Is it really true that no idea is a new idea?  Just ask Eden, the natural history channel which launched in 2009 by sailing a giant sculpture of a polar bear down the Thames in London.  It was an image that flooded (excuse the pun) the press featuring in most national media and even internationally.  It was probably one of the better PR stunts.  So good in fact that the company decided to do it again.  I was surprised to see the latest PR activity by the channel, launched this weekend, featuring a replica of the Sahara desert placed just next to, erm, the Thames… again…

The impact was good.  I caught it on the London ITV news, it was in The Evening Standard and a small Google search showed a respectful amount of cut-through but why would the brand do the same, so quickly after its launch?

In truth, the simple fact is that most of the best PR ideas are copied from previous examples.  Look at the ‘Best job in the world’.  A great PR campaign but shares more than a passing resemblance to the boy applying to be ‘The Chief Taster of Walkers Crisps’.  And the Dove ‘Campaign for Real Women’.  Replace the product with a vase or jug of Orange Juice, and you have the ‘Calendar Girls’.  Even the recent Yeo Valley advert has been copied from YouTube clips of rapping farmers…

The real skill in PR is in the execution.  Take any idea, make it better and then sell the arse off it and you have a campaign worthy of awards.  The Sahara Desert campaign for Eden is simply a great example of a team who clearly have great media contacts and can sell ice to Eskimo’s.  Other than that, it’s just another stunt.