The 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil kicks off this week and Digiday assumes we'll witness some ambush marketing. Some might argue it comes with the territory for any large event on the world's stage.
Ambush marketing is a bit like hijacking the news, something we've discussed in the past, wherein a brand capitalizes on a seemingly unrelated topic to promote itself.
Below is another example of news jacking, also from Brazil.
Count Chiquinho Scarpa, an eccentric, Brazilian billionaire, burying a Bentley created a lot of outrage before the bait and switch was revealed. And luckily for all involved the bait and switch was for a good cause -- organ donation.
Stunts Are For Evel Knievel
As stunts go, well, we don't like any stunt unless it involves Evel Knievel. Public relations stunts are a tactic executed without a strategy behind it. And much like these other examples, The Brazilian Association of Organ Transplant (BAOT) had a strategy.
And by having a strategy, it was able to clearly make their point that not being an organ donor results in burying priceless, live-giving objects everyday. Comparing this to the senselessness of burying a more than $200,000 automobile helped gain exposure to the idea. And brought organ donation into the larger conversation.
The Only Metric that Matters
The BAOT also got clear results. The numbers around shares, exposures and the like don't really matter, the only number that matters is the 35% increase in organ donation sign ups. It's also worth noting that the BAOT didn't hijack anything. It made its own news.
The slippery slope of ambush marketing and news jacking really just make it even harder for us to get earned media through conventional means. But this is a reminder that even in our bigger, better, faster MORE world, the most important thing our pitches need to succeed is creativity.
:: Kevin Dugan, @prbloghttps://twitter.com/prblog
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