360PR Blog

We started a book club at 360PR a couple of years ago.  This summer’s selection was Peter Shankman’s Can We Do That?!.   The subtitle on the jacket calls this a book about PR stunts.  But it’s more than that.  I found the most interesting chapters focused on how to find your creative streak, too often lost among the myriad of emails and meetings we come into every day and can’t seem to get out from under.  Shankman’s team went skydiving to jumpstart their creativity.  I’m not jumping out of any planes for clients or staff (sorry guys).  But the point about getting out of the office is a good one.

My best ideas never come from the confines of my desk or our conference room.  I find the office is a great place to do the research that can lead to big ideas, or to refine the big idea and put meat on the bone.  But the big ideas inevitably come at odd hours and in odd places.  The produce aisle.  The hair salon.  Walking the dog.  “Ideas come to you when you least expect them: be ready. Not only ready to write down the idea, but ready to act on it immediately,” says Shankman.

In the same chapter (chapter 3), Shankman talks about “The Stopper.” For all intensive purposes The Stopper is the idea-killer.  The Stopper asks a lot of questions, but some important ones, like “How much will this cost?”  The Stopper should be a motivator not to abandon your idea, but to think it through to the day of the event, the end result, and all the details in between.  One of my favorite PR stunts was the Charmin brand’s sponsorship of public restrooms in Times Square for the insanely busy holiday shopping season in New York.  Kudos to the agency that came up with that big idea.

Shankman’s book is loaded with other useful tips.  Here’s just one example (from chapter 4):  “Use citizen journalism to your advantage.  Always let people photograph, blog, cover, write about or video your events.  They’re becoming citizen publicists for you, free of charge.”

Thanks Peter, for some great food for thought.

Filed under: Books |