Banksy is back at it again. His latest, and arguably most notorious publicity stunt, shredding the beloved Girl With Balloon, which had just been auctioned off for a cool million pounds, has stopped the world and everyone in it.
Is it real? How long had he planned this? Was it all set up? Is he a shadow magician walking amongst us? Just some of the unanswered and seemingly bewildered questions revered artists, journalists, general public and apparent insiders have been asking over the last couple of days, still none the wiser.
One thing’s for sure though – everyone’s talking about Banksy.
Suddenly everyone’s talking about it
Publicity stunts are not new and have been happening since the dawn of time. The Banksy stunt was executed to perfection, with the result and ripple effect currently now what we’re all involved in.
Banksy’s trending on Twitter, with mass amounts of news coverage and topical discussions taking place about its message. For some, it’s a renewed interest in the artist, for others a brand-new opportunity to find out more.
There’s talk the piece has already doubled in price and it’s only been a matter of days, with some calling it Banksy’s greatest ever work.
As a creative marketing and design agency, here at Digital Glue we have to stop and applaud such a stunt. Isn’t that what public relations, marketing and being a creative is all about? Promoting a particular client or piece of work through a variety of platforms is what we do on a day-to-day basis. This stunt is definitely up there with some of the PR campaigns we wrote about last year.
Of course, Banksy is a very clear example of what can be done if you have the resources at your disposal. But a publicity stunt can be defined in many ways; it doesn’t necessarily have to be big and bold with lots of dollar bills behind it.
What is the impact of a publicity stunt?
A PR stunt looks to work well, garner media attention, raise brand awareness and make an impact. Ultimately, clients need to see a return on investment (ROI) for implementing the stunt in the first place.
The impact of PR can be hard to measure. But certain elements to a PR stunt, such as public perception and tone, Google analytics, social shares and year-on-year growth, can be a real indicator of how successful you’ve been as a company conveying your message and the audience you’re trying to reach and influence.
Publicity stunts have gained in popularity over the years and when performed properly, are a unique way to raise awareness, generate press coverage and quickly create explosive conversations about your brand on social media.
