Daring PR stunts entice consumers and excite the media, but they can also put valued brands at risk. So what's the secret of telling a good story?

In May 2009, the agency responsible for one of the more memorable publicity stunts of the 1990s closed for business. Industry insiders said the demise of Cunning Stunts, which projected a nude photograph of former TV presenter Gail Porter on to the Houses of Parliament in 1999 for FHM magazine, signalled the death knell for experiential marketing. Cunning Stunts' co-founder Anna Carloss explained at the time: "Stunts are seen as a want-to-do, not a need-to-do and that attitude is impacting on the experiential market."

But if agencies can prove return on investment (ROI) or direct sales, targeting customers through stunts or memorable media stories can still be a good way of gaining recognition, raising awareness or influencing public perception of a brand. And these tactics remain on the agenda for many companies, often falling under the ambient or guerrilla marketing umbrella.

If the activity is good enough, people will often refer back to it—the Porter stunt was more than a decade ago but is still referenced today, providing frequent free publicity for FHM. More recently, Tourism Queensland's award-winning Best Job in the World campaign, which advertised for an "island caretaker", has been dubbed "the world's greatest PR stunt". It generated enormous coverage, online and offline, and directly engaged with consumers. Tourism Queensland claims that the campaign generated more than A$80m (£49m) of equivalent media advertising space on a relatively low budget.

As well as being memorable, a stunt should create a huge rise in interest, says Helen Trevorrow, founder of communications agency Green Row, who confirms that companies are still interested in trying something controversial or innovatively different to evoke emotion and create a buzz.

But she's concerned that many businesses have a misguided view about stunts. There are caveats, she says. "Stunts are best done on well-known brands, and careful consideration needs to go into whether the stunt conveys or encapsulates the brand's key messages. Stunts for irreverent brands tend to work well, and they're good to launch a service or product. But they're high risk and you might not get anything out of it at the end."

The key to a successful stunt, says Trevorrow, is planning. "We do them here but only in the context of the whole campaign. The stunt is a tactic; the sexy end of PR. It's like the tip of the iceberg—the bit that sticks out. But what you don't see is the masses of work that goes on behind the scenes. The stunt has to come at the end of a period of strategic thinking and consultation."

A good example of how a well-timed PR story or stunt can improve a firm's bottom line, if the brand is right, is dating agency beautifulpeople.com. Founded by Greg Hodge and Robert Hintze, the agency arrived on the market in October 2009 with a splash of controversy because of its basic premise-only beautiful people need apply. After a big wave of early coverage the business wanted to maintain interest by causing an even bigger stir. "It wanted to be at the centre of some controversial debate, and to be known as the only dating site where you have to be beautiful," recalls Miki Haines-Sanger, co-founder of Golden Goose, the UK agency that does its PR.

It was thought that if people are voted on to the worldwide site using photographs for being attractive, could they equally be voted off for gaining weight "that didn't suit them" over Thanksgiving and the Christmas period? The "festive fatties" story was conceived.

The business used its technology to introduce a migration system to the site, which transported members with unsatisfactory new photos back to the rating stage. Members whose new photos had scored lowly were then made to apply again.

Once the voting off had begun, Golden Goose set to work. "We had our global release translated by PR Newswire into 40 languages. We called nearly 200 media companies and PR Newswire hit every single country on its database. We hit bloggers, websites, newswires, print media and broadcast. We set up a satellite office in Los Angeles and wrote detailed questions and answers for the client so that it could answer challenging media questions—we knew they'd be criticised. For two weeks solid our phones rang 24/7."

The reason the stunt worked, says Haines-Sanger, is because the brand wanted to cause controversy—"its very existence is controversial; it's one of their brand values". But there was a serious business motive, too. The story handed beautifulpeople.com the opportunity to publicise key distinctions. "It showed that on beautifulpeople.com, you're not allowed to misrepresent yourself. Unlike rival sites, the person you're going to meet is going to look the same or better in real life. You enter of your own free will; it's a democratic way to date."

The results, for an outlay of £10,500 (Golden Goose's fee) were staggering. Within 24 hours there were 48,000 new applications to join; the site received 2.2 million hits during the first three days of the campaign; by the end of the first fortnight traffic had risen by 700 per cent and ad revenue by 400 per cent. "It was beneficial controversy," says Haines-Sanger.

She says businesses can grab attention in two ways. A clever stunt tends to be costly, she warns, but tight brainstorming and a sizeable budget can be a winning combination. "Mischief PR did a brilliant campaign for the launch of a gory video game, MadWorld. It placed severed arms holding copies around London to coincide with the launch. That's genius. But you've got to have a budget. You can't just buy a rubbish severed arm from a joke shop."

So what's the alternative? A good PR agency will hear you out and give you a unique story to tell that gets you into the news. Sometimes, a survey will be enough, Haines-Sanger adds. "It's worth looking at the news agenda like we did with weight gain at Christmas. Look at what the media are thinking about for a news angle."

Trevorrow at Green Row agrees. "News editors are looking for stories all the time so do something to get in there—you might have a nice product that you can do product placement on." But she warns: "Stunts can be hit and miss, so consider what happens after. It has to be clear about what people are meant to do. Certain elements will make it: sex, conflict, controversy, but consumers are savvy now. They know what a stunt is, or they think they know." So don't forget the boring bits. "What establishes a brand is consistent seeding of your messages over time. It's not just one picture of someone with their bits out."

Dos and don'ts
• Do ensure the stunt is part of a well thought-out strategy—it takes careful planning
• Don't make the mistake of thinking all stunts are low-cost—the good ones require a budget
• Do think about the news agenda and plan ahead—news editors look for stories all the time
• Don't forget to seed your brand as well, by sending out consistent messages over and again
• Do consider a stunt if you're a well-known or irreverent brand or to raise awareness
• Don't give away too many details—it will spoil the surprise and may alert the authorities