It seems everyone's fiscally conservative these days. This week, we thought we'd shake things up a bit. The strategy: risk-taking. Skinner, Dunlap & Stevens, a small
Kirkland, Wash.-based agency, took a big risk with a start-up company with next-to-no PR budget.
The companies (whose principals knew each other from previous projects) agreed to go ahead with a massive brand campaign for a hotel barge in New Orleans, fashioned after the
de rigeur European barges.
The agency agreed to allow the start-up company, RiverBarge, to pay a delayed 18-month project fee of over $100,000. RiverBarge gambled on the small PR firm, incenting big
results by agreeing to pay an additional $35,000 bonus if the firm met certain lofty PR goals.
The formula: If the agency accumulated 100 points, it would get its $35,000 bonus (which eventually, it did).
The criteria included six features in travel trades (worth two points each); 18 additional stories in travel trade pubs (worth one point each); four features in consumer print
pubs (worth two points each); 28 additional stories in consumer mags (worth one point each). Consumer coverage had to be at least 50 percent from top 20 market publications. The
agency also had to procure two stories in either USA Today or another nationally syndicated publication (three points each); six stories in AAA pubs, worth a point each; four
radio interviews in any of the top 20 markets (one point each); one national TV story, either on cable or a network (three points); five stories on Web sites, worth a point each;
any combination of features (two points) or stories (one point) for a total of four points in meeting and conference pubs; and a commitment by two travel trade cruise or feature
editors and 10 consumer writers or editors to attend the inaugural event (worth a half point each).