First off, here's wishing you and all Buzz Builder blog readers a peaceful and prosperous 2008! Yesterday, I heard an NPR about New Year's resolutions, and I was intrigued to learn that men are more apt to keep their resolutions if they make them as specific as possible whereas women who want to keep their resolutions going throughout the year should make them known to friends who can hold them accountable. Looking back at my blog posting history over the past few months and resolving to do better in 2008, I'm now making a pledge to post at least three times a week.
A couple of years ago, I wrote about what makes publicity stunts succeed as well as some of my favorite ones (mine and others). Yesterday, the Oregon Zoo pulled off a great one with their Polar Bear Plunge that other zoos around the country should consider as an excellent way to generate publicity and contributions. One of the best ways to find an effective publicity stunt is to discover what works in one part of the country and copy it.
For a donation of $500, Plunge participants got to dip into the Oregon Zoo's polar bear pool to raise funds for Polar Bears International through The Oregon Zoo Foundation's Future for Wildlife Fund. Besides helping a species in peril, plungers received a behind the scenes tour of the polar bear exhibit with three Portland TV weathercasters Mark Nelsen (KPTV), Bruce Sussman (KOIN) and Dave Salesky (KGW) who also participated in the plunge.
The stunt was great because it highlighted a perfect message for the zoo - the danger that global warming poises for polar bears and other species. It generated coverage in many Portland media outlets. Last night, the event was covered on most local TV stations. Today, I read about in The Oregonian and heard a story on KOPB, the state's largest NPR station.
Also, kudos to Sorel, an outdoor footwear manufacturer which has a polar bear in its logo, for being the co-sponsor of the Oregon Zoo's event. The company is also doing a clever job at getting people to subscribe to its newsletter by offering to increase its donation to Polar Bears International for every new newsletter subscriber. This message would be even more powerful if Sorel let potential subscribers know how much money goes to Polar Bears International when they subscribed.
