Product Publicity Effectiveness

Situations in which product publicity is most effective is when you are: introducing a new product, eliminating distribution problems with retail outlets, working a limited budget and strong competition, explaining a complicated product, or tying the product to a unique representative. When introducing a new product, you are generating attention to the announcement of a new creation. When Gigi Hadid collaborated with Tommy Hilfiger to release a clothing line with the brand, they did a press tour all over the nation and even had a carnival on the South Street Seaport (Bernstein, 2015). For eliminating distribution problems with retail outlets, consumers essentially have to demand the product. A great example of this is when the popular beauty influencer, Huda Kattan, released her cosmetics line at Sephora, but it was not carried in my local Sephora. After I had asked a sales representative if they had it in stock, she said they did not carry it and that I was not the first person to ask about it. When I went to the store the following month, they had Kattan’s products available for purchase. When firms have a limited budget and strong competition, they rely primarily on publicity. The creators of the sneaker line, APL, are two brothers who are friends with the Kardashian family and often rely on Kourtney and Khloe to post about their line through social media (Johns, 2016). Publicity is also great when firms have a complicated product, to show off the benefits and how to use it. An example of this would be Screenshop having Kim Kardashian explain how the app works through a series of videos on Instagram (Overdeep, 2017). Furthermore, tying a product to a unique representative would be like having a mascot. An example of this would be MetLife using Snoopy and the Peanuts in their advertisements up until 2016 (La Monica, 2016).

Bernstein, J. 2015. Gigi hadid and tommy hilfiger join forces on a collection. New York Times.

https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/17/fashion/gigi-hadid-and-tommy-hilfiger-join-forces-on-a-collection.html

Johns, N. 2016. Khloé kardashian shows off apl running shoes on snapchat. Footwear News.

http://footwearnews.com/2016/focus/athletic-outdoor/khloe-kardashian-apl-athletic-propulsion-labs-running-shoes-snapchat-222598/

La Monica, P. 2016. Good grief! Metlife is dumping snoopy. CNN. http://money.cnn.com/2016/10/20/investing/metlife-snoopy-peanuts-blimp/index.html

Overdeep, M. 2017. Kim kardashian west's new fashion app will change how you shop. InStyle.

http://www.instyle.com/news/kim-kardashians-new-app-screenshop