This is an archived blog from when I ran Conscious Public Relations Inc. from 2008-2018. Excuse the potential outdated-ness!
An old-school marketing tactic that might just work now
REEEEMIIIIIX!
Thank you PRNewser (via Adweek) for providing the inspiration for this week’s blog, on bringing back Skywriting.
They list real examples (recent ones too) of companies and individuals in the U.S. using skywriting to promote, to share political messages, to create art, and even to apologize, and the pros and cons of it.
I would say it’s even less commonly used in Vancouver, since I haven’t read anything in the sky lately. The great thing about bringing back a tactic that was once used often – but isn’t anymore – is that you can make it new again. (People are still advertising a lot on other media so…stay away.) And, with the use of visual social media like YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest, just like a news article or interview about your company, you can help the message to last a bit longer and reach more people than just during the time the message was shown.
PRNewser warns that if it becomes a method used too frequently, it’ll again lose its cache. So you have to be careful that you’re not hopping on the bandwagon just because. Maybe you can go back to the books (seriously – let’s go through old school marketing books!) and find another antiquated method that could be revived using today’s technology.
And with that, here is an updated video on what Advertising is… because I think we all need a review and reminder that Advertising is paid, Editorial (print or online stories, broadcast reports) is not.
Have you effectively brought back an old school method that you believe no one else is using but you? (I understand if you deliberately keep it to yourself!)
