Huddersfield Town managed to provoke a wide-ranging debate on social media last week with the unveiling of new kit with a ludicrously oversized sponsors logo. Clearly all was not as it seemed, it was indeed a prank courtesy of shirt sponsor Paddy Power
Paddy Power did something shocking and after the initial outburst reveal it’s an outrageous stunt (with a heart of gold ‘Save Our Shirts’). Well it’s not a new headline is it? Paddy Power have been at this game since 1988 but in terms of stunt advertising you probably have to go back to 1870 and PT Barnum, notorious for countless pranks to get people talking about his brand. It was his idea to walk elephants unannounced through mid-western towns to drum up business for his circus.
Many years later in the late 1980’s Crispin Porter + Bogusky adapted an elephant as their logo and the mantra of ‘Walking an elephant through town’ in other words what’s the cultural shift, the talkability this idea can generate? No surprise it was their London office that was responsible for so much of Paddy Powers break out work; Rainbow laces, Tiger Woods sky writing and Chav Tranquilizer at Cheltenham races to name but a few.
On the face of it staging a prank has appeal, it can be a fast, cost effective way to get your brand talked about. But just because you can, does not mean you should. A mantra true of so much in life, but when it comes to stunts in advertising often ignored. There have been great pranks, that gained attention and drove brand value, but and it’s a massive but, for every great one there are countless tone deaf, unfunny acts of desperation. NatWest and its Mansplaining Mr Banker from May of this year certainly comes to mind.
So, what makes a good marketing stunt if its not budget? The key thing is trust. From the from the brand owner to agency to general public. No one wants to be taken for a mug. Illusion and deception have been part of human society since time immemorial. But brands are built on ever more fragile consumer trust. Knowing the true extend of your audiences’ relationship with your brand is key. But so is the relationship between agency and client. While Paddy Powers Huddersfield Town stunt may well have been planned months in advance. It’s rare, normally the opportunity for a stunt is very in the moment which means standard sign off processes have to be accelerated. Which is normally impossible unless brand and agency already trust each other and know each other’s boundary’s.
Finally, it should go without saying but unless you invest in the time and effort to nurture creativity all will be lost. Having seen first-hand the creation of some of Paddy Powers campaigns, what appears to be a spur of the moment stunt, is the product of extremely talented, senor people working extremely long hours sweating the detail to get it right.
Finally, is the ‘Save Our Shirt’ campaign with Huddersfield Town and now Motherwell FC any good? While for the football teams it’s a win, loads more preseason publicity than their budgets could have hoped for. For Paddy Power being an outspoken brand in a category facing growing criticism of its prominent shirt sponsorships the idea of championing ‘unsponsoring’ is a smart move and potentially has a life much bigger than a one-off stunt. Like the afore mentioned Rainbow laces campaign to tackle homophobia in football, what was a one-off stunt in 2013 is now an annual event. Maybe over and above all the manufactured fuss with Huddersfield’s fake sash the notion of ‘unsponsoring’ by a gambling brand may just be the real deal.
