8. Company: Del Monte Foods
Year of the Stunt: 2006
The Stunt: This ongoing stunt is part of a larger trend called advertainment--pure entertainment wrapped around a product with hopes of convincing consumers to purchase said product. Del Monte aired a reality show for cats on Animal Planet. They've put up a Meow Mix House with webcams for people to look in and watch these cats in one room--from 10 shelters around the country -- where they hang out and have various visitors (think Big Brother, but for felines). Every Friday, on Animal Planet, Meow Mix announces which cat has been "voted out," but in this case, that means being put up for adoption and receiving a year's supply of Meow Mix.
What Happened Next: So far, so good. Meow Mix's marketing director has been doing tons of interviews, and the brand is being associated with a worthy cause: cat adoption.
The Lesson: If you're going to look for inspiration for a marketing idea, why not borrow from popular culture?
9. Company: Half.com
Year of the Stunt: 1999
The Stunt: Half.com, a retail website known for having sharply discounted items, paid Halfway, Oregon, to adopt the name Half.com for their town for a year. In exchange, Halfway received $100,000, 20 new computers for the local school and other financial subsidies.
What Happened Next: The media picked up on it, Half.com became very well known, and in 2000, five months after the IPO, eBay bought the company for $300 million. Halfway, Oregon, was a little less fortunate. According to Halfway, Oregon's official website, "Half.com made many promises. Some of which were honored and others not."
The Lesson: Creativity works, and you can apparently talk anyone into anything, if you show them the money. It also helped that Halfway, Oregon, felt it was a winning situation for them, too, beyond the monetary reward: They were the first dotcom town in the nation -- though not the first community to change their name to a brand name. That distinction goes to Truth or Consequences, New Mexico, which changed its name from Hot Springs in 1950, when radio personality Ralph Edwards was hosting a popular radio show called "Truth or Consequences." He'd said he wished a town loved the show enough to rename itself after the program -- and if one would, he'd air a live program from the community. Hot Springs, anxious to shed its name, anyway, since people confused it with the town in Arkansas, jumped at the chance.
10. Companies: PokerShare.comand CasinoShare.com
Year of the Stunt: 2006
The Stunt: Another casino, unable to advertise in traditional media; another amazing marketing stunt. Over Memorial Day weekend, with gas prices hovering around $3 a gallon, PokerShare.com and its newly launched CasinoShare.com gave away more than 8,000 gallons of gasoline to hundreds of New Yorkers. In a long, snaking line of traffic, New Yorkers lined up to receive $40 of free gas while free food was distributed and music blared.
What Happened Next: Before the morning rush hour had ended, the New York City Police Department shut down the stunt because the lines were wrecking havoc with traffic flow. Many people--including off-duty police officers and government officials -- left empty-handed. But PokerShare.com and CasinoShare.com could hardly call their efforts a failure. The free gas stunt, conceived by Popular Culture PR, was popular enough to be held again in Los Angeles several weeks later.
Lesson Learned: Generosity is a selling point in a marketing stunt, but you have to tap into human nature and, if possible, current events. If the same company had given away $40 in PokerShare.com gift certificates, it's likely the media wouldn't even have noticed since coupon giveaways aren't exactly a breaking news item.
And if PokerShare had handed out $40 in cash to just anybody on the street, they might have warranted a story from some local media outlet but, save a mugging or mobs, probably not generated a mention on the national evening news. But free gas when the headlines these days are all about the rising price of gas? This marketing gimmick wasn't just covered by the evening news, but also by Fox News, The New York Times, the Washington Post and other media outlets, reaching more than 9 million people.
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