Dare To Be Different and Get the Attention You Want

Sometimes being whimsical in your messaging or presentation may provide a boost to your client or company's profile when it comes to attracting media attention. However, it must make sense in the framework of your team's PR strategy, says Barb Plunkett, marketing director for MacPhail Center of Music. Following are her best practices to companies and/or agencies wishing to broaden and generate media awareness of their client or organization, while incorporating an out-of-the-norm component:

• Don't be wacky just for the sake of it. Avoid stunts that make no sense to the mission of your campaign and its overall strategy. You will defeat your purpose and look silly.

• Strive to find meaning in your campaign's so-called odd component. For Plunkett, this was exemplified by the creation of the "Construction Concerto," an original composition that highlighted the construction of MacPhail's new facility, featuring unusual percussive elements (i.e. jackhammer sounds). "This was great for our audience to witness and hear [at the groundbreaking]," she says.
  
  
  For more on this topic, see the February 9, 2009 issue of PR News.