If you walked down to Liverpool Street station this week, you were in for a PR surprise. But, you had to look carefully. If you blinked, you’d miss it (probably).
Frank PR teamed up with Austravel, a tour operator, to promote its holiday destinations by creating a hole in the ground to show consumers what they’re missing.
Unfortunately, it just didn’t have the ‘wow’ factor.
Here’s three ways it could’ve made the stunt better:
1. Take us away
Problem: The hole in the ground showed ‘real time’ footage of Bondi Beach.
Solution: The stunt would’ve been stronger if Londoners who looked into the hole were linked up to see Australians ‘show us around’ the area. We can all dream about a beach but it doesn’t necessarily mean we’re going. People engage people, so connect the dots and strengthen the stunt in both countries.
2. Tidy up Twitter
Problem: Austravel’s Twitter account wasn’t ready for the campaign. It had less than 150 followers on launch day, which hasn’t steadily increased during the stunt period.
Solution: Tease the stunt to ‘lock people in’ to the hashtag – #LondonDownUnder – and engage with stakeholders to help them promote the campaign, to encourage it to snowball to success. Social media marketing is vital but it’s brands that have to put the legwork in – not the other way round.
3. Speak up!
Problem: There was a ‘builder’ on site to manage the stunt but when I walked past on a couple of occasions nothing was said (obviously people should have lots to say when I walk past, but you get what I mean).
Solution: You can’t rely on a piece of paper with a brand’s Twitter handle to drive the campaign forward – have a conversation. This could’ve seen more people stop by to see what all the fuss was about.
So, there you have it. Austravel may have wanted a ‘soft launch’ and Frank PR may say that its client didn’t have a decent budget. I say that the brand now has an uphill struggle to contend with.
Where does it go from here? Is this campaign quickly going down under?
Prime Time 