26 Oct Stunt Marketing

Stunts aren’t just for adrenaline junkies. Marketing professionals know the benefits of a great publicity stunt and its ability to generate massive amounts of buzz. Just like the fantastical stunts of the Evil Knievel era, publicity stunts are risky feats that can result in big rewards or irreparable consequences.

If you were to go skydiving, you wouldn’t jump out of the plane without going through a training course and latching yourself onto a professional, right? Knowing the risks of failure, you would want to ensure you had as much information as possible about the plane, the crew, the equipment, and every available safety protocol. You probably wouldn’t even step foot inside the plane without these details, let alone get 18,000 feet in the sky and jump. You don’t want to be hurtling towards the ground at 125 miles per hour only to realize that you never learned how to open your parachute. At that point, it’s too late to do the research. The consequences for your lack of knowledge are as clear as the earth is becoming as you barrel towards it. The way we meticulously approach physical stunts as fragile human beings is exactly how we should approach publicity stunts as marketing professionals. The importance of research cannot be overstated.

Thorough research starts with finding out what your customers need. The answer to this question will help you formulate an objective for your stunt. Once you have an objective, you can then determine the kind of stunt you want to pull, where and when it will take place, and how to relate it to your products or services. The research stage is where you hammer out the minor details of your plan, educate yourself on your clients’ current needs, and determine how to manage the outcome of your stunt, whether it be viral success or deafening indifference. With the research you’ve gathered and a clear objective in mind, you have the tools to develop a publicity stunt that is attention-grabbing, informative, and most importantly, relevant. A publicity stunt that grabs people’s attention but doesn’t tell them anything about your product is a wasted opportunity. The stunt you create should relate back to your business so your customers know what you’re offering and how to take advantage of your services.

Whether it’s an action-packed stage performance or a viral campaign, a stunt should wow the audience and put your name in the spotlight. Doing your research and crafting a relevant campaign that directs people to your products and services is a great, flashy way to reenergize current customers and attract new ones. In other words, if you plan to take the leap into stunt marketing, make sure you know how your parachute works first.