Brand Marketing Stunts Create Noise But Little Else

In Pursuit of a Creative to Go Viral, Brands Resort to All Kinds of Gimmicks. In the Bargain, Brands Can Plunge from the Sublime to the Ridiculous

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In early January, German sportswear brand PUMA created a buzz on social media when it changed its billboards and store signage to read PVMA. Some thought it was a typographical error, while others reckoned it had something to do with PUMA's brand ambassador, Virat Kohli. As it turned out, the company had onboarded Indian shuttler P V Sindhu as its ambassador. The temporary altering of the company name to include Sindhu's initials was to welcome the partnership and mark PUMA's entry into the badminton category with high-performance range in footwear, apparel and accessories. PVMA sparked online chatter with people either appreciating or panning the move.

Another such recent marketing stunt put the home salon start-up YesMadam in the line of fire on social media when it posted that it had sacked a number of its employees via email for complaining about stress at work. The instant backlash eventually forced the company to clarify that the post was part of a planned marketing campaign to talk about stress at work. Consumers trashed the marketing stunt for treating a serious issue like layoffs frivolously. The only upside of the controversy was that people who had never heard of the YesMadam app became aware of the service brand.