Comments on: Bondi beach stunt fell flat for me

By: Jason

Jason — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:13:29 +0000

Euro RSSCG Sydney did it. Well done Lex.

By: Scott Pettet

Scott Pettet — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:53:28 +0000

Anyone know if there was an agency involved with this, or was it all done in house? Either way, kudos deserved.

By: Bill Smith

Bill Smith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 11:23:01 +0000

Agree with Rachael, Scott’s and Claudia. The Cancer Council conducted what seemed to be a very successful skin cancer awareness campaign laying 1700 towels on Bondi Beach to symbolise skin cancer related deaths that occur in Australia annually. Raising the public’s awareness of the dangers of tanning using the iconic Bondi Beach resulted in a worthy message for the Australian public. The campaign readily met its objectives of raising awareness for at least the 340 Bondi Nippers and their parents / carers while they conducted their activities adjacent to the Cancer Council’s towels.

By: mumbrella

mumbrella — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:35:10 +0000

Hi Jules,

No, I shot that myself on Sunday morning. The towels were there for a good couple of days I think.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

By: Jules

Jules — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:45:21 +0000

Ummmm….. Wasn’t this (the footage of the towels at Bondi Beach) simply the filming of the Cancer Council TVC, rather than a publicity stunt? I think its a terrific campaign.

By: mumbrella

mumbrella — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 01:52:45 +0000

Rachael makes a very good point.

If the intention of the installation was about driving PR rather than engaging with those on the ground, then it may well have been a success on that basis.

It almost doesn’t matter if it makes sense to the punters who were there, if the overall coverage was good enough.

I didn’t see the original PR release, so I’ve no idea if the main goal was one of PR or experiential or a bit of both.

But I’d still argue that to make both work together would be a better result.

Cheers,

Tim – Mumbrella

By: Ella Smith

Ella Smith — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:13:27 +0000

I watched two news programs on the day of the Cancer Council stunt and saw the coverage on two networks (ABC and one other – I think it was Seven?) and thought it worked really well.

I also thought the body outlines were ghoulish and they certainly have stuck in my mind -and this morning I was extra careful to apply my 30+ liberally.

By: Claudia

Claudia — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:31:59 +0000

Agree with Rachael and Scott’s comments. The campaign has met its objectives of raising awareness. We were at Bondi yesterday morning and saw the towels and the signage. We discussed the issue of skin cancer at length with a number of fellow Nipper parents!

By: Glen Frost

Glen Frost — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:11:46 +0000

I was in Bondi at the weekend; I thought it was a bunch of Poms making a politically incorrect joke about ze Germans….

By: Lisa Moulton

Lisa Moulton — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 04:09:39 +0000

Are you serious Darren?! Of course you could get coverage the day before. It’s not about “the stunt”, it’s about the number of deaths from skin cancer. Maybe secure some strong stats for coverage or ask Sydneysiders and the friends and families of those with and have passed from skin cancer to be involved on the day to commemorate those who have died from skin cancer. There are many, many ways that you could secure pre-coverage and if anyone doesn’t think that’s possible than they shouldn’t be in the industry.

By: Darren Paterson

Darren Paterson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:56:55 +0000

how do you get PR coverage the day prior to the stunt, when the event itself is the whole reason for the coverage?

By: Lisa Moulton

Lisa Moulton — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:54:44 +0000

I think it was a fantastic promotion but maybe it would have been wise to have had tv, newspaper, radio coverage the day before rather than after.

By: Darren Paterson

Darren Paterson — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:38:59 +0000

.. I saw this on Weather Channel last night. They used it for background footage while reporting the forecast for Sydney’s hot weather to come. Though you couldn’t see the outlines on the towels, I surmised it was a marketing stunt of some kind and wondered how old it might be and if this was stock footage? Not that the avg punter would necessarily have followed the same thought process…
Agree with all the comments above.. any resulting mass media coverage is generally enough to take a modest experiential “stunt” into positive ROI, which it most certainly would have done in this case and therefore achieved its objective. More often than not, these are one small part of a much larger campaign too Tim. The point is that you DID see the TVC, you did understand the point of the stunt, you were able to explain it to somebody and this is the point of integrated communications plans.. when planned and implemented well, they combine in a symbiotic relationship to generate greater awareness and WOM.
Nice idea, well done guys.

By: sven

sven — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:16:36 +0000

Come on Tim…you’re showing your ad-centricity. I have to agree with Scott and Rachael – this was a clever, creative PR idea that got major mass media coverage on TV and again in the early general news section of the SMH this morning. That even a couple of thousand people on the beach that day might not have understood it is no big deal – especially when the curiosity of one was piqued enough to write about it on his blog! How many more went away and discussed it with their friends, family etc? I would wager hundreds. The word of mouth effect was probably better than if the stunt had been obvious, come to think of it…this is an excellent example of integrated communications, in that respect…creative experiential idea executed at low cost with massive amplification through free press and word of mouth…

By: Scott Pettet

Scott Pettet — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:28:10 +0000

With Rachael here. Although there may have been some residual benefit for punters at Bondi, I’d suggest the main aim here was to provide some interesting visuals for news media, not as a stunt, viral etc. Certainly seems to have achieved it’s aim there as it was all over TV on the weekend.

Good job Cancer Council.