Move over Charlie Sheen. You too, Donald Trump. For at least one day, we won’t even have to hear about the legal battles between billionaires and millionaires over playing the game of football. The biggest media whiteout in history is about to hit the world. That’s right; the fairy tale reaches its climax on Friday as an estimated billion people worldwide watch the Royal Wedding. We are not just talking television. The Royal Wedding is expected to dominate all media, especially social. According to WebProNews Yahoo launched a Royal Wedding site with photo galleries, streaming video and a guestbook. YouTube also announced that they will be streaming the entire event live from their official Royal Wedding channel. Even the legal tabloid, Above the Law, is covering the event (I suppose a marriage is a contract?!?).
What does all this media coverage mean for professional service providers? Nothing, if you can’t use the news as a tie-in to further your brand. Too often companies attempt to piggyback on the hot news of the day by offering their own promotions. However, in our “transparent,” web-enabled world this often backfires and instead hinders the brand.
Remember, the point of conducting a public relations campaign is to reinforce your brand. For example, how does a press release announcing a new law firm partner serve the brand when it appears on a Royal Wedding News website? Better examples include law firms focusing on pre-nuptial agreements, issues for workers on a national holiday and the licensing of wedding merchandise.
Timberland, an outdoor apparel retail outlet, understands British aristocrats will not be wearing hiking boots to the Royal Wedding. Rather than jumping on the bandwagon, Timberland created an alternative media campaign that attempts to Bring Back Arbor Day and declares itself the “Official Worldwide Footwear, Apparel, and Accessories Sponsor of Arbor Day.” In case you forgot, Arbor Day is also on April 29.
So no matter how tempting it seems, the lowest hanging fruit is not always the best. If somehow you can use the Royal Wedding to further your professional services brand, then go for it. But if not, sit back, enjoy the media whiteout and wait for your Arbor Day opportunity to come.
– Chuck Brown