PR Smackdown (II)
| posted by Fast Company staffHere's round two of PR Smackdown, wherein we present three intriguing pitches that have landed recently here at FC World Headquarters--and you, loyal FC Now readers, pick the best one (and explain why). PR Smackdown debuted two weeks ago in this space.
Here are this week's beauties:
Contestant #1: Bartles & Jaymes. Remember this? Two old guys sitting on a porch: "Thank you for your support." So B&J is celebrating its 20th anniversary. The company sends a folder with several pretty standard releases inside. One details the results of a B&J-commissioned survey "to salute the brands that were loved in the 80s and are still influencing trends and pop culture today." That would include Reebok, Jordache, Demi Moore--and, of course, Bartles & Jaymes, "the cooler recognized for pioneering the wine cooler category in the mid 1980s according to 58% of participants."
Contestant #2: A simple postcard from Product Devlopment Technologies, a design firm. On the front is a pic of sprinters racing--and another of the optima grip staplers from Swingline. The tagline: "pure performance." The flipside explains (in extremely small print) that PDT worked with Swingline to develop the stapler.
Contestant #3: It's Virgin Airlines, which delivers a silver mylar envelope containing a slick "flight guide" jauntily describing each of its 16 U.S.-to-London flights. There are also nine mock boarding passes, actually tickets for a sweepstakes to win real boarding passes (Virgin placed the same passes inside several magazines recently.)
And the winner is?
Comment
Recent Comments | 9 Total
May 18, 2005 at 6:56pm
Doug ZangerVirgin...hands down. I LOVED their print work. It was unique, irreverant, fun and really stood above anyone else in the category.
May 18, 2005 at 9:10pm
Renee BallardVirgin Airlines-no contest! They are a forward thinking company that pushes the envelope in marketing and advertising. The other entries were HO HUM!
May 18, 2005 at 10:55pm
Jennifer WarwickVirgin, without a doubt. Bartles & Jaymes has something going with the retro idea, but I think including Demi Moore is a bit off message -- with plastic surgeries, marriage, divorce etc. she's no longer the same "product," while the others presumably are. And I don't quite get the connection between running and stapling as comparable examples of "peak performance."
Virgin's use of unconventional materials in non-traditional shapes and sizes, combined with saturated color and fearlessly mischievous copy, puts it way out in front for me.
May 19, 2005 at 2:16am
mariviIf this is a contest to pick the coolest direct mail piece, then Virgin wins, hands down.
But if it is PR we're talking about, then entries should be judged on their story potential.
Does Virgin's new flight schedule really warrant a Fast Company article? YAWN!
An article on '80s brands, and why some survived and others didn't (or even why '80s stuff is cool again) sounds much more interesting and instructive.
May 19, 2005 at 10:26am
Shena NiVirgin, oh yeah! Lots of things to play with, and pretty enough to put on a pinboard.
Like Marivi said, maybe it's not PR so much, but that sounds like one of those pieces that you go through pains to pluck out of the middle of the stack (create desire)
...and if you're a direct mail geek (moi), you go around for the next three days telling people, "You would not believe what I got in the mail the other day!" (viral marketing)
...and look forward to getting more mail from them (create expectation)
...and you'll have the feel of a 'prize' boarding pass in your hands. Sheesh, what's not to like?
The other's sound nice, but B & J sounds too heavy, the postcard too light. Neither seem compelling and/or memorable, which is the goal, yes?
May 19, 2005 at 11:29am
Shawn LeaI agree with Marivi - it's the same point I made in the first PR Smackdown. You are not asking us to judge PR but marketing...this should be the Marketing Smackdown or the Direct Mail Smackdown.
Virgin win hands-down on the direct mail pieces. I do think it would be the most boring PR story though.
(But I don't know, if I were Bartles & Jaymes, if I would be bragging about 58% recognizing the brand as the pioneer wine cooler. That seems like a pretty low number to be claiming pioneer bragging rights!)
May 19, 2005 at 1:37pm
MasonSame point I too made in the first smackdown. This isn't a PR (by that do you mean media relations?) smackdown as much as it's a slick marketing smackdown. The winner is the one that uses the tactic to move the most product the most profitably. The rest is aesthetic.
May 20, 2005 at 2:30pm
Katherine BourgeoisVirgin would catch my eye on the mailer, love the "passes", but I do love the B & J website. Made me thirsty.
The key for any pitch: make it about the recipient, not about you. That's why the B & J info falls flat. Who cares what their stats are? But the site is all about cool colors and enticing tastes.
The wording on the Product Development Technologies home page was cool, but not much followup.
June 22, 2005 at 11:58am
KeithI would just like to know where Virgin purchased the Mylar envelopes. Is that info available?
Comment