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글을 쉬다가 문득 들러 CASE STUDY란을 들여다 보니 무척 많은 분들이 다녀 가셨음을 알게 되었습니다. 저번 글에서 말씀드린 것과 같이 질문이 하나도 없어서 그냥 사이트를 나서려고 하는데 첫 화면에 문득 이상한 새로운 문장이 보였습니다. 종혁님이 또 저를 위해 방문 권유 홍보(?) 문구를 적어 주셨더군요.
그래서 또 이렇게 힘을 내서 글을 씁니다.
저는 요즘 작은 일 하나를 개인적으로 준비 중에 있습니다. PR Case들을 모으는 겁니다. 그것이 실패한 것이었건, 성공한 것이었건간에 다다익선의 무식함으로 Case들을 수집하고 있습니다. 우리 PR계의 태두이신 어떤분께서 저의 무식함을 자신이 직접 빛내 주시고자 한번 일을 저질러(?) 보라고 하셨습니다.
저 자신으로도 이 사이트에 들르시는 많은 분들이 CASE에 목말라 하시는 걸 보면서 “그래 그것이 우리나라 PR인 들에게 도움이 되겠다..” 하는 단순함을 가지고 시작 했습니다. 하루 이틀 걸릴 일이 아님을 알기에 더욱 두렵습니다.
하루에도 세계에서 수백개 이상씩 보고되고 실행되는 PR Plan들이 과연 어떻게 실행 되고 어떤 결과를 생성 시킬까요. 오늘은 PRSA의 PR 전문지 TACTIC 5월호에 실린 짤막한 CASE 두개를 소개 합니다. (물론 저자와의 상의 를 거치지 않은 재게제물로서 저작권법에 어긋나지만, 교육용이라는 전제하에서 저는 확실한 “카피 레프터”이기 때문에 실어 봅니다.
I : 최근 질레트가 발표한 MACH3라는 최신 면도기에 관한 PR CASE
II : 최근 인기를 끄는 마케팅기법 Cause-related Marketing 과 PR
그럼 먼저 “홍보”
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Introducing The MACH3
Inside A Razor-Sharp PR Campaign
With the help of a PR campaign that capitalized on secrecy to build public and media anticipation, the Gillette Company created one of the most successful product launches last year for their MACH3, the world’s first triple-bladed razor. The result? During its first week on the market, the MACH3 was the No.1 selling razor in the U.S., gaining a 35 percent market share. The product netted more than 2,000 separate media placements within the first six months following its launch on April 14. What’s more, all of it was achieved through PR, not advertisment. As Gillette Chairman and CEO Alfred Zeien categorizes it: “[It’s] a heck of an achievement an we’ve done it without one penny of advertisement.” Gillette officials, who worked with Porter Novelli, share the secret to their success.
Eric Kraus, director of communications for Gillette’s North Atlantic Group, recalls the measures taken to ensure that MACH3 news didn’t leak prior to the April 14, 1998 launch press conference in New York City. “The cornerstone of maintaining confidentiality, both internally and with our partner public relations agency Porter Novelli, was disseminating information on a need-to-know basis,” says Kraus.
In fact, according to Kraus, many Gillette employees closely associated with the project did not even know the product’s name until it was announced at a companywide sales meeting just two days before the press conference.
“We invested $750 million in research and development to bring MACH3 to market,” Kraus notes. “And we earmarked an additional $300 million to support a marketing plan that would generate coverage and exposure just prior to the product’s availability on store shelves. We invested a great deal in the timely release of this information.”
Lisa Rosenberg, vice president, Porter Novelli, New York, says that securing media coverage is usually a top priority, but in this case, the success of the launch depended upon not generating coverage until Gillette broke the story.
“An early breaking story or a leak about the product name would not have been good news for us,” says Rosenberg. “The elements of the marketing plan were strategically timed to create a peak of coverage and awareness at the time of retail availability and leading up to full product distribution worldwide.”
Since timing and secrecy were key, Porter Novelli implemented measures that would enable them to control the flow of information. Gillette and Porter Novelli created a public relations guidelines manual for representatives of Gillette’s 18 public relations agencies worldwide. The manual, housed in an unlabeled gray metal James Bond-like case, included approved responses to editorial inquiries and message control procedures.
Porter Novelli also put secrecy measures into place for day-to-day correspondence and launch-planning activities. Each Porter Novelli team member was required to sign a confidentiality agreement and was reminded that revealing the product name – even to a spouse, close friend or parent was absolutely forbidden. A MACH3 razor prototype was kept under lock and key at Porter Novelli’s offices, and all product-related documents, which referred to MACH3 as “Project 225,” were faxed to and from a private fax machine. Product samples, press materials and letterhead were shipped in plain brown boxes and, at Gillette, the MACH3 production line was concealed by high plywood walls that only came down after launch.
While tight controls kept the product information a secret, careful timing of the information’s release generated interest among the media. Press conference invitations, designed to look like airline tickets, hinted at the flight imagery apparent in the product’s name, image and advertising. Hundreds of reporters and editors received these invitations, which noted that Gillette would introduce “a whole new world in shaving.” The invitations alone generated media coverage and a barrage of calls inquiring about the product’s name, benefits, details. Stories about the press conference appeared, but the secrecy measures had succeeded. No one knew what Gillette would introduce as the speculation mounted.
The Introduction
On April 14, 1998, Gillette introduced MACH3 at New York’s Hudson Theatre in the Millennium Broadway Hotel. More than 100 journalists, including reporters from the UK and France, covered the launch event. Porter Novelli distributed a total of 3,250 MACH3 press kits, many of which were overnighted to arrive on the day of launch.
“In our current (media) environment, keeping major news under wraps and then distributing it as widely and quickly as possible means managing details and confidentiality more strictly than ever,” says Rosenberg. “Yet, this painstaking planning can lead to a bigger payoff in client service and results.”
Kraus agrees. “The attention to detail, the strict adherence to our confidentiality procedures and the precision of our timing worked together beautifully. We pulled off a highly successful launch event and proved that the dissemination of information, even in this day and age, can be managed effectively.”
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두번째 Case :
In Cause-Related Marketing,
Make the Product Itself The Means Of Giving
By David Kratz
Principal
Kratz & Jensen Inc.
In today’s business climate, consumers, particularly those young adults in their 20s, have come to expect that the products and companies they support are doing something to help the planet, the environment, or the community in some way.
The easiest way to meet this expectation is to write a check to a not-for-profit organization that appeals to the same demographic the company seeks to reach. But this is not necessarily the most effective way to influence the consumer.
To achieve the kind of indelible impression that leads to brand loyalty and sales, marketers would be well-advised to invest some creative energy in devising programs that make use of their product itself in a charitable fashion.
By weaving the product and the gesture, an impact exponentially greater than merely donating dollars can be attained.
Two additional factors argue in favor of this approach: (a) Often it’s cheaper to make a meaningful in-kind donation than to pay the big bucks required to secure a title sponsorship, and (b) from a media coverage standpoint, sponsorships and donations alone are not as newsworthy as we in the PR business would like to think. If, however, a company’s product or service is a key component of its cause-related marketing program, reporters might find the story more interesting, and, more importantly, will likely include the benevolent company in the story.
Our recent work provides some excellent examples:
Sprint PCS. Nothing looms larger in the minds of New Yorkers than the perennial fear that they will be the victim of a violent crime. To help alleviate this concern in a meaningful, constructive manner, Sprint PCS donated 50 911-equipped, digital wireless phones to the initial phase of a program (“CabWatch”) in which cab drivers were trained in how to properly identify and report a crime in progress. The program, including Sprint PCS’s donation, was covered in a variety of media, including feature articles in The New York Times and New York Post. The message was unmistakable: Sprint PCS phones were not only a dependable mode of wireless communication, but they had also become a crime-fighting instrument.
R?my Martin Fine Champagne Cognac. This upscale spirit seeks to attract a hip, young audience and generally tries to find them in the arenas of independent film, theater and the like. But rather than merely sponsoring these artistic groups and their products, R?my Martin supplements its altruism by throwing opening night parties, wrap parties, and other occasions, allowing the members of these groups to enjoy a celebration they normally wouldn’t be able to afford. It gets even better when these evenings are covered in the press as “R?my receptions” as was the case for the opening night bash for “Wild Man Blues,” a documentary about Woody Allen’s jazz band for which distributor Fine Line pictures did not have a premiere party budget. The event was covered in such publications as Daily Variety and New York Daily News with photographs of celebrities sipping R?my cocktails.
Starbucks Coffee. Last year, our client Starbucks partnered with several other companies to orchestrate a “book buy,” with the goal of obtaining 1 million books for children across the United States. Each participant in the program donated its services: Three publishers sold books at cost, UPS delivered them free of charge, USA Today and ABC provided free advertising space, and so on. Starbucks cleverly “donated” its more than 1,500 retail spaces, the sole venue at which consumers were invited to buy a book plate. In other words, the program drove customers to Starbucks locations where they made a charitable association with the company.
IMPAC Group. This Chicago-based producer of packaging for entertainment products (videotape and compact disc boxes, for example) used its expertise to create a memorable holiday gesture. The company (formerly known as AGI) produced a compact disc on which students of Chicago’s oldest public school sang holiday songs. IMPAC Group then gave the compact disc as a holiday gift to its clients, and donated a large quantity to the public school, whose students sold the discs to raise money to buy instruments for their music program. IMPAC Group’s good will generated money for the school, and great community relations dividends for the company, which saw the story of their compact disc told on local CBS and NBC affiliate news programs, as well as in the Chicago Sun Times.
By making your product or service donations an integral part of your cause-related marketing efforts or charitable giving, marketers can ensure that their good gestures won’t be forgotten. Throughout the year, try to think about ways to let your brand, rather than your checkbook, make a difference.
David Kratz is founder, president and partner of Kratz & Jensen Inc., a PR and marketing communications agency with offices in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Chicago.
