Marketing stunts are designed to do one thing; get people talking. And to get people talking nowadays you have got to go BIG. Go big or go home.

It all happens so quickly, you’re strolling down the high street headed to buy yourself a new pair of Aran sweater knitted underwear to keep you cosy through these next few months when BAM! something completely out of the ordinary appears in the middle of your path. Ah yes, it’s another marketing stunt. Stunts are growing fewer and farther apart but that doesn’t mean there’s no room for them in your campaign activation. If publicity is what you’re after, and budget allows it, then a creative execution of a brand showpiece can generate the coverage you’re after.

Here are some ones that worked a treat…

Ghostbusters:

A giant Stay Puft marshmallow man erupting from the floor in Waterloo got worldwide acclaim and how could it not, the sheer size of it meant nobody was passing this without taking a pic, fans of the franchise or not.

SIXT

Okay, will hold my hands up here and admit I haven’t a word of German, but we just love the look and manner in which the ape’s hand grabs this car. You couldn’t ignore it.

Game of Thrones:

Blinkbox created this unforgettable dragon skeleton to promote the incoming season of Game of Thrones. Not necessarily in a high footfall area and the show hardly needed a stunt to hype it up, but quality execution all the same and the publicity saw subscriptions of it’s streaming service jump by over 60%.

SportsBet Australia

Our friends down under are no strangers to the curious, I mean, it’s a country where practically everything can kill you, so when their national soccer team qualified for the Fifa World Cup in Rio the betting organisation flew a giant “Christ the Redeemer” hot air balloon measuring 151 feet in height and sporting a socceroos jersey across the sky.

PaddyPower

Sticking with the bookies theme, Paddy Power will always feature in post where stunts are the topic, and we could have chosen from about 30 great ones. This one in particular, whilst being hugely controversial, is as smart as they come. Branding the white horse of Uffington, a 3000 year old landmark with a jockey visible from the sky was a dangerous and ballsy move, but one that definitely paid off ahead of Cheltenham.

There are two things to consider here, is the stunt being done strictly to generate headlines and PR without considering the actual audience numbers who see them first-hand? Or is it placed strategically in a high-footfall area where logistically it is harder to keep the secret, but more people will see it in person and hopefully share? Either way the answer is clear, and to quote many an unsatisfied wife, “bigger is definitely better!” 

- GC