Give a high-five to KLM, this week’s PR winner!

 11th September 2014    Good and Bad PR 

Good PR

Going the distance

You know when you see a PR stunt and think, “Why didn’t I think of that?” Well, that happened to me recently. On 28th August, New Yorkers and those in Amsterdam were able to exchange high fives through a live video link, via two interactive installations.

The KLM Live High-Five took place as part of the airline’s World Deal Weeks, which started on 27th August and runs through to 15th September (during which there are heavily discounted fares to 100-plus destinations).

The video and audio installations in New York and Amsterdam enabled passers-by to see and hear each other through the live video feed. The challenge? To create the perfect high five through the screen. Easy, right? Not really.

The high fives were judged by the computer for precision and timing and, if they were perfect, the people on each end of the screen doing the high fiving won tickets to either New York or Amsterdam. Technology is cool isn’t it? We all think that now, but when robots take over the world, I’ll be the one saying “I told you so ...”

KLM successfully took a symbol for celebration and happiness (the high five ... keep up!) and aligned it with its brand through the Live High-Five campaign, so it’s easy to see why it was such a success.

Useful choc teapot

In other news, chocolate experts at the Nestle Product Technology Centre in York managed to create a chocolate teapot that held boiling water for two whole minutes to make a drinkable cuppa.

The tea ended up with a hint of chocolate, but I can’t see anything wrong with that. The team managed to disprove the sarcastic phrase “as useful as a chocolate tea pot”. Mmmmm chocolate.

Bad PR

Share scares

Apple has had a bit of a bumpy ride lately, after its share price plummeted following the unveiling of the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch.

First of all, when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 plus devices were announced, the share prices dropped, but the announcement of Apple Pay, the company’s new mobile payment system, sent them back up again. However, the Apple Watch caused share prices to plummet again. The share price has probably climbed again since writing this though, so everyone can relax.

There have also been a few critics of the Apple Watch, due to the fact it needs an iPhone to work; making it more costly for the buyer. Other people have also said that Apple has chosen style over substance with its new watch and that the tech isn’t up to scratch. Ouch! Sorry Apple ... don’t shoot the messenger.

Shannon Haigh, 10 Yetis, @ShazzaYeti on Twitter

Seen any good or bad PR recently, you know what to do, @10Yetis on Twitter or andy@10yetis.co.uk on email.