This past week I received a press release about our friends at Play-N-Trade. They had orchestrated a national Guitar Hero contest in 100 of their stores around the country. About 1,000 players competed and the winner received $2,000 dollars in store credit and the bragging rights that they are the best player in the country. It was the largest event ever staged for that type of contest but the real buzz did not cost them anything!
On the day of the contest, Chris Chike made the 2 hour drive to his nearest store to compete. He probably felt very confident that the $2,000 prize would be his before the sun went down that Saturday. Chris happened to be the Guinness World Records champ for Guitar Hero.
This is where PR genius is reveled or as the Chinese have a saying, “the sun even shines on a dog’s butt!” In simple terms, Play-N-Trade knew exactly what they were doing or they got a lucky break. Chris ended up beating his previous Guinness record at the contest! Free ink!!!!
Did the PR team orchestrate Chris showing up or was it a lucky break? It does not matter for us, we can all learn something from this and look like geniuses on our next PR gambit or promotion.
Get in the game.
You can wait forever trying to come up with some cool ideas. You will never win any hands you don’t play. Take a shot! I think the all time leading NHL scorer said it best. (That is hockey for you soccer fans).
“You miss 100% of the shots you never take.”
-Wayne Gretzky
Get creative.
As you plan your next event, think how you can create the most free buzz, not how much you need to spend. I loved the new logo rollout idea for KFC. Make the world’s largest logo in UFO crazy Area 51 and take photos of it from a plane, then tell everyone about it. The Colonel has a roll of cash that would choke Ronald McDonald, he did a very buzz worthy thing however. He thought small in terms of free buzz and not big ad buys. Free buzz is greatly undervalued today. It is the most credible, effective and powerful way to get your message across. Did I also mention that it is free?
“Advertising is a tax you pay for unremarkable thinking.”
-Robert Stephens
Get smart.
I remember Jim Carey saying celebrity awards shows are genius. Invite celebrities to come to the event and receive their award and make a statement. If they do not show up, make sure they appear ungrateful. Think of the check you would need to write to pay for the film talent that shows up for 4 hours at the next Academy Awards. Big check right? Award shows are genius, and so are you.
At your next event, grab a copy of the Guinness World Records and see if someone completed some task that might fit into your next event then give them a call and tell them what you are doing. What local celebrities might have an interest in participating in your promo in exchange for a healthy amount of exposure or PR for their charity or projects? Remember people love to compete and they love to be recognized. Reciprocal exposure for the participants is mother’s milk for a growing company short on cash and long on ideas. If you want another example of this powerful formula at work, read this:
http://franchisewhale.com/2007/10/art-of-great-licensing.html
Buzz on Whale Watchers!
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2 comments:
Play N Trade is good at this. Our local Play N Trade in Chubbuck Idaho, they are everywhere and get noticed! They are always out playing guitar hero out of the back of their FJ Cruiser, on the street in a Spiderman suit. They post crazy videos out on YouTube and MySpace. One of their Spiderman playing Guitar Hero videos made it to the front page of myspace and got 1000's of hits. All for free.
So the 20/20 story about Spiderman living in Idaho was true? I thought spiders hated potatoes. Thanks for the comments, carry on.
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