Dare to be different? Is unconventional marketing for you?

There’s a certain skill in jumping on trends or creating something incredibly on point and timely. Newsjacking is an age-old method of gaining attention in PR. There’s a lot to be said for remaining relevant; many firms will arm themselves with an opinion on the latest stories to make comments and pitch them to mainstream media or their own niche press.

Some will go that bit further. The opportunities that are afforded to those who chase digital PR methods in a new and exciting way are vast. There’s a difference between piggybacking on the back of a trend, but there’s possibly more glory in creating a trend or puncturing the zeitgeist with something wholly original and impressive. 

However, it all depends on what you want to achieve. If your business is suited to the PR stunt and can handle the attention that garners, then go for it. If your brand depends on the whims of a select few that wouldn’t see the alignment with what you’ve built your business to be, is it worth it?

A brash campaign that doesn’t align with your values or seems too ‘out there’ could actually do more damage. There are different ways to execute big campaigns too. For example, a consumer brand that wants to gain more subscribers for their newsletter should have no problem in rolling out a campaign that encourages sign-ups in exchange for the chance to win something or be part of an exclusive group. However, a B2B geared business would rather do something that benefits their reputation. A facts-based campaign, perhaps highlighting something that they have noticed and want to draw attention to, could be the best way of gaining traction, a slow burn rather than a fell swoop.

One example of this would be the use of data. Not all data is useful, but in the day to day of running a business, new trends emerge, and if your firm is at the coal face of this, you could miss out. It can be knowledge you take for granted, but it could be interesting to others who don’t see it every day. Working in a niche industry such as finance, for example, could mean you garner information that many others simply don’t. Notice a trend here and identify the reasons behind it, and you could build a captivating campaign around it.

On the more daring side, creating fantastical stories and campaigns doesn’t have to cost the earth and can land you links on websites worldwide. For example, creating an experience or product that captures something currently popular can work wonders. Companies that are part of our daily lives also offer their data for public consumption, so it’s being clever with it. Take Netflix, for example; their viewing figures and profits are widely available. Suppose you can pair what your business does with something you’ve noticed, then you might be onto a winner. If your company is within finance, a list of the most wealthy fictional characters from that year’s TV output might be something the media are interested in, but it’s having the resources to present this information in a captivating way and whether this fits in with your brand image that is important. The sky and your creativity is really the limit here. Think hard about whether it fits your current branding or whether it might cause problems down the line. There’s a thin line, cross it, and you could cause a need to rethink your entire company image; get it right, and you could be seeing your brand appearing across a range of mediums.