Published June 20, 2024

Everyone knows Airbnb can offer you a place to stay.

But what about a once-in-a-lifetime experience? Airbnb’s Icons category offers travelers a night in Prince’s Purple Rain house or the Pixar balloon house from Up!.

It’s obvious Icons is a cool idea. What’s not obvious is that this new product extension stemmed from the communications team. It paid off from an earned media perspective with 10,500 stories and 15 million page views. The idea is also now a revenue driver.

Big, creative PR ideas – executed well – have many benefits. A major one? You get your brand to live rent-free in everyone’s heads.

But it’s not always as easy as it seems to land on those PR ideas. These guidelines will help.

Brainstorm on the Right Track

Creative PR ideas are often born in a brainstorm. And, while it’s true that brainstorm etiquette is “no idea is a bad idea,” the organizer is responsible for establishing ground rules. That way, the team doesn’t waste valuable time on ideas that are completely off base.

Let the following questions guide your ideation and keep you honest:

The Hard Guardrails:

What’s the objective? – You can’t have a successful idea without a why. What is it that you want to achieve: increase brand awareness, launch a new product or service, or something different? There also may be an overarching objective for clients but differing ones for each campaign. For example, one of our clients in the CMS industry recently launched a brand awareness campaign. Our PR ideas to support that campaign had nothing to do with the “CMS” and everything to do with getting noticed by mainstream media.

Who is our target audience? – Is it an event for existing customer engagement? Or to tap into a brand-new audience? We once had a great idea tied to aspiring entrepreneurs but tossed it because it didn’t hit the enterprise tech decision-makers our client was asking for.
When do you want to execute this? – Sometimes there’s a hard timeline: a holiday, event, new market or product launch, fundraising moment. Many times there’s not. Be honest about strict timelines upfront because there’s nothing worse than taking a winning concept with no chance of being executed in time to decision-makers. Don’t be a tease.

The Creative Guardrails:

Is this going to drive coverage? – If media coverage is indeed a main KPI, kill any idea that will not achieve it. Remember that the first version of a concept might not be the winner, but the beauty of brainstorms is that you build creative PR ideas in concert with others. We’ve often seen one idea morph dramatically during a brainstorm.
A video testimonial series with customers might be a smart move for sales and marketing, but think about what you can add to the PR idea to drive media. A how-fast-can-you-kick-the-soccer-ball competition at a stadium won’t do the trick, but what if you can get one of the soccer stars to participate and invite a journalist exclusively?
Does this fit our narrative? – DemandCurve put it best: “Make your message so integral to the narrative that people can’t tell or experience the story without it.”

When we debuted Imalac’s new breastfeeding pump at CES years ago, the value proposition was made clear from the start. It’s a product made for nursing mothers by nursing mothers. There wasn’t a video demonstrating it or the engineer who manufactured it. It was the mother-daughter duo, who struggled with milk production themselves, showing how it was used in real-time.

If some PR ideas meet the hard and creative guardrails, you can begin pushing them forward. If not, that signals it’s time to head back to the drawing board.

PRO TIP: Not all ideas are born in the brainstorm. Letting your mind wander – be amazed, experience silence – allows you to learn from your imagination. For me, I get most of my creative PR ideas when I’m in the middle of meetings with brands talking about strategy or when I’m starting to doze off at night.

Be Objective, No Matter Where the Big Brand Idea Came From

I had an old boss tell me once: “Our number one job is to bring objectivity to the brand's decision-making process.” It’s stuck with me all these years because it’s true. We have to think like reporters to know what will drive them to say yes.

With that in mind, it’s time to dig into the PR ideas that made the cut with an objective lens.

How much work is involved? – As an agency partner, we’ve found the more work that must be handled by the client, the less likely the idea will take off. So, we keep client responsibilities to a minimum.
This means we often tap external partners to help get things done. It can be a designer who builds the brand guidelines for a new signature event we’re planning, a celebrity booker with connections to ideal spokespersons, or a street team that can help us execute a guerilla stunt.

What is the budget range for each idea? When you present the idea to decision-makers, it’s a good idea to rank ideas or label them from least to most costly. I wouldn’t recommend spending too much time on getting exact dollar amounts at this stage. Pull on your collective team’s experience or phone some friends for quick estimates. And pad your budget ranges so you have some wiggle room.

Is it right for the people behind the brand? You’ll want to be sure that the team you’re working with will be on board and excited about the idea – no hesitations or cold feet. Most times, your day-to-day contact is rarely the one calling the final shot on the go-ahead, consider if the brand executives will go for it, and be ready to convince them.

You may conclude that a PR idea requires too much effort for the payoff or is way outside of a normal budget for your brand and that’s okay. It’s part of the process.

PR agencies should also objectively respond to client’s ideas. Ask the same questions, run the same tests, give an honest answer, and come up with solutions or alternatives. This shows proactivity and that you aren’t willing to accept the first no – in this situation or others.

The original idea for Victrola’s Sonos turntable launch was to build out a space in NYC that mimicked a classic city apartment. But that quickly became a challenge for several reasons – if you’ve ever lived in an apartment in the city, I’m sure you get why. So we suggested pivoting the idea, still salvaging a piece of the original vision. We ended up finding a beautiful hotel overlooking Midtown Manhattan with soaring ceilings that made for great acoustics and views.

Transparency is a cornerstone of a solid client/agency relationship and you don’t want to be left executing an idea that has little chance for coverage.

Testing PR Ideas Before Going All In

Remember that not every idea will be executable the way it was brought up during the brainstorming. You may have a kernel of something good but need to put it to the test and grow from there.

Here are some PR campaign examples with ways you can experiment:

Phasing it over time

One year we partnered with our Florida Funders VC clients and other partners to launch a thought leadership conference and social gathering event tied to the #MiamiTech ecosystem. In year one, we kept it to a smaller crowd and recorded and distributed a video series with local entrepreneurs, community leaders, and politicians. In year two we upped the game with a bigger event and a creative comic book recap to make a statement. Year three could include joint research reports and more.

Starting local

Sometimes it’s too risky to go full-fledged into a national approach. Instead, kick off your idea in a less expensive city or where you know there’s a niche audience for your play.

For example, one of our retail clients needed a new way to maximize sales. Instead of putting their entire budget toward a national broadcast campaign, we started by getting it in front of smaller segments of target customers. After analyzing performance and seeing sales rise, we shifted to a national-scale broadcast. Starting smaller gave us the gut check we needed before we did something bigger.

Attaching your new idea to an established one

For example, our client Upper Deck wanted to make a splash at the National Sports Collectors Convention (NSCC, being held in Chicago). They were launching a new Michael Jordan line of collectibles in honor of the Chicago Bulls’ 25th Anniversary of their sixth championship win and needed to do something bold.

The vision? A see-through truck decked out with action shots of MJ, with Bulls and Upper Deck branding traveling outside of NSCC – the largest sports collectors event in the world. This meant the media were already in the area and looking for stories to cover, and it paid off for the brand.

The Bottom Line of Big Creative PR Ideas

If someone requests a “big idea,” be clear on those hard and creative guardrails upfront. If you were inspired at a random time, make sure to run your idea through these questions to set yourself up for success when you pitch it.

I’m a creative trapped in a publicist’s body so my mind is always racing. That’s why I love being part of a team – constantly reminding ourselves of the direction we’re heading and holding each other accountable to get there.

Landing on the Right Big PR Ideas