Explosive PR. Secrets of Outrageous PR-Stunts from Russia with Love for Positive News. Igor Szucs
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PR”. I had an amazing revelation: – you didn’t only spend money on PR (advertising or marketing) but also earned it via PR.
“We Do Not Lie: We Are Daydreaming”
Our sizzle reel was uploaded on YouTube, which was freely made by a TV channel. The reel is an exposure of our promo event in a fur shop. We deliberately arranged a striptease of a hapless salesgirl who allegedly misunderstood the terms of the promo event and stripped naked to the waist for the customer. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sJ1ybIkPQrs
I played the role of that customer. In those days, I could be in the public eye without arousing suspicions. Now I am not involved in promo events unless I promote myself, because now people may say we know this is a PR man, so something must be wrong here.
The story ended with a showy phrase: “Our fantasy becomes your reality.”
True: we do not lie, we are daydreaming.
How A News Hook Became a New Business and Caused a Stir in Moscow
And here’s how our newsworthy information not only become real news but also launched new lines of business.
From our perspective, everything began with the successful promo event “Raccoons Ransack an Internet Booster Shop” – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aV5JjzyvROE
There were plenty of releases on Ren-TV, Russia Today, Podmoskovye 360, and even in The Independent. Here is the reference: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/watch-three-badly-behaved-raccoons-ransack-an-office-in-russia-10218013.html
As per the contract terms, however, the client expected three TV releases while there was only one. Because of that, I nearly split with my business partner who was adamant that the action had been completed. But a bargain is a bargain, so I decided to press it home.
The client continually turned down our cool moves. Just follow the link to gage some of them: https://goo.gl/LWz9WS
For instance: “Launching a rumor that an Internet booster manufacturer has won a grant from PornHub to develop the Internet in the Moscow region for greater exposure of local residents to porn. This was on the premise that XXX-sites have a large audience only in the inner city, whereas in the suburbs people do not visit such sites because of the slow Internet. Or “Russian porn celeb Elena Berkova will star in a commercial of the Internet booster manufacturer.”
Here is the plot: “Taking too long to download? Getting nervous and breaking your computer? Hook up and don’t fret.” Or “A nude man is running across the Red Square and trying to climb the Mausoleum to set up a booster. The whack is taken to a loony bin, and the client says, “We bear no relation to this incident: it’s the scheming of our rivals.” Or “An Internet rickshaw: a man with an aerial wire is pursuing a businessman over the Moscow region so as not to lose location.”
Occasionally, it came to funny PR inventions infringing upon the TV broadcasting act. We cut in a TV spot already on the air, but the client got the hang, and we saw a new generation fake was invented – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvkpCTCd2-E
That’s Why Explosive PR Is More Than Just Traditional Public Relations
Eventually, we groped for the right trick and came up with a press release identifying some places in the Moscow Region that needed fast Internet more than others: clinics, daycares, playgrounds, boarding schools, bathrooms, and cemeteries. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ck12M1O63NA
Now about the Internet at the cemetery. That hook blew the minds of journalists. Everyone wanted to shoot that process in the midst of graves and crosses.
Yet the state enterprise Ritual was hard on us, demanding a multitude of accreditation documents, testing, etc.
That idea did not pay off. We made an arrangement to shoot a video at the animal cemetery in Khimki, but the TV channels did not care. The cemetery Internet had some coverage in newspapers; the company even had calls from real funeral brokers who wanted to hook up, with four annual subscriptions signed. They just did not want any publicity.
This story had a sequel. Ritual announced a tender for the Internet installation at three Moscow cemeteries. When the news hit the Yandex top, questions hailed down on Yota System, and I was personally thanked by journalists for “pushing through a useful initiative.” I replied that “I was simply doing my work” and was not privy to the comments, although actually, I was, as you can see.
Now about the Internet in bathrooms; this was another cranky idea! While looking for a shooting site, I called several Moscow companies to know all ends and outs of this market and made an arrangement with a Moscow toilet chain. When shootings were over – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=th_oE3FWBiU – directors were already negotiating the SIM card delivery. Again, a lucrative business arose from a newsbreak.
Oleg Matveychev makes a point in his Ears that Wag the Ass that advertising only squanders your money while PR can help you earn it. Finally, I had succeeded.
What is Explosive PR?
Explosive PR is not the trivial “blatant PR stunt”, though that is what it is. Explosive PR just sounds better, doesn’t it?
Explosive PR takes place every time 30 to 100 or more free features about your company are released within 1-2-3 days.
I don’t know how it works abroad, but in Russia, business people often wonder how PR can boost their sales. I’ll explain everything statistically, although figures are boring. I tackled explosive PR to avoid extensive explanations and reports. Everything is seen with the naked eye. For instance, our news is in the TOP-10 YandexNews. What other coverage evidence do you need? This is the best KPI to be dreamed of in PR: hitting the TOP-5 news of the main information and news source – the search engine used by more than 70% of Runet users.
Our other news topped the Google: Trends of the Day – “A schoolboy wins a night with a porn star in the CS: GO game”
What other explanations and reports are needed to defend the maxim that PR affects sales, albeit indirectly?
Similar claims are made on explosive PR as well, but how on earth can you measure its impact on sales? I came up with a metaphor. Just imagine coming to a premiere or a Super Bowl game, or the NHL finals, or a popular stage production of a Broadway musical.
You needn’t imagine yourself a businessman because this is what you are, so you watch a game or a stage production, the brilliant play of the actors, and have fun.
Can you see how this might affect your sales? There will be some effect, but you are at a loss for precise estimation. The sure positive effect is feeling fine, experiencing a catharsis, and having deep moral satisfaction.
Now imagine being in the center of that game, the main star who scored a decisive goal or a winning touchdown. What do you feel?
Extreme, a surge of adrenaline, your heart leaping