Top 10 PR and marketing stunts and campaigns of April 2013

Thanks to sponsorship from PR and journalist service DWPub (who sponsor the newsletter and advertise on-site now – glance to the right), there’s a little bit of cash in the kitty.

As mentioned in this blog at the beginning of the month, in line with my aim to ensure PRexamples.com is about quality and not quantity, I’ve put up a £50 prize (reward? Bribe? Who knows) for the author of the most popular post each month. This way, even if one of our 150-ish signed up contributors only posted once in any given month, there’s a fair chance their post could win the cash.

Here, with links to the posts and Twitter links to the contributors that make PRexamples what it is (go, follow them and say hi, they’re all brilliant) are the top 10 PR and marketing stunts and campaigns of the month, compiled very simply by looking at the best-read posts on the site by unique visitor. A brilliant list, I’m sure you’ll agree.

Congratulations to Red Consultancy’s Alex Judd, who compiled a list of his favourite April Fool’s Day PR stunts and wins the £50 this month.

1. Top 5 April Fool’s Stunts – Red Consultancy’s Alex Judd gives us a rundown of his favourite April Fool’s Day stunts this year, including Virgin’s glass-bottomed plane and a Royal addition to Hotels.com.

2. April Fool’s by BMW – German car manufacturer BMW jumped on the Royal baby bandwagon, ‘launching’ a limited edition P.R.A.M – (Postnatal Royal Auto Mobile). Post by Twelve Thirty Eight’s Inderdeep Gill

3. Durex launches ‘Fundawear’. Letting couples touch each other via the internet! – boxer shorts, bras and knickers have been fitted with mini-vibrators to allow users to ‘touch’ each other from miles away. Fun idea from the condom brand. Post by Twelve Thirty Inderdeep Gill.

4. ‘Chocolate’ press release sent to journalists to promote Charlie and the Chocolate Factory musical – not so much a stunt or campaign as a unique way to deliver news to journalists and, by given how much this has been shared, the wider public, too.

5. Warburtons create ‘crust only’ loaf in April Fools response – after a positive response to its April Fool’s Day stunt, Warburtons built a competition around an ‘All-Ends’ loaf. Post by WAA’s Jade Mansell

6. Canadian zoo publishes world’s first Annual Report entirely on Instagram – annual reports are dull. This one by Calgary Zoo isn’t, showing how social networks can make the mundane much more exciting. Post by Maryn Edwards

7. Dove’s ‘Real Beauty Sketches’ reveal female insecurities – in this video campaign women describe themselves to a sketch artist facing away from them, demonstrating how little confidence many people have. Post by Carrot Communications’ Gemma Storey

8. HP Photoball: Crowd surfing beach ball captures live photos – a smart campaign turning a giant beach ball into a live festival camera. Post by Twelve Thirty Eight’s Inderdeep Gill

9. How to deliver a key message: write it on the spokesperson’s pants – PR wet dream Sir Richard’s been at it again, showing us what’s under his kilt to promote new Virgin flights going to Scotland. Post by Racepoint Group’s Simon Hill

10. Coral in eye-catching Grand National stunt on River Mersey – to promote themselves ahead of the weekend’s Grand National, bookmaker Coral raced jet skis on the Mersey, dressed up as horses, ensuring some brilliant photos and videos. Post by WAA’s Alex Mansell

Thanks as always to every single one of the site’s contributors and thanks to you for reading and sharing. If you’re interested in signing up as a contributor, please do so here.

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