How To Create A Modern Press Release

Non-traditional Marketing

Non-traditional marketing, sometimes called guerilla marketing, is a blanket term that covers all kinds of unconventional marketing strategies that usually spread through word of mouth—or simply, people talking to their friends.

Non-traditional marketing existed before the Internet was around, but the interconnected Web allows for faster, almost instant, spreading of a message to thousands or millions of people.

Viral marketing refers to the exponential spreading of a marketing message, like a virus. It’s the effect word of mouth can have on an ad, campaign, or even just a video. Non-traditional marketing is all about using unconventional tactics to spread the word about a company or product, often on a small budget (or smaller than with a traditional advertising campaign).

Tell a Story

Non-traditional marketing is about telling a story or delivering a message. It might be funny, shocking, or amazing. It might be a video, a blog post, or a Twitter message (a tweet). The key is to create an idea that is consistent with your brand and who you are as a company.

First, think of the message you want to convey. What is unique or unusual about your product or service? Is there a quirky aspect of your company that people can identify with?

Everyone Loves to Laugh

Using humor is a great way to attract attention to your brand.

Will it Blend? is one of the most successful non-traditional marketing campaigns in recent years. Tom Dickson, founder of Blendtec—makers of high-end blenders—posted a video series. The videos feature Tom blending items such as an iPhone, “diamonds” (really cubic zirconias), a rake handle, and a Chuck Norris figurine. The iPhone video has been watched over six million times. The videos increased brand awareness, and sales for Blendtec blenders shot up 40% in 2006, the year they launched the campaign.

The Will it Blend? videos’ success was relatively unplanned. In an article for the Wall Street Journal, George Wright, Blendtec’s marketing director, said, “I knew … we wanted to do YouTube. Initially, we were thinking this might be a tool our sales force could use to show how robust our equipment is as part of their training. Quite frankly, if that’s all we achieved from that campaign, I would have considered it successful.” The initial video series cost the company $US50 to produce.

Will it Blend? is a great example of how you can be light-hearted and yet create an amazing marketing tool for your business. Blendtec sells high-end blenders—top of the line consumer and professional models. Yet they were able to build brand awareness by creating hilarious videos that showed them blending wacky items, as well as proving the durability of their products. If it could blend an iPhone, then a smoothie would be a piece of cake!

Can You Plan to Go Viral?

The Will it Blend? videos were a viral phenomenon inadvertently. They were only created to show how durable their products were, and hopefully make people smile. One of the most common misconceptions about non-traditional marketing is that you can plan for a campaign to “go viral.”

While you can plan the campaign, it’s purely up to chance whether it will go viral. The best advice is to create unique and interesting content and put it out there. It may or may not go viral, but it can be a great representation of your brand, nonetheless.

There are advertising agencies that specialize in creating viral marketing campaigns. Does it work? Sometimes. Agencies specializing in guerilla marketing can be effective at projecting the word about your business, but there are some caveats.

Words of Wisdom

If you’re planning a guerilla marketing campaign, there are some things you should consider.

First, and most importantly, be genuine. It’s a poor idea to present yourself or your company as different to what you really are, or to try and trick the public into believing an untruth. The Web is full of amateur investigative reporters who would love to break a story, leading to bad publicity.

Second, be sure to obey any applicable laws and, naturally, stay away from dangerous activities. This should go without saying, but think through the potential outcomes of your campaign. There are lots of interesting ways to draw attention to your company, so legal trouble should be avoided.

Be smart with your campaigns and have fun with them, but be careful of going overboard just to garner some free publicity. Find ways to involve your customers, such as creating contests where users submit homemade videos or produce a creative idea.

Summary

Public relations has moved on from what it used to be. It’s grown and evolved and can be a powerful marketing tool for your business. We’ve shown how press releases have changed and how they can be used to spread the word about your company and products. We’ve discussed ways to spread the word through blogs and web sites, and how to use non-traditional advertising. But making your message known is only one part of the puzzle.

Be sure to check out the rest of Online Marketing Inside Out for ways to further spread your brand and increase your online reputation.

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