
Unfortunately though, not every business can afford to give a man a jacket with their logo on it, put him 25 miles above the earth and get him to jump out of a balloon like Red Bull somehow managed to.
Businesses have always attempted alternative methods of reaching an audience – with varying levels of success. If you’re thinking of going down this road, perhaps you could take some inspiration, or some cautionary advice, from these company’s efforts.(1) Chicken Treat
An Australian fried chicken vendor made global headlines this year when they opted to put an actual live chicken in charge of their Twitter posts.(2) British Knight Sneakers
Having smelly socks isn’t usually something to brag about, but in 1993, Dave Hargrave came first in a “World’s Smelliest Socks” contest, and won complimentary trainers for three years.(3) The Blair Witch Project
Hollywood horrors such as Sleepy Hollow and House on Haunted Hill cost $100m and $37m respectively, but the big horror success of 1999 was shot for $22,000 – and then pulled in almost $250m. The flick was filmed on camcorder and presented to media outlets as footage “found in the woods”. The marketing team posted fake accounts from “survivors” on message boards, and convinced IMDB (in its infancy) to list the cast as “missing”. Some news outlets took the bait, even reporting that the story was real. This was an early example of viral marketing, and it proved incredibly successful. The memorable campaign assured the movie was one of the most infamous of all time, not just within the horror genre, even though the movie itself draws a not-so-brilliant 6.5 rating on IMDB. Think those stunts are ridiculous? This is just the tip of the iceberg. Continue reading on page two to discover more insane marketing stunts made by businesses – and what you can learn from them.Share this story