Creative PR: the value of the ‘Big Idea’
Posted by Aideen McGrath on September 10, 2009 in Creative, Public Relations, Social Media with 1 CommentCreative ideas are the lifeblood of good PR. Fact. Without a stand-out creative idea a brand’s PR campaign is merely a suite of tried and tested PR tools – a survey here, a photo-call there and why not throw in a nice celebrity endorsement plug while you’re at it?
Boring. Tried. Tested. Dare I say it, lazy. The most successful brands with savvy clients at their helm realise that to be truly successful, campaigns need to be fully integrated with a strong creative thread linking the brand to its communications objectives in a way that has the most engaging and memorable impact on the target audience.
It takes guts to land the creative 'Big Idea'. More often than not, it will take time, effort and a strategically smart understanding of the brand and its audience to surface that 'eureka' idea that gets people excited, that quickens the pulse and helps spin off a wealth of ideas to fuel different communication channels.
Creative ideas get noticed. Often, they'll hit the news headlines for their very creativity - how they got people talking and engaged with the brand in a new way that injects excitement and a real sense of purpose. Take Tourism Queensland's 'Best Job in the World' campaign that cleaned up at this year's Cannes Lions. They ditched traditional advertising in favour of a global PR campaign mostly run online. Simple enough idea - in the midst of a recession offer up a $150k to do the 'best job in the world' and away you go. The whole campaign cost them €1million to do but in the space of 2 months helped double bookings and secure €150m worth of media coverage. Lovely.
As I say, some brands need to embrace risk to deliver a winning creative campaign. Take Coca-Cola - home to relatively conservative US-biased thinking but manned by some of the smartest marketers the world has seen - who recently put product innovation of Vitaminwater into the hands of fans by launching FlavorCreator, Facebook app to crowd-source ideas for the next flavour of its drinks range. Bloody brilliant and the beauty of it is that it's a truly integrated PR campaign that is fuelled and sustained through social media with measurable links back to brand information to drive awareness and stimulate trial. Now that's a sweet creative!
My top 5 creative PR ideas:
- Cheddar Vision - making West Country cheese cool and world-famous
- 'Best Job in the World' - Queensland Tourism. Enough said.
- BBC iPlayer Penguins Can Fly - brilliant April Fool's launch
- KFC - face from space - 1st logo visible in Space. Magic.
- Wii Grey Gamers - making the gaming giant relevant to a much bigger audience and dominating coverage while you're at it. Game over.
For more ideas on how to inject creative thinking into your brand, contact Aideen @ H+A Marketing + PR. Telephone + 353 87 9273698.
Aideen McGrath 's work with some of the biggest names in Web 2.0 (eBay, MySpace, Expedia) has fuelled her passion for social media. She gets her kicks from running high-energy, wacky brainstorm sessions and landing a ‘eureka’ creative that delivers.Find out more at Aideen McGrath's Profile. Don't forget to subscribe if you'd like to hear more!
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I totally agree - at the end of the day it’s all about the ‘big idea’. My favourite on your list is the Tourism Queensland’s “Best Job in the World” campaign, for two reasons. Firstly, it was incredibly successful in attracting global attention. Secondly, it generated unprecedented publicity for the region, which translated directly into sales. A real stunner!
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