Attention must be earned, and doing so is harder than ever, when every business is competing for eyes and ears against Princes and Duchesses, Kardashians and Trumps. Not to mention your actual competitors.
In our yearning for attention, we often decide that the best approach will be to “go viral” and doing something so uncharacteristic that it shocks the populace into diverting their gaze to us. Celebrities and their publicists are great at this gambit — Madonna perhaps best of all.
But companies can and do gain attention via virality. Tesla is adept at this approach. As is Red Bull. And our client, Chiquita, who claimed the 2017 eclipse was actually a “banana sun.”
The idea of these viral stunts — sometimes called “newsjacking” when they tie into a current event — is that they will be noticed by consumers, shared in social media, and then will rapidly leap into broader consciousness via amplification by trade/traditional press.
The Reese’s Candy Converter Machine
A terrific, new example popped up recently when Hershey launched a Reese’s Candy Converter Machine during Halloween week, setting up shop at Union Square in New York City and allowing trick or treaters to swap gobs of less… Read More