We love a stunt
PT Barnum was The Greatest Showman on earth; he dreamt the impossible and made it come true. From jumbo elephants to Siamese twins, his collection of oddities never failed to shock and turn heads.
Like Barnum, Brazen dares to dream big, take risks and has conjured up some of the most successful and memorable PR stunts for our clients.
But is there still a place for PR stunts in today’s sophisticated, cross-channel marketing melting pot?
Hell yes!
Since Brazen opened its doors for business back in 2001, we had a dream. We wanted to be home to big ideas and big PR stunts that got people talking around the office water cooler (remember that?) and helped impact the bottom line.
And since then, we’ve won PR Stunt of the Year at many industry awards, including:-
- Convincing a woman to marry a rug (Dr Beckmann)
- Bouncing the world’s biggest beachball along Blackpool Beach
- Sending a wilko Blox toy spaceman into space
- Inviting red-heads to “go free” to Showcase Cinemas during the heatwave
- Delivering a crate-load of pizzas to the most remote place in Britain by helicopter (Dr Oetker)
- Gift-wrapping the new Joie Stadium
Stunts – whether a full-blown event or a simple, irresistible news story – can be the cherry on the cake to any innovative, memorable marketing campaign.
Here’s seven of our top tips to get your PR stunt liked, shared and talked about.
1. Disrupt.
Seems obvious, right? But disruption doesn’t just mean go BIG. Disruption of the mind is where brands need to play. Do the unexpected. Change the mundane. Get people to sit up and take notice.
2. Would your nan get it?
If you can’t explain it in one sentence, forget it. Stunts shouldn’t need to be deciphered. Give the poor person on the picture desk a break and make it easy to caption.
3. Relevance
Why are you doing this again? What’s your brand got to do? If your brand’s not integral to the story, good luck explaining that to your client when the media happily edits out the brand name-check. Which leads us nicely onto tip 4…
4. Picture-worthy
A stunt should simply be a visual representation of your story. What’s your picture going to look like? And is it versatile? Remember, scale, quirkiness and mood for the broadsheets; bright, tight and painted with light for the red tops.
5. Timely
A stunt should simply be a visual representation of your story. What’s your picture going to look like? And is it versatile? Remember, scale, quirkiness and mood for the broadsheets; bright, tight and painted with light for the red tops.
6. Go BIG or go home
Yes, you are allowed to think big! Be brave, bold and brazen – why else would a brand hire a PR agency? The magic happens when you step out of your comfort zone. If you’re not all a little bit nervous on stunt day, you’re doing it wrong.
7. Have a plan
Pretty much every PR stunt has the potential to go wrong. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do it. Stress test your idea and plan for every eventuality. We promise, it’ll be worth it.