Promo - March 2008 - (Page 39)

PR One benefit of PR is that “it’s basically free” (meaning you don’t have to buy media), says Tom Meyer, president of Davie Brown Entertainment, the event-oriented agency part of The Marketing Arm. But Meyer adds: “If you’re not doing something PR-able, it might not be something worth doing.” There are several ways to achieve that. One is to hook into a larger event or story. For example, Timberland was a sponsor of last January’s Sundance Film Festival. Sundance only offers sponsorships to environmentally conscious companies, and it just so happened that Timberland had recently introduced a shoe made from recycled material. That made it “a PR-able story,” Meyer says. The result? Coverage by Reuters, NPR, Us Weekly, The Boston Globe, Hollywood Reporter, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times and on numerous blogs and Web sites. It didn’t hurt that celebs like But you have to start with “an understanding what the objectives are,” she adds. Talk about publicity: Oakley and Smith were eager to share opinions on what ails their former team, and they were quoted in the New York newspapers’ sports sections. For its part, Michael Alan only creates the events. Margolis says he’s never seriously thought about adding PR to his list of services. For one thing, it would be uncomfortable working with companies he may have to compete with in the future. And it isn’t financially feasible. “It would have to be billable,” he says. “Also, we wouldn’t have the same power as a [Howard] Rubenstein.” STUNTS Another way to ensure press is to create media-friendly stunts. For example, over the last three years the reality TV show “Bridezillas” has run an annual event in New York’s Times Square. It always gets TV, print and radio coverage. In 2005, 30 seemingly deranged brides-to-be decked out in wedding dresses jumped into a real cake in search of a ticket worth $50,000. A year later the theme was the “Running of the Bridezillas,” modeled after the annual bull event in Pamplona, Spain. Last June it was a two-minute cakeeating contest. The winner stuffed herself with nine of the 4-inch cakes. “We received a total of 127 million impressions,” says Jonathan Margolis, president of the Michael Alan Group, which created the event for WE: Women’s Entertainment, the PLACEMENT GUARANTEED But back to Call in Europe. This writer was invited to the December event apparently because the PR firm used a press list from the January 2007 Consumer Electronics Show, for which I registered as a freelance writer. That list was clearly outdated. And someone should have screened the How savvy marketers get publicity for their brands By Larry Jaffee “Entourage” cast member Rex Lee and Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden were seen fondling the shoes. This qualifies as what Davie Brown calls “celebrity seeding”—not an outright endorsement, but the star shows interest in the product and usually receives it as a gift. A photograph of a celebrity holding a swag bag has tremendous worth when picked up by the wire services. The real trick, though, is to get ink regularly. Public relations “carries the message to the community in different ways than paid or placed media,” says Liz Arreaga, a partner in the Hispanic market-focused promotions agency Mercury Mambo. network that carries “Bridezillas.” “The key is to come up with something that hasn’t been done before.” How do you develop a spectacle like this? “Everybody works together,” Margolis says. Then there was the event tied to Spike TV’s season-three premiere of “Pros vs. Joes,” in which regular guys play against professional athletes. Michael Alan street marketing recruited hoop enthusiasts to face off against two retired players from the New York Knicks, Charles Oakley and Charles Smith. The contestants’ friends and families were invited to serve as a live audience. reporters with a phone call. It’s more valuable to attract qualified journalists than to fill up the room with bodies. They also should have noted the differences between the trade press and general business media. But in fairness, press conferences usually are set up at the last minute and there’s no time to do that kind of vetting. Despite his party debacle, Gentemann remains convinced that PR is valuable. When Call in Europe was launched in the United States, for instance, the company got “plenty of phone calls,” he says. But free ink isn’t really free— Gentemann had to pay SS a retainer. Continued on page 41 Promo / WWW.PROMOMAGAZINE.COM / March 2008 39 http://www.promomagazine.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Promo - March 2008

Promo - March 2008 Editor's Note Girls' Club New Eco Regs? They're Not Going Anywhere Spreads Easily RFID Ramp-Up From Backyard to Broadcast Commentary VROOOM! Stuff We Can't Do Here Yet Q&A: Measuring Up Free Ink The Agency Center Resource Center Promotions 2.0 Index of Advertisers

Promo - March 2008

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