PR stunt inception: BuildDirect responds to Amazon’s drone storyline

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Posted: In: Blogs Industry Insights & Trends

Last week, in light of Anchorman’s “live newscast” going viral and Amazon’s “drone delivery” story trending #everywhere, my editor at Inc. asked if I’d be interested on riffing on the idea of PR stunts for my next article.

OBVIOUSLY!

I’ve rarely met a riff I didn’t like, and I’ve certainly seen and done enough PR stunts in my life to formulate a cohesive opinion. So off I went.

I gathered thoughts and feedback from a variety of sources, including Bill Tancer and Billy Dec, each of whom approach the PR stunt concept from very different angles. Perhaps my favorite quotes, when asked if Miley Cyrus’ ascent to superstardom was a “trainwreck” or well-crafted and calculated PR strategy, were the following:

Bill Tancer: “What’s the message? That she has the longest tongue of any female entertainer in history?”

Billy Dec: “Some would call it a trainwreck. Others would call it a moneytrain.”

DOH!

As good timing would have it, the day after my editor emailed me, Katherine Barr (Mohr Davidow Ventures) emailed us and asked if we’d share BuildDirect’s Amazon parody video on our social networks.

To me, this is a great example of a lesser known, but very clever, company capitalizing on a trending storyline of an extremely well-known brand. It’s like PR stunt inception the movie. A stunt from a stunt. Or within a stunt. Either way, it’s brilliant.

According to BuildDirect’s CEO Jeff Booth: “As the world reacted to skies full of tiny delivery drones, we saw the humor in attempting to do the same with our home improvement products, which on average weigh 1500 lbs. We used our company talent to write, video, and edit (they even starred in it) so we could turn it around quickly. This also ensured the tone and playfulness of our brand was captured accurately.”

 

Alas, I bring you: BuildDirect Primo Air – “Super Drone” Delivery.