2013 has been another great year, full of new products, interesting marketing and wacky stunts. But what have been the most spectacular PR stunts in the run-up to Christmas?
High Street retailer Game had a great idea to spread cheer this festival season; Christmas dinner in a can! And why did they do this? Because gamers will be too busy trialling their new PS4 or Xbox One of course. The well thought out stunt included a promotional photograph and infographic for use on Twitter, ensuring it was well shared on social media.
Morphsuits has been steadily growing in popularity over the past few years and this Christmas its festive jumpers could be animated via an app on your smartphone. To reach its audience of young party-goers, Morphsuits sent the animated Christmas jumpers to BuzzFeed, the website that offers “the viral web in real-time”. BuzzFeed staff then tweeted photos of their Christmas jumpers to their young followers, i.e. Morphsuits’ target audience. Cue the jumpers being talked about across social media. Have a look at them; we want some! https://bit.ly/1dS9xys
One family getting into the Christmas spirit this year and taking the internet by storm is the Holderness family from North Carolina. Instead of sending out bog-standard Christmas cards, mum, dad, Lola and Penn created a video entitled Christmas Jammies or #Xmasjammies. The video shows the family in their matching Christmas jammies, rapping along to the tune of Will Smith’s Miami with details of their achievements in 2013. But there’s another reason for the adorable Christmas sing-along; to promote mum and dad’s new video production company, Greenroom Communications. And it worked; the video has clocked up over 12 million views on YouTube so far and has been covered by national media in the US, UK and beyond. https://bit.ly/JHb9BC
One of the biggest PR stunts of Christmas 2013, however, was carried out by Canadian airline WestJet. Passengers boarding a flight from Toronto Pearson International Airport were greeted by Santa via Skype who asked them what they wanted for Christmas. While on their flight to John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport in Ontario, WestJet employees did a shopping dash to get the items from every passenger’s Christmas wish list.
Passengers were then greeted by beautifully wrapped presents at baggage reclaim. The video shows passengers brought to tears by the generous gifts, including a young family who asked for a big-screen TV. The heart-warming video was a sensation, clocking up over 32 million views so far and countless shares on social media. If you’re not in the Christmas spirit already, you will be after watching this video: https://bit.ly/19fi5SA
So, whether the campaign is big budget gift-giving, a simple idea to encourage shares on social media or a family video, Christmas is a great time for PR stunts.
What will you do next year?
Image: www.youtube.com