Content Matters

I've spent most of my career with startups and small companies, so I've never had a big enough marketing budget to do major events. But that doesn't stop me from appreciating the work of others.
Earlier today I got to watch a real pro - Peter Shankman - pull together a very successful promotional effort for Harrah's Atlantic City hotels. Harrah's has gone through a makeover and Shankman's promotional efforts were designed to give away a couple of hundred one-night stays at the hotel, all on June 5.

The campaign centered around a single event which took place during lunch hour today at the corner of Wall Street and Broadway. Shankman arranged for four gorgeous models to be body-painted, complete with Harrah's logos. They gave out "keys" each with a URL and code to get your free room.

Four body-painted gorgeous models will get attention anywhere, particularly in the testosterone-filled Wall Street area. You can see the crowds below and even New York's finest getting into the act.

What made the campaign most interesting to me is that I got to follow the early stages of it through Peter's emails and Twitter tweets. You see, Peter has an intra-day email for the PR community called HARO - "Help a Reporter Out". The emails list specific editorial queries sent to Peter by various journalists. Subscribers (there are now several thousands) respond to those inquiries for which they can provide a relevant response. The service is free and all that Peter asks is that any responses remain on target.  I'd also been following Peter (or as I knew him, @skydiver) on Twitter for a while. Finally at today's event I got to put the face to the tweet, so to speak.

For more details and images, visit Peter Shankman's website.