Does Floating Things Down The Thames Still Work?

Evening guys, back on the blog to write about a very important topic – the PR rite of passage, floating something down the Thames.

From giant lottery balls to Spiderman and even the Olympic rings, marketing folks have been responsible for keeping London’s waterways active for decades. And honestly, though a part of me has always wanted to ‘float’ the idea myself, I thought the notion was pretty ‘dead in the water’. Sorry.

That was until a resurgence of the archetypal PR stunt of the early 21^st century popped up on my X (Twitter, ugh) feed a couple of days ago. One Agency Media were responsible for sending a giant ‘The Ordinary’ bottle down the Thames and catching the attention of not only many Londoners – but a lot of us on social media too.

I think many of us PR people were bemused to see that floating things down the Thames was officially ‘back’ – including the industry-famous James Herring.

Which has led me to ask my followers, and myself, the question – does this kind of thing still have merit in 2024?

Is Floating Things Down The Thames Effective?

However funny a question that is to type out – it’s actually a very serious one for the marketers that work with big brands. As this great blog I found by Mark Perkins points out, “the PR industry has been singularly responsible for a remarkable revival in river work, keeping bargemen in business and polluting it with picture stunts.” He, by the way, suggested we should throw in the towel nearly 10 years ago in 2015.

Let’s have a look at the arguments for both sides…

Yes

• We’re all talking about The Ordinary – the brand responsible for kicking off this conversation again, The Ordinary, has definitely had lots of eyes on its product over the last few days, and for many PR people – that’s what it’s all about. So if the goal is to get people talking and get your product in front of people, then it’s a win!
• It’s different, for now – once upon a time, this idea was very tired. But I haven’t heard about it being done in years. So, by reviving this old-time favourite, One Agency Media may just become a trendsetter in the PR world. Everything has a resurgence sooner or later. Reference: the low-waisted jeans and other 90s trends I’m seeing popping up in stores in 2024.
• I love a bit of fun – this may be something personal to me, but fun, quirky campaigns will always have a piece of my heart. Sure, The Ordinary could have splashed this budget on advertising and social, but where’s the joy in that? I hope one day in my career I get to be involved in some wacky and creative stunts; because what’s the fun in life when you don’t think outside the box?
• The media are still interested – one of the most important things for us PR people, especially those in digital, is that journalists will write about our stories. If we’re using this campaign as an example, and this point as the measuring stick, then yes – we can say that floating things down the Thames is still absolutely effective. Because the press have picked it up! I’ve had a quick Google and can see national coverage, as well as stories in the local papers too.

No

• Who’s interested? – in contrast to my first point above, whilst many of us are talking about The Ordinary… Is it just PR people? Lots of people get stuck with what’s known as ‘marketing to marketers’, where we love the campaigns – but it’s hard to gauge interest across the population as a whole.
• What’s the ROI? – As Alex Hickson rightly pointed out, there’s no way to measure whether these things are actually effective. But to counter this, that’s the case with most PR activity. In terms of getting people talking – you can’t deny that this stuff works; but putting data to it is impossible. You have to have a client that’s willing to say ‘yes’ to things and who’s not crazy on numbers.

What Do PR People Think?

I can’t claim to have all the answers; in fact, I don’t really have a straight one for this. I just thought it a fun topic to debate this Wednesday evening. So, I asked my followers. Here’s the results of the live poll…

For research purposes: does floating things down the Thames still work?

— Jessica (@jessicapardoePR) February 14, 2024

And if you’d like to get involved yourself, feel free to comment on this blog or reply to me on X. Would love to hear everyone else’s thoughts on this.