In the previous post I mentioned an effective publicity stunt and ways writers can promote their book. Today I have another example.
The U.S. Center for Disease Control, folks not known to be a barrel of laughs or particularly prone to stunts, created a guide called “Don’t be a Zombie, Be Prepared.” It contains information that also happens to be useful for preparing for a hurricane, which tends to be a bigger problem than zombies.
People were used to much drier, more sober materials from bodies like the CDC, and the first reactions to the zombies were negative.
The CDC didn’t panic and within a week the site had more than two million views. Furthermore, a survey revealed that people did actually learn from the zombie booklet how to make an emergency kit.
In his “free-range thinking” bulletin Andy Goodman (www.agoodmanonline.com) passes along the moral of the story from the CDC honcho Dr Ali Khan: “"If you have a good idea," he said, "don't give up if the first person you pitch it to doesn't go for it. Just remember what you're trying to achieve, what your core mission is."
Good advice for any creative person.
(If you'd like to be inspired by other examples of low-cost clever marketing you can adapt, get a copy of my book, "Do Something Different," published by Virgin Books with a foreword from Sir Richard Branson. You can get it from Amazon or your other favorite book seller.)
