This fun and friendly book looks at real-life PR stunts that will blow your mind and inspire you to develop innovative and creative ways to get your company noticed. PR guru Peter Shankman chronicles the most ridiculous, outrageous, and possibly crazy PR stunts of all time—explaining why some work and others don’t. This is a funny, insightful guide to winning the PR game.
Table of Contents:
Acknowledgments ix
CHAPTER 1 Who Am I, and Why the Heck Should You Listen to Me? 1
You don't know me from anyone—but I'm known. And I've gotten my clients known. Who am I? Why should you listen to me?
CHAPTER 2 PR Basics What IS PR? 11
What is GOOD PR? What is BAD PR? What makes reporters want to listen? What makes them want to shut you off and block your e-mail from their system? What makes reporters and the public happy? What makes them unhappy?
CHAPTER 3 Coming Up with the Off-the-Wall Idea, and Making It Stick 33
Talking about how not to be afraid of reaction to an idea, the beginnings of how to think differently, ways to get into that kind of think different mindset, getting out of the office and into a good brain. . . ROAR to get your idea approved!
CHAPTER 4 Coming Up with and Implementing the Big Idea—Part One 51
WebDive 2000 and our first of many "ARE YOU INSANE?" comments.
CHAPTER 5 Coming Up with and Implementing the Big Idea—Part Two 69
The Flying Fingers Yarn Bus—Best Campaign of 2005.
CHAPTER 6 Coming Up with and Implementing the Big Idea—Part Three 87
The AirTroductions Launch—One website, over 250 media outlets around the world.
CHAPTER 7 Coming Up with and Implementing the Big Idea and What Happens When It's Too Successful? 107
The RegisterFree.com Free Domain Name Hour—Or, how to shut down the Internet.
CHAPTER 8 What Happens When You Lose Your Voice? 127
Legal has just told you to shut up. Or a 60 Minutes crew is waiting in your lobby. No matter how much fun PR is, there's always crisis management to think of. A primer.
CHAPTER 9 You Don't Have to Run Over Someone to Get Press 145
It's not about celebrity all of the time. In fact, sometimes it can be, just by not being.
CHAPTER 10 What Happens When Your Perfectly Thought-Out Plan Hits a Snag? 163
When your parachute opens and you get spun around, line twists are often the result. Kicking out of them tends to work and get you down safely. Here's how to kick out of potential snags that could leave you hung up.
CHAPTER 11 Putting It All Together 177
Wrap-ups, what we've learned, what if something happens that we didn't talk about.
CHAPTER 12 The Resources Section! 193
Places to get more info, websites, mailing lists, groups, organizations, etc.
Index 205
About the Author :
Peter Shankman is the CEO of The Geek Factory, Inc., a marketing and PR strategy firm, whose clients have included Snapple Beverage Group, Napster, and the Discovery Channel. He is also CEO of AirTroductions, the Internet's first in-flight dating and networking service. He lives in New York and frequently speaks at trade shows and conferences on PR, marketing, and creativity.
