Coming to America - Part 3 by Nick Ferris

Nick was about two weeks into his loft living experience in New York, still living on an air mattress and waiting for his belongings to arrive when he received a phone call on Sept 10th. His girlfriend, whom he thought was packing up her own belongings (she was living in his apartment in London) had decided she would not be coming and called him to say so. He was heartbroken. Nick was very much in love at the time (at least he thought he was) and this was a devastating blow. It can be tough going to a new city or new country and it’s even tougher doing it alone. If you like articles by Nick Ferris you can also check out his marketing series including Nick Ferris - Marketing Tips, Phone Calls Aren't Dead Yet.

Nick put on a brave face, went to work that day and made it through somehow. The one good thing about being busy at work is it can distract you from your inner feelings of heartache and loneliness. It’s not until you get back home to your blow up mattress that things really set in. Don’t forget to check out other essays like Nick Ferris, Digital Marketing Beyond the Box.

The next day, Sept 11th Nick Ferris took the train to work as normal. Only this day, he took the wrong train. Uptown and Downtown sounds simple enough but for someone new in the city the platforms can sometimes be confusing and he ended up taking the train the wrong direction to the World Trade Centre. He quickly got off, crossed the platform and went back uptown to the offices on Madison in the 50s.

Nick Ferris had not been at work long when he received an email from my brother about a small plane crashing into the World Trade Centre. This had happened before and he had no reason to think it was anything other than just another accident. Then the calls started coming in from friends abroad and everyone became glued to their desks watching the news.

That was a day he’ll never forget as we all watched the World Trade Centres fall down. It was a surreal experience being in the city as it unfolded.

PR Stunts Part 4 by Nick Ferris

So let’s talk about some of the PR Stunts Nick Ferris has done across his positions. In other essays like Nick Ferris - Marketing Tips, Phone Calls Aren't Dead Yet we’ve talked about using old media but this next example was using cutting edge tech to draw PR. Working in predominantly B2B areas the opportunities are a little more limited - quite often you are trying to get the attention of a few hundred or a few thousands at best given the products are very niche. You’re not looking for a widespread million view of something as that won’t necessarily translate into sales.

One thing Nick Ferris pioneered back in the early 2000s was the use of gamifying to drive trials and subscriptions. He was working with Institutional Investors and trying to increase the circulation of the main magazine in his portfolio. Given the audience were predominantly traders, he worked with a third party to develop an interactive game. Don’t forget to also check out his other article Nick Ferris, Digital Marketing Beyond the Box.

The game let people catch bags of money that were falling from skyscrapers and had a league table. Adding that competitive element ensured traders (who are naturally very competitive in their industry) would play the game over and over as well as share it. The game was built by a third party for roughly $10,000 and was played by over 50,000 people.

At the end of the game, users could opt to take a free trial to the publication as well as subscribe. Nick Ferris helped orchestrate a PR release when the game came out too, so people knew about it and covered in the press. The game helped generate over 150 trials and 25 subscriptions which netted a year one profit of over $10,000 and lifetime profit which was a multiple of that.

So games really can work in the B2B space and generate sales. You have to be clever in your content and make sure it matches the audience. When you’re targeting traders, a game about puppies probably would not have worked quite so well! And be sure to Beta test. Send the demo to people who are your target audience and make any adjustments and refinements before releasing wild into the public.

The last thing you want is a PR stunt backfiring on you, advises Nick Ferris. Sometimes no PR is better than bad PR.