Gold - The stunt that never was

Background

For two consecutive years online magazine NZGirl had made a splash at The Big Day Out, New Zealand’s largest music festival. In 2004 they flew a small plane over the event with the banner: Scott Kelly has got a small dick. Don’t mess with NZGirls. For $5,000 it increased visitors to the website by 20%.

In 2005 they invited readers to submit names for the Worst Boyfriend of The Year. At the Big Day Out the plane revealed that ‘Josh Short likes it with a strap-on.’

In 2006 everyone was expecting something just as impactful.

Idea

The idea was not to do anything. A press release told the 40,000 crowd to look to the skies at 3pm, the same time as the previous years’ stunts. But nothing happened. Instead actors in the crowd spread a rumour that NZGirl had kidnapped a guy, strapped him naked beneath a helicopter to be flown across the crowd. He had accidentally fallen and was in hospital.

To build the rumour, fake photos and footage were released online.

Blog sites and the press worked away doing the rest of the job until the New Zealand Civil Aviation Authority opened an official investigation.

Results

The effect was massive, with NZGirl being the main topic of conversation for weeks. Memberships increased by 10% as people rushed to hear how NZGirl had fooled the country into creating and spreading an urban myth. Advertising spend increased by a massive 52%.

Our Thoughts

The campaign that truly harnesses the power of a great brand idea with a considered execution is NZGirl. Demonstrating their knowledge and understanding of human behaviour and the tools with which to manipulate it, NZGirl hijacked the industry in which, ironically, they operate. A compelling example of their ability to keep people talking, thus instigating a rise in advertising spend.

Little media dollars spent. Great use of a human insight. Intelligently executed. Success.