REALLY pushing the envelope

I love this idea, and at the same time, I don't think I would be able to do it as POP! Public Relations.

Vaughn Whelan, a veteran ad man, wants the Molson ad business, so much that he developed, produced and placed a 60-second television commercial in Canada and Vermont. The story is from the NY Post.

This is just pushing the envelope. It's a great way for Whelan to get press for his firm, for him to get his ideas in front of Molson (and possibly get on the short list), and get other companies looking for an ad firm that can take risks, take chances, and do something fun and quirky.

Can a public relations firm do this? I don't think so. Public relations is about messaging, messaging developed with the client.

In pitches that POP! PR has been in against other local firms, some of the firms will deliver "hits" during the decision process, hoping to tip the scales.

In one instance, this badly backfired against an agency, to the point that the internal person was complaining about the lack of understanding of the market, the company and business protocol.

It comes down to even if I do find an opportunity that would fit a current pitch, I might forward the opportunity to the potential client, but no go out and pitch the client. First, it might not be appropriate for the company, and second, it might open up my firm to legal repurcussions ... and we do live in a litigious society.
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  1. I agree with you, Richard. It's a very, very scary tactic that would never work in PR, but would open up the company to a nice lawsuit.

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