Most people associate publicity stunts with incidents like Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction, Speidi‘s (Heidi + Spencer = ridiculous nickname) countless exploits or other celebrity-centric controversies, but hardly anyone thinks of the icon that started it all. Edward Bernays is reputed, and self-proclaimed, as the ”father of public relations,“ but he is also the first publicity stuntman as well. In 1929, the New York City Easter Parade included a group of young women marching to liberate all women with their cigarettes held high billed as ”torches of freedom.“ The event caused a stir, as it was taboo for women to smoke in public at the time. These marchers were symbols of women’s rights and equality as stories appeared in newspapers across the nation.

Little did the public know, it was a well-crafted publicity stunt. Bernays hired the women, mostly young models, to light up Lucky Strike cigarettes at his command in front of the awaiting press. Bernays capitalized on the lingering spark of women’s suffrage to ignite a movement. His client, the American Tobacco Company’s Lucky Strike, had a new crop of impassioned consumers.

To learn more about Bernays and public relations’ beginnings, I recommend watching the BBC’s documentary, ‘Century of the Self.’

Public relations, marketing and advertising have certainly changed since Bernays’ heyday and the changes seem to only accelerate with time and technology. Unconventional stunts or marketing aim to break through the estimated daily 600 – 625 promotional messages Americans experience. They have to be creative, interactive and unexpected to have us talking, thinking and wanting more.

Below are a few infamous stunts that I particularly enjoy and I think, in keeping with their purpose, you will too.

A Publicity Wiener –

In 1936, Oscar Mayer drove into the history books and America’s heart with the debut of its legendary Wienermobile, which still travels around the country and rides out its almost-guaranteed media coverage.

Famous but a Fugitive –

Sprung from one United Press article on the FBI’ most wanted and the positive publicity that resulted, the bureau established its Most Wanted List in 1950 in conjunction with the nation’s news media. It has aided the apprehensions of 152 fugitives as a result of citizen recognition.

You Have to Hand it to Them –

More than seven million people joined hands for 15 minutes for Hands Across America raising $20 million to fight hunger and homelessness on May 25, 1986.

A few stunts closer to home…

¡Yo quiero Taco Liberty Bell! –

As a prank on April Fool’s Day in 1996, a full-page ad appeared in six major American newspapers announcing that Taco Bell had purchased Philadelphia’s historical Liberty Bell to help reduce the country’s debt and it would be renamed the Taco Liberty Bell. By noon, the company owned up to the hoax.

Pin Down a Hit –

In 2008 a Guinness World Record-breaking piñata, which was six-stories tall, filled with 8,000 pounds of candy and located in South Philly, generated a lot of media stories and excitement.  The creator, Carnival Cruise Lines, held an event that was full of giveaways, music and food.

Killer Publicity but no Love –

Showtime’s ‘Dexter’ put on a show in 2007 when the fountain in Love Park was turned a deep red. Many Philadelphians saw red after spotting the gruesome promotion.

Here are some great sites where you can check out more celebrated stunts and marketing…

PR Week’s ’10 PR Stunts that Would Make PT Barnum Proud’

WebUrbanist.com’s ‘15 Dramatic Guerrilla Marketing Campaigns’

Taylor Herring’s ‘Top 50 Publicity Stunts‘

CreativeGuerrillaMarketing.com’s ‘The Best 80 Guerrilla Marketing Ideas I’ve Ever Seen’

My Favorite: Nikon's billboard in subway station

Please share your favorite publicity or marketing stunts below in the comments!

Rebecca "off camera"

In April, I was featured on a local NBC news segment regarding the Tiger Woods’ Nike Ad, featuring a voice over from Tiger’s deceased father.   There were a few things that went awry almost immediately.  First, I was late.  Big no-no.  Not only does that aggravate the producer, who has to deal with possibility a no-show segment, but it eliminates the opportunity for you to understand your surroundings, review message points, and relax.  As a result, I look tense and uncomfortable during the anchor’s introduction.  Actually, I look like I’m channeling Elin Woods right before she smashed the back of Tiger’s Escalade with one of his golf clubs.  On camera, everything communicates.  Body language, expressions, hand gestures, dress, etc. all convey a message about you and your company.  If my message was discomfort, then I think I hit a home run.

Given the humbling reminder on the importance of media prep, I thought I’d share (and review) some tips for succession media interview strategies below.

Define your Purpose: Before agreeing to do any interview, make sure you have a specific end game in mind.  How will the interview benefit you or your company?  If you can’t think of anything, then allow the opportunity to pass.  If you accept the interview, be sure to set specific goals for what you want to communicate.  Develop 3-5 key messages that you want to deliver throughout the interview.  These are the main ideas you’ll want to hammer home during the course of your interview.

Prepare, Practice, Repeat: Once you have your key messages in place, you’ll need to practice.  Have a colleague or member of your communications team run sample Q&A with you so you can get comfortable with the responses.  Make sure you have answers to the tough questions.  Even in friendly interview settings, it is important to have a response to questions you may not like answering.  Practice answering every question with a key message, and remember to keep your responses focused and concise.  In addition, it helps to do your homework before you walk into the interview.  What is the reporter’s interview style like? What have they covered in the past? What will the interview format be? Is the interview live or taped; in-person or via phone/satellite?  Doing a little legwork up front will ensure you are comfortable and prepared during your interview.

Watch your Body Language: For in person or on-camera interviews, everything communicates.  Even in positive interview situations, it is easy to look tense or stiff (ahem), which can impact credibility.   Arrive 15 minutes early to give yourself time to relax and review your message points.  If you have time before the interview, walk around take deep breaths to loosen up your body.  Avoid wild hand movements or big gestures when emphasizing your point.  If possible, maintain eye contact with the reporter as it helps to establish a connection with the reporters. If the interview is being conducted via satellite, look directly into the camera and keep your gaze steady.

Stay on Message: Listen carefully to the reporters questions, and take your time in responding to avoid rushing your response.  Remember your key points and try incorporate them in every single answer.  Keep your answers short and sweet, and avoid industry jargon to keep your explanations clear and easy to understand.  If a reporter asks you a question you cannot or will not answer, say so and offer an alternative if possible.  You can say something like “I can’t give out personal employee information, but what I can tell you is….”  or “We don’t have that  information at this time, but we are investigating the situation and will keep you apprised of any new developments.”

Avoid “No Comment”: If you can’t answer a question, emphasize what you can say and go back to your key message points.  Never go off the record to explain your point, even if the cameras are not rolling.  If you don’t want to comment to be shared, don’t make it.  Period.

I thought the most interesting seminar was presented on crisis PR from Jerri Williams, chief press officer at SEPTA. Yes, her title makes even me say, “yikes, that is one heck of a job.” I was interested not only because I am one of those thousands of people cursing SEPTA in the morning, and most evenings, but also because any Philadelphian knows SEPTA has had a tough year by even the toughest standards.  Ms. Williams was insightful, eloquent, honest and refreshingly witty about SEPTA’s past year and her process of dealing with crises. The best part was her delightful redundant questions testing our knowledge about what qualifies as a ‘crisis.’

“What is a crisis? How about when the Transport Workers Union goes on strike at 3am on a Tuesday morning leaving the 3.8 million people relying on SEPTA’s buses, trolleys subways and some rail lines stranded? Or what about if three days later a train on a popular regional rail line, which was not affected by the strike, catches fire and 400 people have to evacuate on the tracks? Or maybe it was the following day when a SEPTA employee was struck and killed by a train?…”

It certainly made her point, as well as put my daily to-do lists and the students’ term papers to shame. Ms. Williams made two other noteworthy points: 1) it is not always SEPTA’s responsibility, but it is always SEPTA’s problem and 2) no matter how much of her job is fending defending SEPTA’s reputation, it is always important to establish a positive reputation as well. It may not be SEPTA’s responsibility to police and respond to attacks within the underground passages, which are technically city property, but the news and public see it as so. It affects their commuters thus it is their duty to respond. As much as is Ms. Williams chief responsibility to mitigate crisis, another important role is to establish and encourage positive perceptions of SEPTA, like her initiative “Did You Find Love on SEPTA?” contest, which featured 14 couples who found love aboard SEPTA.

SEPTA’s crises have undoubtedly taken a toll on its public perception. However with Ms. Williams at the wheel, I trust its team is doing their best and with a touch of tasteful humor as well. I will try to remember that at the bus stop tomorrow morning.

Toyota prepares to recall the Prius

Since Toyota announced what has become its biggest ever safety and public relations disaster several weeks ago, the company has undertaken a herculean effort to restore the public’s confidence. It’s spokespeople have filled the airwaves, twitterverse and facebook with messages of reassurance, ads featuring an apology from the company have run nationwide, the website is continuously updated with information about the recall, consumer complaints are answered on a newly established hotline and U.S. President Jim Lentz has issued an apology via letter and on the Today Show. Why then, does Toyota’s reputation still hang in the balance?

Answering Three Questions: Effective crisis management requires a quick, no nonsense, full-responsibility response to three basic questions:

1) What did you know?

2) When did you know?

3) What are you going to do about it?

Part of Toyota’s mounting problems stem from their perceived failure to answer these questions quickly, openly and genuinely. After reports of sticking gas pedals surfaced in Europe in 2006, the company altered the pedals abroad, but made no effort to inform US consumers about the problem. After the magnitude of the issue was realized in the United States, Toyota issued two separate recalls and has dragged their feet in giving a straightforward response the mounting Prius issues. Rather than addressing the problem, its history and a proposed solution in one fell swoop, Toyota’s recall woes have continued to trickle out in a slow drip, ensuring the problem remains firmly in the public eye.

There is a Japanese proverb that says “If it stinks, put a lid on it.” Toyota’s initial decision to delay and deny seems to be taking this advice a little too close to heart.

Brand Matters:  Another issue Toyota faces is that the recall eats at the heart of the company’s core values: safety, reliability and quality. Toyota built their reputation by always putting the customer first, and has taken an obsessive approach to building the safest, most reliable cars on the market. The recall not only calls into question Toyota’s core safety values, its response rattles consumer trust in the company. A company’s values are the essence of who they are, so any crisis that questions these values is particularly difficult to overcome.

The question is, can Toyota salvage its reputation and repair consumer confidence? I would argue that the answer is yes, but a lot more legwork will need to be done. The American public has shown again and again our willingness to extend second chances to those that issue a public apology and take swift action. Companies like Mattel, which issued a massive toy recall in 2007 amid safety concerns, and Tylenol, whose swift and unilateral decision to pull Tylenol from the shelves has become the gold standard for crisis response, have emerged on the other side of similar situations with their reputations intact.

To do the same, Toyota must make a complete explanation of their response to the pedal issues and answer tough questions from outside experts. Toyota management has to be transparent and forthright in their response and proposed solutions. Then, and only then, can they begin the long process of rebuilding public confidence.

Apple has always had an interesting strategy around the release of new products. The story goes like this: Apple confides in “friend” at a major media outlet and then lets information out, unofficially. According to a former Senior Marketing Executive at Apple, the leak strategy is very precise. For example, a high level executive at Apple will ask his PR department to have a phone or in person conversation with a trusted reporter friend and will idly mention specific information that they are allowed to release. The conversation can never happen over email to avoid having a paper trail. This strategy allows Apple to preserve their consistent, official reputation for never talking about unreleased products.

Apple’s strategy is strange but effective as they are able to get a bit of information out to the public without really unveiling anything and can always claim that they had no knowledge of the conversation. Besides that fact that Apple products are at the cutting edge of technology, the level of secrecy that they maintain helps them to maintain their exclusive and elusive reputation, and also creates a huge Media hype when they’re finally released. The recent WSJ article was interesting because it involved two journalists providing an extra layer and the ability to point fingers among who knew what. The story was also posted late in the evening EST so it would have no effect on the day’s trading.

The unveiling of the iPad is also newsworthy for other reasons, such as the name which has started a major outlast among those finding ways to relate the new product to feminine hygiene products. The iPad became the most popular topic on twitter as people not only discussed the name of the product (complete with clever innuendos such as iTampon/Max-iPad), but also reviewed the new product to see how it will fair amongst other tablets, notebooks and portable computers. While the name may be the brunt of a few jokes, everyone will forget the jokes if the product does what Steve Jobs promises.

I personally can’t wait to try it out. I need a new computer now that my personal HP laptop is infested with viruses, and I’m trying to determine what capabilities I need in a new device.  The iPad will be similar to the iPhone in that it will run third party applications downloadable from their own store, but it also runs on a similar operating system which means that you can’t use multiple programs at once and it doesn’t have flash.

One of the best applications it will have is the iBook e-reader. This application may actually be the savior for as it allows users to read books, magazines and journals electronically, much like Amazon’s Kindle.  While newspapers and print magazines continue to fizzle from existence, publishers need to find ways to embrace the iPad and quickly!

The price tag for the device right now is $499 for the cheapest version, which is much less than some predicted, especially because their least expensive laptop is just under $1000. That being said, it’s really just a larger Itouch based on its operating system and level of capabilities.

I haven’t made my mind up yet about the IPad, or at least the first generation, as I can only imagine that Jobs and Apple will find a way to make better with their later versions.  I will probably go and check one out in March with the rest of the crazed Apple fans, but I won’t be waiting in line in 30 degree weather at 4 a.m.  

Kudos to Apple for another media frenzie!

Serena Willams at US Open

For Tennis fans, this weekend’s bizzare behavior by Serena Williams was tough to swallow.    The former U.S. Open Chamption shocked fans with an expletive-laced tirade after being called for a foot-fault just two points from losing her semi-final match with Kim Clijsters.  After the (some say inconclusive) call was made, Serena went after the line judge, pointing her racket in the woman’s face and threatening to “shove this (impolite french word) ball down your (impolite french word) throat,” in a nearly minute long tirade.  Really?  I’ve seen better manners at an Eagles game with battery-packed snowballs.  The outburst, coupled with her temper tantrum earlier in the match when she smashed her racket on the court, cost Serena the match when the officials issued a point penalty that ended the game.   Serena’s behavior cheated Clijsters out of a “true-win” that was righfully hers and regrettably watered down Clijster’s victorious return to tennis following the birth of her child.

You can view the video of her outburst below:

What followed the match was even more bizarre.  After the game, under the stadium, an overprotective handler tried to cover a CBS camera and prevent him from seeing Ms. Williams exit the locker room.  The cameraman managed to catch Serena smiling and chatting with her older sister, Venus.  Given Serena’s number of  years in the public spotlight, myriad sponsorships, meetings with President Obama and presumbably, lessons on good sportsmanship,  one would think that someone on Serena’s team would advise her to give an immediate public apology.  Not so.  Instead, Serena gave a smug post-event press conference in which she appeared not to understand the magnitude of her actions.  She issued a blase  apology on Sunday night, but without much conviction.

Serena Williams Post SemiFinal Press Conference

In the end, Serena has been fined $10,500  total by U.S. Open officials, the highest possible fine that can be issued for unsportsman-like conduct.   She deserved to be disqualified (even McEnroe was never so outlandish),  and any fallout that ensues to her public reputation is of her own doing.  Her conduct was completely unacceptable, and for an athlete of her caliber, inexcusable.