I love fireworks. Always have. And I'm not alone. There's something about the combination of the bright explosions and the heart-pounding booms that thrills many of us to the core.
In the past, I've always been the cautious parental unit, sitting with my kids up on the hill to be away from any potential falling sparks.
But this year, I decided to be adventurous, so my son and I went right down onto the beach where they were shooting them off. Things are a lot more exciting down there!
I also discovered something that I hadn't experienced before. Up on the hill, there are only two key sounds - the sound of the firework going off, and the sound of the audience's reaction if it was a really good explosion. But when we were down on the beach we got an additional noise - multiple echoes coming back from the initial concussion. So we'd hear the boom, then 1/4th a second later, we'd hear echoes back from what seemed to be 4-5 different hard surfaces behind us.
As I sat and watched, I realized that there's several PR metaphors here (I'm so strange that I can't even watch fireworks without thinking about this stuff!)
First was the fact that my sitting on the beach changed the sound of the explosions from a nice loud boom to a physical "feel-the-sound" experience. That move changed me from a casual observer to feeling like I was an active participant in the experience.
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Unfortunately, there are few times when we can rely on our audience to move themselves to heighten their perception of our campaign. So, we sometimes have to bring the campaign to them in some way so that they feel like they're actually part of the experience.
What changes do you have to do to your next campaign to truly involve your target market in the process?
Let me make a side point here. Terrorism has been a fact of life in many countries for years. But it took two towers falling, and explosions in Spain and several mass transit vehicles in England to get the attention of billions more people. Those actions have truly involved and raised the awareness of many of us from something occurring in foreign lands to something much more personal. How? By changing the relevance of the campaign.
Most campaigns are far from relevant to the lives of their target market. Oh, they may be interesting, but though I may look twice when I see people chanting on the courthouse steps, that does nothing to make it relevant to me.
There's the key failure of many publicity campaigns. Somehow we've become so enamored by emulating those who've gotten lots of attention that we in this industry have forgotten that the key isn't attention, it's relevance. Attention generates a moment of focus, but relevance is what causes people to change behavior.
Second, when we do something designed to generate publicity, we actually create three different types of noise.
First, there's the noise of our event itself. Louder noise is usually better.
Then, there's the noise of the target audience reacting to that event. Again, louder is usually better.
Finally, there's the echo that comes from the delayed reaction to the event.
Sometimes this echo takes the form of industry commentary on the event.
Sometimes it's competitive reaction and copycats.
The best it's when the consumer does something later on in reaction to the event - for example, actually buying your stuff. That's when you know you've had a successful event!
Now, I'm really going to stretch this metaphor beyond the breaking point to make a point.
I personally believe that 99% of all publicity-seeking activities barely make an initial noise. Only a few of those that actually make a noise get an audience reaction, and almost none get an echo effect.
How are you doing in this area? Have you heard any echoes from your promotions lately? What do you need to do differently to make that happen next time? Trust me, it's more than sending out yet another press release!
Third, as I sat down right in the midst of the action, I started watching the audience. At the beginning of the show the audience was highly impressed with even the slightest difference in firework size, shape or sound.
But as the show progressed, they became accustomed, and it took a great deal to actually get attention.
It got to the point where, at 10 minutes into the show, with rocket's red glare still happening, I saw groups start to stand up, start talking with their friends, even breaking out the Frisbee.
Then the finale came, and everyone paid attention.
This is what's happening in your industry right now. In its infancy, anything out of the ordinary got everyone's attention.
But as time went on, it's become harder and harder to get the attention of your audience in the noise and clamor of everyone's marketing and publicity campaigns.
Let's say that you go to a convention and you're the only company that offers a party for attendants. You'll get attention.
The next year, there are 10 parties. The bar has been set at a new level. Hopefully, this time you've got something else up your sleeve, because if you don't, you've lost your impact.
Unfortunately, it's a bit like a drug - it takes ever increasing doses to make an impact.
This brings up two questions for consideration. 1. What level of noise is necessary to stand out in your industry right now? and 2. Did your last campaign achieve that level or was it a complete waste of resources?
Some interesting questions - perhaps you should hit a fireworks show soon and ponder them yourself!
Want more information on how to break through and create the big bang promotion that everyone pays attention to? Check out our ebook Media Relations Power: 199 Ways to Get Free Publicity for Your Company, Cause, or Product
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