Wynn Resorts real-time Paris Hilton PR triumph

As most of the connected world knows, Paris Hilton was arrested with her boyfriend on August 27, he on misdemeanor DUI charges, she on felony drug possession charges.

In a September 1 tweet to fans, Hilton said: "These rumors going around are so ridiculous, untrue and cruel. I'm not going to even pay attention to them, because I know the truth."

Whatever.

Wait. There's more. What I absolutely love about this story is that a few days later, Wynn Resorts Ltd. spokeswoman Jennifer Dunne told The Associated Press that Hilton is barred from Wynn Las Vegas and Encore.

Real-Time drafting off breaking news

What Dunne did was absolutely brilliant! Now the media has another news hook. That the party girl is "banned" is now a story in its own right. And a huge one. I'd guess that this is the biggest PR bonanza that Wynn has ever received.

Hey, isn't Hilton a hotel heiress? Yikes how delicious a story..

A quick Google news search for Paris Hilton Wynn brings up a remarkable 5,286 stories from news outlets around the globe. Now everyone is talking about Wynn Resorts!

This tactic—finding something that the news media is talking about and then drafting off of it in real-time—is something I talk a lot about in my new book Real-Time Marketing & PR: How to Instantly Engage Your Market, Connect with Customers, and Create Products that Grow Your Business Now. Amazon affiliate link. The book releases November 1, 2010.

And it's not just consumer-facing companies that can use this technique. In this post from a few months ago I show how B2B companies can use the same method to own quotes in a breaking story that wasn't even about them in the first place. Real-time blog post gets Eloqua CEO tons of B2B ink.

Is PR dead?

Hell no! PR is not dead. It is alive and well and can be a blast to work in... if you think in real-time.

PS: I've always wanted to do a post about Paris Hilton!

Are we having fun or what?

Comments

[Davina K. Brewer]

David, This is nothing new, just that "real time" is a lot faster.

Local businesses often tie into the national trend for more press coverage; if your business had anything to do with say helping Katrina victims, hiring displaced employees.. you had another hook. National brands have worked it the other way, using hot local trends as a second hook.

Speed has always mattered, but now it's faster and more strategic for SEO, social media, etc.

It's a smart strategic play from Wynn, that's getting them "ink" but not sure if it'll be more than brand awareness. IDK.. the Wynn target market seems a little more highbrow than following the goings on of a tabloid celebrity. FWIW.

[Go2Mach2]

David...Thanks

When I read the story, I just stared at my computer and said...Wow, what a great PR hit! Regardless of how anyone feels about Paris Hilton, Wynn just created a great PR story out of nothing. It doesn't get much better than that in the PR world.

I also agree with the previous comment...speed does matter in cases like this. Thanks again...

[David Meerman Scott]

Davina - I agree. However I do see a huge value in this for Wynn. I've heard or seen the Wynn name all over the place -- television news, radio, the paper, online. So when people, even a few years from now, book a Las Vegas trip, they now will say "yeah, I've heard of the Wynn" but not know how they know of it.

Go2Mach2 - Speed is everything. The story is basically over next week.

[Keith@kendall press]

David, you're absolutely right and it's not just about the speed. The hook from the original story broadens the impact as it spreads out to Wynn's own customer and prospect base.

Wynn may or may not be cutting edge for social media but when their prospects and clients do online research at vacation time, they will certainly find many more interesting links to browse and time spent on a site or subject still has great value.

hmmm...it's not too late for me to challenge Seth Godin's "end of publishing" announcement is it?

[David Meerman Scott]

Keith - I'd be interested in how you'd challenge Seth. I've been thinking about his blog post since it came out.

[Remco Janssen]

Hi David,

Great thought! But wouldn't you agree that banning miss Hilton from Wynn Resorts - like you tell people over and over again in your seminars around the world - is just simply the right thing to do? As a high-end brand, you don't want to be associated with the things Paris does in relation to drugs, well maybe in Amsterdam but not in the States, I guess?

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=571238795]

Remco, I agree...it works if your draft is also on the moral high ground. Just drafting to ride along on the latest "story du jour" also has the risk of looking like an ambulance chaser (or in this case, like the Tiger Woods VIP Room! LOL) unless there is a direct, legitimate link. Then it can be brilliant!

[David Meerman Scott]

Remco - Sure, it may be the right thing to do. But most would have done it quietly. I love how Wynn publicized it and got so much attention.

And yes (to the most recent comment) it does need to be a legitimate link.

[Ruth Seeley]

The concept of earning money as a 'party girl' is a business model I still struggle to wrap my head around. On one hand, what Wynn's done can be seen as very opportunistic (but then isn't that at the heart of PR - creating - and taking advantage - of opportunities). On the other hand, in corporate reputation management terms, distancing oneself from those likely to negatively impact one's reputation is a necessity. Glad I only have two hands. ;)

[Mara Conklin]

Hi David,

You're right...speed to market and a good sense of what's trending can make all the difference in gaining significant brand awareness. As long as the trend fits within the company's marketing strategy, it's a win. Perhaps Wynn's strategy is to show they're family friendly...then this fits perfectly in their strategy and it was a smart move.

Sure, most PR people and marketers know this but not many actually implement it.

Thanks for the article!

[Dan Schawbel]

Good eye David.

[Farida Harianawala]

Great example of a very smart PR move. I love how Wynn Resorts used a very timely and sensational piece of news, gave it their own little twist and turned it to their advantage. Clearly, this has worked so much better than sending out the same old boring generic press release announcing some new event or initiative no one cares about. There is a good lesson here for all PR folks. Thanks for sharing.

[Stan Gardner]

I appreciate what Paris released regarding this incident. It shows that even among the rich, and the elite, truth is still powerful enough to feel its warm embrace in this wintry world that would try to freeze us and make us sad.

[David Meerman Scott]

Farida - yes indeed. So much better than a boring old press release.

Stan - I do like how Paris (who has 2.6 million followers) uses Twitter to get her side of the story out right away.

[John White]

>Are we having fun or what?

"Si Paris Hilton n'existait point, il faudrait l'inventer."

(If Paris Hilton didn't exist, we'd have had to invent her anyway.)

If for no other reason than so that we could have fun...

[expressimpression]

That was very clever to grab the opportunity. It is about right message at the right time. Also to be consider when doing these kind of campaign is to make sure it is relevant to your corporate or product and is sending the right positive message. In case of waynn it clearly sent the message they don't support drug. And what can be better pr than Paris Hilton. Like David mentioned 2.6 million visitors.

[Marc Brodeur]

Now if only Paris, France and Paris, Texas banned......Paris Hilton. "Paris bans Paris," would be such a catchy headline.

[Peter Dunin]

great post,Wynn were extremely clever doing this PR stunt,they saw an opportunity and took it.

[David Meerman Scott]

Thank you all for the comments. I'm still reeling with how clever this was. Now I talk about it in my speeches!

[Jeffreymolander]

Clever, yes. But only from a broadcasting standpoint. The Web can do more for Wynn. What if Wynn had quickly developed a downloadable video or PDF explaining the STORY behind how and why Paris was banned?

Wynn could have placed a call-to-action on its front page and taken all the Web traffic this story undoubtedly drove to its site and turned them into leads.

Wynn could have asked for an email address and 1-2 questions about the story-seeker's weekend-get-away plans this year. Providing this to Wynn provides access to the real, juicy behind-the-scenes story.

This would have given Wynn a database of qualified leads to run promotions to. And it would have taken very little time to produce, set up and run.

[David Meerman Scott]

Jeffrey - I totally agree with them missing some opportunities.