And we’re not talking about Z-list-celebs-skirt-blows-up-in-a-gust-of-wind-Marilyn-stylee stunt at the Soap Awards. We’re talking about the strategic campaigns that have been precisely planned and executed by the talented PR staff working behind the scenes.

Our favourites of the year so far have been the Tropicana sun installation in Trafalgar Square, which banished the winter blues briefly for Londoners up early enough to enjoy it in all its glory.

Then there’s the Castlemaine XXXX island that has been leased by the Australian brewery, who are now asking members of the public to decide how the island should be developed (the research trip alone would have been worth the potential ridicule from colleagues for suggesting such an outlandish idea).

The Anton Berg Generous Store also caught our eye (and made us a little peckish as an office of chocolate lovers) as the world’s first chocolate store where you could only pay with a promise of a good deed rather than money. Backed up by signing into Facebook and contacting the person you promise to do the good deed for, the video has so far racked up an impressive 70,000 plus hits on YouTube.

And we can’t talk about great stunts without mentioning HROC’s recent choice as campaign of the week, featuring a seemingly innocuous button placed in a sleepy town in Belgium.

Celebrating the launch of a new TV channel TNT designed to bring some ‘drama’ to local television, when the ‘push this button for drama’ button is pushed all hell breaks loose with a series of comedy antics unfolding too numerous to mention, catching the unaware pusher completely off guard. So far the video has amassed an immense 30,000,000 plus views showing what a little creative thinking can accomplish.

Seemingly, the age of the PR stunt appears to not only be alive and well, but is also a successful means of getting across your message to a wider audience in a memorable way. You only have to search #prstunt on Twitter to find more great examples.

Stunt activity is a fun and fast way of gaining awareness, editorial coverage and buzz about a product or brand. With the use of social media; news of stunt activity can spread like wildfire, meaning talkability can sky rocket while ROI can be easily monitored qualitively e.g. how may people are engaging with it, who is tweeting/Facebooking about it? Hopefully, if the campaign has been well planned, it will reach its target audience and more.

HROC’s most recent stunt took place at the Ideal Home Show for our client Geberit AquaClean – a state of the art WC that cleans you with water and includes a model that dries you also. The product range was launched at the show last year and, with no ‘new’ models to speak of, our brief was to re-ignite interest in the product and generate activity to create a buzz and additional footfall/interest in the stand.

Thus, the ‘Jubiloo’ was born (get it? Jubilee and loo… I’m wasted in PR). The theme explored the notion of the Geberit Aquaclean as a throne befitting Her Majesty herself. With that in mind, we drafted in the UK’s most qualified Queen impersonator to meet her loyal subjects, which tied in perfectly given that the HRH Prince of Wales officially opened the show (coincidence… I think not!). Throughout the event the Queen and the Jubiloo caused quite a stir with more than a few having to double-take.

Of course, stunts don’t always go according to plan and there are some horrible examples of stunts going wrong (we’re too kind to name any of them). Whilst the right stunt can make a brand, a wrong stunt can easily break a brand too, so it’s important that you have the right team behind the idea to plan it as precisely as possible.

But in the end, remember: ‘there is only one thing in the world worse than being talked about and that is not being talked about’ (Oscar Wilde).

“What is your role?”

“Isn’t that what the account handler is supposed to do?”

“Aren’t you just a suit?”

How many times have any of us, who work on the account handling side, heard these and many more questions like them?

Too often – that’s how many.

So, maybe this is a good time to remind all parties (that would be clients and colleagues) of a few basics.

I’m not going to differentiate here between a junior account executive and, say, a board level account director. Let’s just say the basics apply to all of us account handlers; because, whatever the level of seniority, that’s what we do – we handle accounts!

Do’s and Don’ts

Account handlers do:

-       act as the main contact in an agency for the client on a day-to-day basis, helping to ensure that the client’s overall needs are met

-       make sure the specific requirements and needs of the client are understood and adhered to

-       ensure the work is briefed, scheduled and completed on time

-       make certain the work is produced to the appropriate a high standard

-       work within the financial budgets agreed with the client

-       develop an ongoing and mutually beneficial relationship between the client and the agency

-       have an opinion and make sure it’s heard

Account handlers don’t:

-       work as an unpaid member of the client’s staff or a runner for other departments in the agency

-       have a crystal ball

-       know exactly what you mean, when you say “You know what I want”

-       act as a punch bag (verbal or physical) for frustrated clients, creatives or suppliers because things are not going as you want them to or simply because you got out of bed the wrong side

Is it fun and glamorous?

Erm…

Yes. It can be fun.

But it is also damned hard work keeping everyone happy, and a watchful eye on all the jobs in the system to ensure nothing falls off the edge of the table. So, is it glamorous? No!

Remember… the more love, care, time and most importantly INFORMATION you give to your account handler, the happier they are and that’s what gets everyone better results.

What have I done?

On a cold January afternoon, a few people in the office started discussing the Three Peaks Challenge and what fun it would be to do. I immediately volunteered.

Well, why wouldn’t you when the reality of the situation is that these hare-brained ideas rarely come to anything, and actually I could put myself forward safe in the knowledge that we wouldn’t really do it after all.

Bad news. We’re doing it. On the 10^th June 2011.

The enormity of what we’ve let ourselves in for is starting to slowly sink in. Depending on who you talk to, and which websites you look at, the total mileage covered on foot ranges between 22 and 26 miles. The total ascent is over 10,000 ft. All in 24 hours, across three countries.

For those of you who don’t know, the Three Peaks Challenge is essentially a race to climb Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowdon within a 24 hour time period, which obviously includes travelling time between each mountain.

Our group of intrepid adventurers include three PR consultants, our head of digital, our planning director, one of our developers, one account handler and a graphic designer. Mad, each and every one.

We aim to start the ascent on Ben Nevis around 4pm on Friday 10^th June, travel later in the evening to Scafell Pike in Cumbria and start the ascent in the middle of the night, in the dark, having had little or no sleep. Then the fun continues with a five hour or so journey to Wales where we start our final assault on Snowdon. The objective being to be back at the foot of Snowdon by 4pm on Saturday.

Ha. Hahahahaha.

The reason we are doing all of this is to raise money for CLIC Sargent, a national charity supporting children and their families living with cancer.

Every day 10 families are told the devastating news that their child has cancer. CLIC Sargent is the only charity offering them care and support every step of the way.

So there’s that, and the fact that we are all clearly insane.

We’ve set up a just giving page  http://www.justgiving.com/hroc3peaks for anyone wishing to support the team and we’re aiming to raise £5000 for the charity.

I can’t believe I’ve let myself in for this.

More updates to follow on our blog over the coming months and thanks to everyone who has supported us so far.

Not sure if it’s me or whether, at this stage in my life (or should I say ‘my kids’ lives’), it just seems to be highlighted more. But recently my attention was drawn to a shop in Birmingham, allegedly the first of its brand in this country, called Forever 21. According to people between the ages of 13 and 21 – admittedly based on a small research group of about four teenagers – there is no shop in the world, let alone the UK, that is as great as this place.

Now I’ve stood outside this shop and, to me, it looks like an upmarket version of Primark combined with H&M, just with brighter lights, better point of sale and a Costa.

This may just start to sound like a grumpy old man complaining that he doesn’t look good in skinny jeans and a thin tie (and shirt) anymore. But it’s not (well, a bit maybe). On the contrary, it’s a ‘pat on the back’ for a retailer who, somehow, through their visual communications and point of sale experience, seems to have succeeded in creating some kind of unconditional loyalty amongst the people that, I am sure, it considers its target audience.

Apparently, the fact that it looks like an upmarket version of Primark combined with H&M, with brighter lights, better point of sale and a Costa is exactly what makes it ‘completely out there, man’.

Oh, also, the fact it has an American department store feel to it (? – whatever) and is spread across three floors, makes it the best shopping experience in the world. Not really sure how you can have a department store that just sells clothes, but, hey, that’s kids for you.

Anyway, I did point out to my daughter and (much to her embarrassment) her friend, that Waterstones has five floors and its own Costa and has lots of departments.

Not well received.

Let’s face it, I’ve never been in and never will, and I didn’t see anyone over 21 in there when I walked past.

Thing is though. If it’s called Forever 21, shouldn’t it really be for sad losers like me who’ve gone past that particular landmark in life but just can’t seem to let it go? Not for those who still can’t drink, drive, vote, go to college/university…

What will it mean? Well two theories exist on that…

Evolutionist Theory:

1) No dramatic change as free prop supply already exists – brands have appeared in UK programmes for decades.

2) Strict controls will still apply – under the new rules placements cannot be promotional, they have to be editorially justified and cannot be too prominent.

3) Placement is limited to films, drama’s entertainment and sports programming (news, current affairs, children’s programmes are excluded).

4) The main broadcasters expect initial revenues to be modest, with ITV categorically stating that they did not want to replicate the US model.

5) Evolutionists argue that product placement will drive positive benefits for Advertiser Funded Programming with brand owners being more willing to invest in content that allows them to place their products within shows.

6) It took broadcast sponsorship over 20 years to accumulate revenues of £200m (representing less than 6% of current TV spot advertising revenue).

Revolutionist Theory:

1) Proponents of the revolutionist theory cite the US experience as a barometer of what will happen in the UK – where up to 11 product placements per clock hour are common within prime time.

2) The shift to paid for product placement will drive up advertiser costs and thus encourage brands to demand more overt prominence, thus generating more consumer complaints.

3) Ofcom will flag up every show with a warning symbol that includes product placement.

4) Revolutionists argue that revenues will be directly transferred from existing spot advertising and sponsorship.

5) If a brand wants to align itself to a certain celebrity there are no guarantees that the broadcaster will be able to control the deals, as agents and producers will transform the negotiation context.

Whatever ideology you support there can be little debate that times are changing. As with most things in life, the most resilient species will be the ones that successfully adapt their strategies to negate the challenges and exploit the new opportunities created by the product placement rev/evolution.

A combination of new business wins and an ever growing team means that we need more room and the Georgian building next door to our current premises offers about half again in terms of space.

The new building will be open for business on Monday 29^th November and we’re looking forward to welcoming all our clients to see our fab new offices.

Our digital team has doubled in size this year with three new starters in November alone, not withstanding the ever-growing PR and creative services teams.

The move heralds yet another positive step for HRO’C Group as our client portfolio continues to swell. It’s also a good venue for the office summer BBQ.