Top 10 PR and marketing stunts and campaigns of August 2013
By Rich Leigh on Friday, September 6, 2013
With another month crossed off the calendar, it’s time to look at the most popular stunts and campaigns from August.
Really quickly, you might like to know that the 100 PR Examples to Inspire and Entertain free e-book is coming along nicely, with lots of help from PR (and designer) Ryan Owen Gibson. It should be ready for late September – for more on it, click this link.
Here, in reverse order, are the top 10 PR and marketing stunts and campaigns of the month, compiled by looking at the best-read posts on the site by unique visitor. (There are loads of other great posts from throughout August, so, as always, thanks to the contributors – you can see the full August archive here).
10. ‘Not so sweet’ Dubai marriage proposal fail – a failed marriage proposal – in which the proposee smacks the proposer around the head with a ukulele has thankfully been revealed as a fake to promote Cadbury’s new ‘not so sweet’ campaign. Post by our sole Dubai-based contributor Helen Moriarty, of Cheil.
9. Disney characters projected onto White Cliffs of Dover in visual stunt – Q. what’s cooler than 80 foot tall Disney characters? A. NOTHING. A well-recycled stunt, but one that did a good job of promoting Disney’s new gaming ‘universe’. Post by WPR’s Jade Mansell
8. Sharapova to change name to ‘Sugarpova’ throughout US Open in PR stunt to promote sweet line – Russian tennis player Maria Sharapova has asked to change her name throughout the US Open to promote her own brand of sweets. The fact she’d be referred to as Miss Sugarpova throughout by the umpires is smart, but also highlights the fact there’s no such thing as an original idea!
7. Rentokil launch pop-up ‘pestaurant’ serving pigeon burgers and edible insects – a grim stunt by pest control company Rentokil. Post by Ticketmaster’s PR manager Katie White (WAA’s Alex Mansell also wrote it up here a week later and deserves a mention for being an all-round good egg).
6. ’3 Minutes in Italy’ with San Pellegrino Robot – a brilliantly brilliant campaign (did I mention it’s brilliant?) enabling members of the public to become an Italian tourist through a two-way Dalek-esque robot. Post by Hope & Glory PR’s Don Ferguson
5. Non-league Football Club Farnborough FC ‘sign’ Messi, Pele, Zidane and Maradona – the first of this week’s two namechange PR campaigns saw bookmaking cunning stuntsters Paddy Power save a football team from administration with a six figure sponsorship – whilst at the same time turning them into the ‘greatest football club in history’ (on paper). Post by Twelve Thirty Eight’s Inderdeep Gill
4. Zoopla offers to help Wayne Rooney move to Chelsea in reactive stunt – property website Zoopla parked a van outside Manchester United’s home ground asking striker Wayne Rooney – linked with a move to West London-based Chelsea – if he’s looking for a house there in a simple stunt that will have you déjà vuing all over the shop. Post by WPR’s Jade Mansell
3. Enchanting panda invasion in Berlin for WWF – to celebrate its 50th anniversary and also raise public awareness of the endangered animal’s fragile situation, the WWF are touring Germany with 1,600 mini pandas – one for every panda now in existence. Post by Workfish’s Jack Field
2. Coca-Cola ‘Mini-me’ campaign offers fans 3D printed versions of themselves – members of the public were invited to the largest coke factory – sorry, Coca-Cola factory – in Israel, where they were scanned and printed to promote Coke’s new mini bottle range. If the post doesn’t convey it well enough, I LOVE 3D PRINTING.
1. The world’s first Twitter hotel – a hotel in Magaluf has opened as the world’s first Twitter-themed hotel, complete with a number of cool digital additions. Post by Hope & Glory PR’s Don Ferguson – who also wins this month’s £50 prize for being the author of the most popular post of the month!
If you, along with thousands of others, would like to receive the best PR stunts/campaigns newsletter each week, directly to your inbox, click here to subscribe. Huge thanks to newsletter sponsor DWPub, who in doing so make it possible to award monthly prizes.
Feel free to get in touch with any campaigns or stunts you think should feature on PRexamples.com by emailing me on [email protected] (you’ll always be credited). If you’d like to blog for the site, click this link here!
