Business Fit Magazine October 2019 Issue 2 | Page 34
Business
Many businesses wonder how they can land
media opportunities, feeling as though they
are not worthy of “feel-good” stories that can
be shared with others. There is always an
opportunity to share valuable content that
activates the audience- through clever, strategic
PR Stunts…but what, exactly, are PR Stunts?
PR Stunts are either events or initiatives which
connect two or more organisations (typically a
local business to a nonprofit) with a clear intention
to benefit both. The receiving organisation (i.e.
nonprofit) gets the financial support or goods
for their constituency and the giving business
gets the positive “feel-good” exposure with their
client base and local community through media
placements (i.e. radio and TV public service
announcements or newspaper articles).
Selection of a nonprofit:
The selection of a nonprofit is critical. Some
things to consider:
a) It should align with your vision or personal
connection (are you recommending they use a
personal connection or establish one?).
b) It should have a substantial constituency
which can expand the reach of your brand.
c) It should be proactive to collaborate on the
initiative.
d) Be grateful for this new relationship so you can
infuse other ideas for partnership opportunities
in the future.
Award-winning serial entrepreneur, Jacqueline
Camacho-Ruiz, gives Business Fit readers some
tips on what should be considered when using
PR stunts to ensure maximum benefit.
Identifiers when considering a
PR Stunt:
Strategic- Every PR stunt should be carefully
planned and executed to ensure maximum
benefits and exposure.
Collaborative- PR stunts are founded on
collaboration with nonprofits or other groups in
need - communication and ongoing support is
very important.
Resourceful- Due to the nature of PR stunts,
they are typically done with limited resources
(either time, money or support) and the person
coordinating them should be very resourceful
in order to connect opportunities which are not
easily found.
Creative- Creativity plays an imperative role
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Important items to know when
conducting a PR Stunt:
Photos- It is important to capture photos or
video which depict the story in every one of these
initiatives in order to get the full benefit of this
promotion.
Sharing- Use the photos and videos to share on
social media vehicles, send them on an eblast or
newsletter to your contacts, add to your blog or
email signature, but most importantly, send to
local media with compelling captions for possible
inclusion in their publication offline and online.
Follow up- Media outlets receive hundreds of
emails every day. Follow up with media outlets
a few days after you have sent the photos,
especially because they contain attachments.
Ideally, you want to give the media outlets heads
up that the large high resolution image(s) are
coming.
Releases- Make sure to have a public release
announcement or individual model release if you
plan on taking photos during one of these PR
stunts, especially when children are involved. If
you don’t have their permission, you may still take
photos, but make sure their faces don’t show (i.e.
if you have a presenter, you take photos of the
speaker from behind the audience).
Tracking- Make sure each PR stunt is properly
documented and shared, if not, it might be a
waste of effort. It is important for each business
to be strategic about these initiatives in order to
get the maximum ROI and ROO.
Here are 19 ideas to consider:
Idea 1: Buy books from a local author and
donate them to a local school - put in a note
inside of each book that says: “Book courtesy of
”
Idea 2: Choose a local family to give gifts to
through a local nonprofit organisation
Idea 3: Buy food or coats/gifts to deliver to the
local homeless shelter
Idea 4: Provide free coffee from a local coffee
shop to bring joy to the local community, totally
unexpected. Put up a sign outside that says “free
coffee today courtesy of ________.”
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