this week were busy with with similar sentiment.
Pascalls, the makers of the Eskimo, has been reported saying they don’t plan to change anything.
Makes you wonder, though, what would happen if Canadians started eating lollies shaped as a person in a grass skirt called a Hori.
