PR agency Access Communications recently spent $1,600 (shipping costs included) to send out 200 hams to editors nationwide who cover the gaming industry. The press package --complete with a jingle about "editors eating pork" --certainly wasn't swank but it definitely roused a response.
The PR ham ploy is one example of non-traditional campaigns designed to get media professionals to read --rather than immediately toss --press releases and press kit materials.
Access, based in San Francisco, is one of the firms exploring atypical routes to get news out to its clients' most important audience: media professionals. The mailed hams, decked out in nothing but tin and swaddled in tissue paper, were delivered with Virgin Interactive's holiday release for its game line-up.
Although the connection wasn't immediately obvious, PR representatives said it elicited the desired effect: attention. Amused editors, such as those at MSNBC, emailed thank-yous nd one Washington Post writer even called to find out where his ham was.
But the Access move raises the PR question: How outlandish can a PR campaign be?
"The key thing is listening to everybody. You must hold a brainstorming session and get a consensus on ideas," said David Karraker, an account supervisor with Access Communications. "Two people can't just come up with an idea and then you go with it."
Karraker said brainstorming meetings typically work better when the size of the group is limited to about seven to 12 people. But Karraker also noted that eccentric PR campaigns need to be bounced off of people who aren't PR staffers to get a sense of how an outsider will react. In fact, Karraker's been known to turn to secretaries and receptionists to gauge the potential of an odd-ball campaign.
There are several steps associated with launching and assessing a cutting-edge PR campaign. According to Karraker, they include:
- Deviating from the traditional rules. Don't go with the standard perception "that if it has worked once, it will work again." With off-the-wall PR campaigns, the opposite is actually true because you want to "leap frog" last year's strategy;
- Assume you're the recipient of the gift, gadget, game or otherwise peculiar item and imagine how you would react;
- Research what's been done in the past, by not only your PR firm but by others;
- Establish a budget and determine whether your creative twist will be financially feasible; and
- Follow up to find out the reactions of those who received the materials.
Other Strange Strategies
Access, however, isn't the only firm redefining some of its PR strategies of late. Shandwick USA, Bloomington, Minn., has embarked on some non-traditional PR routes for its clients.
In a PR campaign for Jim Beam Brands Co., Shandwick conceived a "Lord Calvert Do-It-Yourself" contest last summer in Florida, Georgia, Wyoming and Kansas. Six contestants (chosen randomly) went up against each other to prove their expertise in a variety of do-it-yourself tasks. Both men and women battled how well they rode a lawnmower, painted a wall and assembled a picket fence. In the end, two winners who were given a 90-minute shopping spree.
Another PR player, Ketchum Public Relations in Los Angeles, came up with a unique promotion to coincide with Packard Bell's first advertising campaign.
The reported $20 million ad campaign, which was created by M&C Saatchi in New York, was backed by some unusual PR moves.
To trigger interest --and to tie in Packard Bell as a leading manufacturer of PCs for the home --promotions reading "Go Home" were displayed, without the company logo, at outside locations like bus depots. The displays were meant to make the public curious about who was behind the soon-to-be-released ads.
As part of the PR publicity, Ketchum also promoted welcome-home events for returning astronaut Shannon Lucid. Packard Bell donated computers to schools throughout the nation to give children free rein to create banners and send emails and songs to Lucid.
Dave DePinto, president and director of PR for Ketchum, said the reason the PR campaign ended up being "avant-garde" was because the advertising campaign was equally compelling and the two fit together
In the ad campaign, gothic images of people standing in bank lines and commuting to work were intended to make people want to buy PCs so they can work at home and avoid mass drudgery.
Access, Shandwick and Ketchum are all heralding their bizarre campaigns as successful. But that doesn't mean all companies will be lining up to spend thousands of dollars to send strange gadgets to editors via UPS.
Why? Because selling companies on extreme campaigns is hard.
"Most businesses, around 80 percent, will say, 'No way,' " Karraker added.
Still, Karraker and DePinto said there are ways of guaranteeing success and getting support from highers-up.
They include setting up a campaign objective --including who will be contacted and how many hits are expected; establishing a way to track responses; making sure a wrap-up is done; finding out what specific press coverage was triggered; and seeing if sales spikes can be attributed to the campaign. (Access, Dave Karraker, 415/904-7070; Shandwick, 612/832-5000; Ketchum, Dave DePinto, 310/444-5000)